Historic Sites of Manitoba: North Ward School (535 Third Street NW, Portage la Prairie)

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

This two-storey brick building on the north side of Portage la Prairie was designed by architect Charles Herbert Mounsey and constructed in 1910. Its four classrooms opened for use in January 1911 and electric lights were installed in 1917, but water and sewer service did not arrive until 1941. The school roof was badly damaged during a tornado that hit the city on 22 June 1922 but it was repaired in time for classes to resume in September.

By the late 1960s, the old school was said to be “structurally and academically obsolete.” It had no gymnasium, library, or music room, and no staff room or office. Every available space was being used for classrooms, including two in the basement separated by the furnace room. There were only single washrooms on each floor, so boys and girls had to use them in shifts. Rather than commit the resources to upgrade the building, the School Board chose to close it in June 1972 and the students were sent to the newer La Verendrye School nearby. Six years later, the building was renovated as offices for the Portage la Prairie School Division.

It is the only known example of an urban ward school remaining in Manitoba.

Principals

Period	Principal
1911-1915	Margaret McCarthy Costigan
1916-1920	Frances Ormand
1920-1922	Olive Florence Francis Webster
1922-1923	Miss Paul
1923-1934	Annie Timmins Barber (1881-1972)
1934-1940	Ina Margaret Pearson Fraser (1907-1940)
1940-1941	Miss E. Galbraith
1941-1964	Kalista May “Kay” Robb (1902-1982)
1964-1972	Morris Boychuk

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1911-1912	Mrs. Edward-Jones, Mildred Trimble Rutledge
1912-1913	Mildred Trimble Rutledge
1913-1914	?
1914-1915	?
1915-1916	?
1916-1917	?
1917-1918	?
1918-1919	?
1919-1920	Miss Kestler
1920-1921	Stella McCuaig Denyer, Ruth McMillan
1921-1922	Mona Oulton, Jessie Roe Smith
1922-1923	?
1923-1924	?
1924-1925	Kathleen Garland, Miss Horton, Grace Tucker
1925-1926	Edith Ogletree McKillop, Grace Tucker
1926-1927	Grace Tucker
1927-1928	Ruth Francis, Grace Tucker
1928-1929	Miss McKay
1929-1930	Miss Abbott, Bernice Nixon, Ina Pearson
1930-1931	Miss Abbott, Bernice Nixon, Ina Pearson
1931-1932	Miss Abbott, Bernice Nixon, Ina Pearson
1932-1933	Miss Abbott, Bernice Nixon, Ina Pearson
1933-1934	Miss Abbott, Bernice Nixon, Ina Pearson
1934-1935	Miss Hickling
1935-1936	Miss E. Galbraith, Kay Robb
1936-1937	Miss E. Galbraith, Kay Robb
1937-1938	Elsie Barton, Miss E. Galbraith, Kay Robb
1938-1939	Miss E. Galbraith, Lal Langford, Kay Robb
1939-1940	Miss E. Galbraith, Lal Langford, Kay Robb
1940-1941	Lal Langford, Kay Robb
1941-1942	Lal Langford, Helen Piloski
1942-1943	Dorothy Leonhardt, Helen Piloski
1943-1944	Gertrude Milne, Helen Piloski
1944-1945	Helen Piloski, Chris McLean Troughton
1945-1946	Helen Piloski, Miss Sammeter
1946-1947	Helen Piloski, Helen Sklipowich
1947-1948	Ronald Boulter, Helen Piloski
1948-1949	Miss Devereau, Catherine McDougall, Helen Piloski
1949-1950	Mrs. Leonard Clark, Anne Poyser Pallister, Helen Piloski
1950-1951	Anne Poyser Pallister, Helen Piloski, Miss Rubinek
1951-1952	Evelyn M. Hopkins, Helen Piloski, Mrs. Harold Simpson
1952-1953	Mae I. Leslie, Helen Piloski
1953-1954	Mae I. Leslie, Helen Piloski, Beth Sladek
1954-1955	Miss E. Courice, Martha Holovach, Helen Piloski, Mrs. Pirot, Ann Shykitka, Beth Sladek
1955-1956	Lillian Beddome, Ronald Boulter, Mrs. Ella Cook, Helen Piloski, Ann Shykitka
1956-1957	Ronald Boulter, Mrs. Ella Cook, Mrs. A. L. Lamont, Miss M. A. R. McCall, Helen Piloski, Ann Shykitka
1957-1958	Ronald Boulter, Mrs. Ella Cook, Helen Piloski
1958-1959	Ronald Boulter, Mrs. Ella Cook, Helen Piloski
1959-1960	Ronald Boulter, Mrs. Ella Cook, Helen Piloski, Jean Yaremkevich
1960-1961	Alice Boychuk, Denise Wagner Chiponski, Mrs. Ella Cook, Helen Piloski, Mrs. Skinner, Jean Yaremkevich
1961-1962	Ralph Barry, Denise Wagner Chiponski, Mrs. Ella Cook, John Dueck, Cornelius Furdievich, Helen Piloski, Jean Yaremkevich
1962-1963	Mrs. Ella Cook, Helen Piloski, Jean Yaremkevich
1963-1964	Mrs. Ella Cook, Helen Piloski, Jean Yaremkevich
1964-1965	Mrs. Bergen, Miss S. Hodgkinson, Mrs. P. McRae, Mrs. E. Moggey, Helen Piloski
1965-1966	Peggy Curwen, Edith Lamont, Marion McCosky Makarchuk, Velma McDonald, Helen Piloski
1966-1967	Peggy Curwen, Edith Lamont, Marion McCosky Makarchuk, Martha Meikle, Helen Piloski, Delores Wooley
1967-1968	Rose Browning, Peggy Curwen, Margaret Giesbrecht, Edith Lamont, Helen Piloski, Delores Wooley
1968-1969	Mrs. R. Browning, Margaret Giesbrecht, Edith Lamont, Brenda Meikle, Iris Parrack, Helen Piloski, Miss Lois Vust
1969-1970	Dorothy Crealock, Edith Lamont, Iris Parrack, Helen Piloski, Sheila Purvis, Miss Lois Vust
1970-1971	Lee Lutz, Iris Parrack, Helen Piloski, Sheila Purvis, Miss Lois Vust
1971-1972	Lee Lutz, Iris Parrack, Helen Piloski, Sheila Purvis, Miss Lois Vust

Among the other teachers of North Ward School were Pearl Webster, Myrtle McCarthy, Kathleen Manson, Nel Tate Owens, Bentina Erlendson

Photos & Coordinates

North Ward School (March 1955) Source: PCI Archive, Vopni Press Collection, VP-1-00262-001. North Ward School (March 1955) Source: PCI Archive, Vopni Press Collection, VP-1-00120-002. North Ward School (August 1967) Source: PCI Archive, Vopni Press Collection, VP-1-00087-001. The former North Ward School building (September 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former North Ward School building (March 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.98183, W98.29415 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Charles Herbert Mounsey (1874-1924)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: North Ward School Monument / La Verendrye School (500 Seventh Street NW, Portage la Prairie)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: West Ward School (Portage la Prairie)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Victoria School (32 Fifth Street SE, Portage la Prairie)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central School / Portage Normal School (Portage la Prairie)

Sources:

Death registration [Annie Timmins Barber], British Columbia Vital Statistics.

“Portage lists teaching staff as school opens,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 September 1951, page 34.

Obituary [Anne Ethel Poyser Pallister], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 July 2011.

History of North Ward School, July 1894 to June 1972 by Mrs. Georgie Simmons, circa 1972. [Copy at Portage la Prairie School Division Office, December 2013.]

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

We thank Michael Mauws, Hazen Barrett, Morris Boychuk, Nathan Kramer, and Rose Kuzina for providing information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 23 September 2023

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