Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Ninette School District was organized formally in June 1899 and, for a time, students attended classes above a general store in Ninette in what is now the Rural Municipality of Prairie Lakes. In 1901, a one-storey, one-classroom school building was erected but, around 1912, a second storey (and second classroom) was added, accessible via an exterior staircase that doubled as a fire escape.
With growing student enrollment, a massive one-storey red brick structure was built in 1926 at a cost of about $20,000, a twin of Brookdale School No. 1299, Deloraine School No. 490, Shoal Lake School No. 458, and Woodhaven School No. 2092, based on a design by Winnipeg architect Gilbert Parfitt and constructed by Brandon contractor George Epton. Three of its four classrooms went into use following an official opening ceremony on 17 September 1926, presided over by Dr. D. A. Stewart, Charles Cannon, and R. F. Fletcher. The original school building was torn down around the same time. The fourth classroom did not come into use until 1939. Most of its windows were bricked over around 1985, probably as an energy-saving measure.
Enrollment at the school declined gradually through time and, finally, with a student body numbering around 10, the school closed in June 2007. The school building has been renovated into a private residence.
Period
Principal
1913-1914
Mrs. N. Dodge
1914-1915
Ralph C. Clench
1915-1916
Mrs. Hagerman
1916
Miss Irvine
1917
Eva Calverley (1895-1988)
1917
Mary Graham
1918
Miss A. Gutzke
1919
Nellie Adams
1919-1920
Miss M. D. Stafford
1920
Annie Tetterly
1921
Kathleen Johnson
1921
Margaret McMillan
1922
Mrs. Pascoe
1922-1923
John Noriah Sturk (1874-1939)
1923-1924
Elsie Irene Kerr Yellowlees (1901-1990)
1924-1925
Miss Moore
1925-1926
Dorothy Strachan
1926-1929
Albert Rae Smale (1897-1961)
1929-1931
Albert Lee Herron (1895-1970)
1931-1937
Robert William Lightly (1909-1985)
1937-1939
John Wesley Lorne Graham (1904-2000)
1939-1940
Alexander Maxwell “Max” Segall (1905-1983)
1940-1942
Oliver Clayton Bricker (1900-1992)
1942-1943
Harry Itzkow (1919-1990)
1943-1945
Edward James Marshall (1901-1964)
1945-1946
Stanley Robert Kitchen (1915-1988)
1946-1947
Delorie Wessels “Del” Howell (1925-2008)
1947-1949
Lillian Elizabeth Barker (1920-2005)
1949-1950
David Langton MacDonald (1911-1957)
1950-1951
Anne Sims Crichton (1910-1994)
1951-1952
Michael P. Lysack (?-1989)
1952-1958
1958-1959
D. A. Harvey
1959-1962
Ruth McKay
1962-1966
?
1966-1968
Walter Sherrin Cheslock (1944-2023)
1968-1969
?
1969-1970
Donald S. Paterson
1970-1973
?
1973-1974
Dorothy Scott
1974-1975
?
1975-1976
1976-1977
?
1977-1989
Tom Emslie
1989-1992
Mrs. Maxwell
School Year
Teachers
1922-1923
Mary E. A. McMillan (grades 1-4), John Noriah Sturk (grades 5-10)
1923-1924
Elsie Irene Kerr (senior grades), ?
1924-1925
Miss Moore (senior grades), ?
1925-1926
Dorothy Strachan (senior grades), ?
1926-1927
Albert Rae Smale (senior grades), ?
1927-1928
Albert Rae Smale (senior grades), ?
1928-1929
Albert Rae Smale (senior grades), ?
1929-1930
Albert Lee Herron (senior grades), ?
1930-1931
Albert Lee Herron (senior grades), ?
1931-1932
Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?
1932-1933
Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?
1933-1934
Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?
1934-1935
Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?
1935-1936
Robert William Lightly (senior grades), Miss Murray, ?
1936-1937
Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?
1937-1938
?
1938-1939
?
1939-1940
Miss Helen Bent (grades 3,4,5)
1940-1941
Miss Helen Bent (grades 3,4,5)
1941-1942
?
1942-1943
?
1943-1944
?
1944-1945
?
1945-1946
?
1946-1947
?
1947-1948
?
1948-1949
?
1949-1950
?
1950-1951
?
1951-1952
?
1952-1953
?
1953-1954
Miss R. Alberta Chapman (intermediate room), Miss Annie E. Lawson (primary room)
1954-1955
?
1955-1956
Mrs. Lawson (grades 1-4)
1956-1957
?
1957-1958
Miss Chappell (grades 1-4), Miss Arlene Tosh
1958-1959
?
1959-1960
?
1960-1961
?
1961-1962
Joyce McDonald (grades 3-5)
1962-1963
Miss Heraldton, Joyce McDonald (grades 4-5), Miss Penny, Miss Joyce Wardle, Jayne Williamson
1963-1964
Shirley Ronson, Jayne Williamson
1964-1965
Shirley Ronson, Jayne Williamson
1965-1966
?
1966-1967
Walter Sherrin Cheslock, Lynne Marie Ferguson, Mrs. Marie Anne Whiteside
1967-1968
Walter Sherrin Cheslock, Lynne Marie Ferguson, Mrs. Marie Anne Whiteside
1968-1969
?
1969-1970
Malvina Buhler Heide, Mrs. Rena Scott
1970-1971
Malvina Buhler Heide
1971-1972
?
1972-1973
?
1973-1974
Debbie Dionne, Doreen Mullen, Dorothy Scott, Rina Scott
1974-1975
?
1975-1976
Ken Storie (grades 7 and 8), Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1976-1977
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1977-1978
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1978-1979
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1979-1980
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1980-1981
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1981-1982
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1982-1983
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1983-1984
Mlle Bolduc (French), Donna Jean Lamb, Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1984-1985
Mlle Bolduc (French), Donna Jean Lamb, Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1985-1986
Mlle Bolduc (French), Donna Jean Lamb, Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1986-1987
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1987-1988
Marilyn Cullen, Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1988-1989
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
1989-1990
Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie
Among the teachers who worked at Ninette School in the early years were: Theodore A. Girling (1900-1902), E. Benson Steele (1902-1903), Arthur Leighton (1903-1904), Leslie E. Grace (1904-1905), Ethel Johnston (1905-?), Dora Faryon (1911-1912), Mrs. Dodge (1912-1913), Gladys Barkwell (1913), Miss Townsley (1914-1915), Miss Kinley (1915-1916), Miss Frame (1916-1919), Mary Overend (1919-1920), Vivian Newton (1920), Miss Gardiner (1921), Jessie Chalmers (1921), Mary McMillan (1921-1923), Miss C. M. Mott (1924-1925), Jean C. Bell (1926), Janet L. More (1926), Miss Carson (1926), and Katrine Clench (1926).
Other teachers included Norman Monk, Miss Goodsky, Walter Sherrin Cheslock, Les Defoort, and Phyllis Brown Paskewitz.
Postcard view of the original Ninette School (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2012-0071
Ninette School (no date) by W. J. Parr
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 43.
Ninette School (1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Ninette 5.
Ninette School (1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1098.
The former Ninette School building, now a private residence (June 2013)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
The former Ninette School building and commemorative sign (August 2019)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.40100, W99.63406
denoted by symbol on the map above
“Specification, School, Ninette S.D. No. 1028, Manitoba,” 1926. [T. Tennant, Ninette, Manitoba]
“Constructional Activity,” Contract Review and Engineering Review, 7 April 1926, page 52.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
“Ninette news,” Belmont News, 20 August 1953, page 3.
History of the Ninette School by Keith Worden, 1956.
“Ninette news,” Belmont News, 6 September 1962, page 7.
And So ... Ninette, 1879-1919 by Eva Calverley, circa 1966.
“Ninette elementary staff,” Belmont News, 11 September 1969, page 5.
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.
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
“80 years ago,” Baldur Gazette-News, 17 December 1996, page 5.
“School days,” Brandon Sun, 17 March 1999, page 4.
“Ninette school centennial,” Baldur Gazette-News, 31 August 1999.
“Ninette School officially closes,” Baldur Gazette, 10 July 2007, page 1.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Ken Storie, Ruth McKay, Jessie Myers, Shirley Carson, Rose Kuzina, Nathan Kramer, and visitors to the building’s open house on 17 September 2016 for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Tricia Tennent.
Page revised: 5 October 2024
Historic Sites of Manitoba
This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. The information is offered for historical interest only.
Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | OtherInclusion in this collection does not confer special status or protection. Official heritage designation may only come from municipal, provincial, or federal governments. Some sites are on private property and permission to visit must be secured from the owner.
Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the MHS Webmaster at webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.Help us keep history alive!
