Historic Sites of Manitoba: Montezuma School No. 2154 (RM of Ste. Anne)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Montezuma School District was organized formally in July 1926 and a school building was erected on the northeast quarter of 4-8-6 east of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Ste. Anne. The district was dissolved around 1968 and its catchment area became part of the Hanover School Division. The building has been renovated extensively into a private residence that, as of early 2012, still stands at the site.

Principals

Period	Principal
1951-1953	Cornelius Gerhard “Neil” Unruh (1905-1995)
1953-1960	?
1960-1961	Elmer Bartel (1934-2014)
1961-1965	Cornelius J. “Cornie” Martens
1965-1966	?
1967-1968	Richard Jacob Loeppky

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1951-1952	Adina Ewert Goertzen (grades 1-4), Cornelius Gerhard Unruh (grades 5-10)
1952-1953	Hulda Plett (grades 1-4), Cornelius Gerhard Unruh (grades 5-10)
1953-1954	Hulda Plett (grades 1-4), Harvey Van Penner (grades 5-9)
1954-1955	Laura Plett (grades 1-4), Hulda Plett (grades 5-9)
1955-1956	Laura Plett (grades 1-4), Hulda Plett (grades 5-9)
1956-1957	Jacob J. Penner (grades 1-8), Elbert Allan Toews (grades 5-12, 1956), Helen Poetker Goertzen (grades 1-12, 1957)
1957-1958	Martha Goertzen (grades 1-4), Elbert Allan Toews (grades 5-9)
1958-1959	Martha Goertzen (grades 1-4), Elbert Allan Toews (grades 5-9)
1959-1960	Helen Poetker Goertzen (grades 1-4), Elbert Allan Toews (grades 5-9)
1960-1961	Eva Fast (grades 1-4), Elmer Bartel (grades 5-6)
1961-1962	Eva Fast (grades 1-4), Cornelius J. “Cornie” Martens (grades 5-8)
1962-1963	Eva Fast (grades 1-4), Cornelius J. “Cornie” Martens (grades 5-8)
1963-1964	Eva Fast (grades 1-4), Cornelius J. “Cornie” Martens (grades 5-8)
1964-1965	Eva Fast (grades 1-4), Cornelius J. “Cornie” Martens (grades 5-8)
1965-1966	Eva Fast (grades 1-4), ? (grades 5-8)
1966-1967	Margaret Penner (grades 1-4), Richard Jacob Loeppky (grades 5-8)
1967-1968	Mrs. M. Loeppky (grades 1-4, 1967 substitute) Margaret Penner (grades 1-4), Richard Jacob Loeppky (grades 5-8)

Among the other teachers who worked at Montezuma School through the years were: Elizabeth Carol Dueck (1942-1943), Sarah Froese (1943-1944), Adina Goertzen, Harvey Van Penner, Helen Poetker, Aganetha F. Reimer (1926-1928), Harold Julius Suderman (1941-1942), Andrew Toews (1929-1937), Elbert A. Toews, Nicholas Toews (1937-1941), Cornelius Gerhard Unruh (1944-1951), Aaron R. Wiebe (1928-1929), and John W. Wohlgemuth.

Photos & Coordinates

Montezuma School (no date) by A. A. Herriot Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 105. The former Montezuma School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1205. The former Montezuma School building (March 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.63336, W96.71248 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Manitoba School Records Collection (GR2656), Montezuma School District No. 2154 Daily Attendance Registers, Archives of Manitoba.

One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.

Schools - Our Heritage: From 46 School Districts to Hanover Unitary School Division (1878-1968) by John K. Schellenberg, The Board of The Hanover School Division No. 15, May 1985, ISBN 0-919673-93-7.

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

Obituary [Hulda Plett (1923-2006)], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 May 2006, page 34.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 14 February 2021

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