Historic Sites of Manitoba: Napinka School No. 829 (Napinka, Municipality of Brenda-Waskada)

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

Napinka School No. 829 was established formally in September 1894 and a school building was erected at Napinka in what is now the Municipality of Brenda-Waskada. Construction of the structure is unusual in that it is made locally acquired field stones, assembled under the supervision of stonemason I. J. Phinney. Classrooms on the main floor accommodated students in the lower grades while high school students and a library were situated in the basement.

In 1959, the school became Napinka Consolidated School No. 2369 when it was consolidated with Menota School No. 519 and Tremblay School No. 707. Students from other rural schools in the vicinity came here as they closed in the 1960s. In 1968, the school became part of the Antler River School Division.

The building, a municipally designated heritage site as of 1994, is now used as a drop-in centre for seniors.

Principals

Period	Principal
1896-1901	Andrew Earnest Slater (1861-1939)
1901-1902	Edward Hayes
1902-1903	W. G. Sandercock
1903-1904	James Andrew McKaughan (1877-1968)
1904-1909	James Boyd Morrison (1872-1941)
1909-1911	Angus McNevin (1862-1923)
1911-1912	?
1912-1914	Victor Wellington Jenkins (1884-?)
1914-1915	Emma Laura Suttis (1881-1971)
1915-1918	James Ogel Beckstead (1883-1985)
1918-1919	George Patrick Stevens (c1888-1988)
1919-1932	Harold Edwin Richard Murphy (1894-1975)
1932-1933	George Edgar Haywood (c1902-1985)
1933-1934	J. Ed Wellwood
1934-1936	John Macgregor Wilkie (1904-1991)
1936-1938	M. S. Blanchard
1938-1940	Andrew M. Young
1940-1942	Percival Henry “Percy” Ford (1911-1971)
1942-1944	Archibald George Hickling (1910-1968)
1944-1948	?
1948-1949	Frank E. Lewis
1949-1951	James Maxwell Taylor
1951-1953	Janet Louisa May More (1896-1986)
1953-1954	Steven Saul Rifkin (c1931-2021)
1954-1955	Marion J. Staple
1955-1958	Olafia Jonina Jonsson Melan (1887-1966)
1958-1959	J. L. Horky
1959-1961	N. Hlysky
1961-1962	Frank Veregin (1931-2001)
1962-1963	R. Smith
1963-1967	Anton “Tony” Rittaler (1917-2008)

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1894-1895	Ida Crowell
1895-1896	Louise Bodkin
1896-1897	Annie B. Jamieson
1897-1898	R. R. Earle, Mary E. Hawthorne
1898-1899	Mary E. Hawthorne
1899-1900	Emily Fraser, Mary E. Hawthorne
1900-1901	Mary E. Hawthorne
1901-1902	J. H. Cunningham, Mary E. Hawthorne
1902-1903	M. H. Jones
1903-1904	?
1904-1905	?
1905-1906	Etta Hawthorne, Rossie M. McKee
1906-1907	Nellie C. Kelty
1907-1908	Margaret McIsaac, Elizabeth McFeteridge
1908-1909	Margaret McIsaac, Elizabeth McFeteridge
1909-1910	Elizabeth McFeteridge, Ruby Moffat
1910-1911	Mary Bodkin, Arthur Wade
1911-1912	Mary Bodkin, Laura A. M. Wallace
1912-1913	Mary Bodkin, Lenore Kaulbach, John Simpson, Annie Swanson, Laura A. M. Wallace
1913-1914	Francis C. Lander, Annie Swanson
1914-1915	Francis C. Lander, Annie Swanson
1915-1916	Francis C. Lander, Annie Swanson
1916-1917	Al Stevens
1917-1918	M. Muldoon, Al Stevens
1918-1919	M. Muldoon, H. B. Norton, Miss Phepackey, Al Stevens
1919-1920	M. Muldoon, Al Stevens
1920-1921	Kathleen Cameron, Miss K. Newcombe, M. Singleton
1921-1922	Kathleen Cameron, Jean Guthrie, Miss K. Newcombe, M. Singleton
1922-1923	Kathleen Cameron, Jean Guthrie, Miss K. Newcombe, M. Singleton
1923-1924	Kathleen Cameron, Miss K. Newcombe, M. Singleton
1924-1925	Miss K. Newcombe,
1925-1926	Miss K. Newcombe,
1926-1927	?
1927-1928	E. M. Dewitt, A. Logan
1928-1929	E. M. Dewitt, A. Logan
1929-1930	Mildred Burnett, E. M. Dewitt, Willemina Yuill
1930-1931	Mildred Burnett, E. M. Dewitt, Willemina Yuill
1931-1932	Mildred Burnett, E. M. Dewitt, Willemina Yuill
1932-1933	E. M. Dewitt
1933-1934	E. M. Dewitt
1934-1935	E. M. Dewitt
1935-1936	E. M. Dewitt
1936-1937	E. M. Dewitt

Among the other teachers of Napinka School were Marshall Hall-Jones and W. G. Bolton.

Photos & Coordinates

Napinka School (no date) by George Hunter Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 7. Napinka School (1968) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Napinka 7. The former Napinka School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 183. The former Napinka School building (October 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Napinka School building (September 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina Rear of the former Napinka School building (September 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina Basement of the former Napinka School building (September 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.32460, W100.84462 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Sources:

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

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.

Our First Century, Town of Melita and Municipality of Arthur: 1884-1984 by Melita-Arthur History Committee, 1983, pages 250-253.

Bridging Brenda: The History of Brenda Municipality and Area, Volume 1 by Brenda History Committee, 1990, pages 114-116.

Napinka School, Souris Street, Napinka, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch.

We thank Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 29 October 2022

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