Historic Sites of Manitoba: Plum Ridge School No. 959 (RM of Rockwood)

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

The Plum Ridge School District was organized formally in June 1898 and a one-room schoolhouse operated at SW29-17-3E in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood. A new schoolhouse was built during the summer of 1916 by local contractor Michael Gottfried at a cost of $1,575. The district was dissolved in 1967 and its catchment area became part of the Interlake School Division.

Principals

Period	Principal
1917	John Watcyk
1917-1918	C. V. Dicks
1918	E. W. Mills
1918	Andrew Hrudka
1918-1919	J. Sibinski
1919-1922	Stephen Nykyforuk (1892-1974)
1922-1925	Jacob J. Lysecki
1925-1926	Nicholas Punak
1926-1928	William Chimchak (1902-1981)
1928-1929	Marie Prygrocki
1929-1930	Annie Segall
1930-1933	William Chimchak (1902-1981)
1933-1934	William Yakimischak (1906-1988)
1934-1937	Paul Ivan Nykorchuk
1937-1941	George Lecoq (1905-2000)
1941-1943	Edward Alva Chesley (1911-1995)

Teachers

Period	Teachers
1917-1918	C. V. Dicks (grades 4-6), E. W. Mills (grades 4-6, 1918), John Watcyk (grades 4-6, 1917)
1918-1919	Andrew Hrudka (grades 6-8, 1918), Stephen Nykyforuk (grades 6-8, 1919), J. Sibinski (grades 6-8), ? (grades 1-4)
1919-1920	Stephen Nykyforuk (grades 4-8)
1920-1921	Stephen Nykyforuk (grades 4-8)
1921-1922	M. J. Chuptyk (grades 1-3), Stephen Nykyforuk (grades 4-8)
1922-1923	Jacob J. Lysecki (grades 4-8)
1923-1924	Jacob J. Lysecki (grades 4-8)
1924-1925	Jacob J. Lysecki (grades 4-8)
1925-1926	Nicholas Punak (grades 4-8)
1926-1927	William Chimchak (grades 4-8)
1927-1928	William Chimchak (grades 4-8)
1928-1929	Marie Prygrocki (grades 4-8)
1929-1930	Annie Segall (grades 4-8)
1930-1931	William Chimchak (grades 4-8)
1931-1932	William Chimchak (grades 4-8)
1932-1933	William Chimchak (grades 4-8)
1933-1934	William Yakimischak (grades 5-9)
1934-1935	Paul Ivan Nykorchuk (grades 5-10)
1935-1936	Paul Ivan Nykorchuk (grades 5-10)
1936-1937	Michael Doroschuk (grades 1-4), Paul Ivan Nykorchuk (grades 5-10)
1937-1938	George Lecoq (grades 5-10)
1938-1939	George Lecoq (grades 5-10)
1939-1940	George Lecoq (grades 5-10)
1940-1941	George Lecoq (grades 5-10)
1941-1942	Edward Chesley (grades 5-10)
1942-1943	Mrs. Nellie E. Chesley (grades 1-4), Edward Chesley (grades 5-10)

Among the other teachers of Plum Ridge School were Ida Doris Simpson (1943-1944), Tom Chesley (1944-1947), Nicholas Andrusko (1947-1951), Peter Budzinsky (1951-1955), Lawrence Suchar (1955-1956), Melvin Bodnarus (1956-1959), Mrs. E. Yurchi (1959-1960), Walter Diachun (1960-1961), John B. Enns (1961-1962), Mrs. Phyllis Ann Rodych (1962-1963), Walter Michael Sorokoski (1963-1965), Irene Eva Sohan (1965-1966), and Mrs. Julia F. Chatfield (1966-1967).

Photos & Coordinates

The old Plum Ridge School (no date) by H. D. Cumming Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 30. The new Plum Ridge School (no date) by H. D. Cumming Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 30. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.47783, W97.15988 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

School District Formation Files (E 0027), Plum Ridge School District No. 959, GR1688, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Plum Ridge School District No. 959 Daily Registers, GR2046 Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Plum Ridge School District No. 959 Minute Books, GR2043 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.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 1 February 2023

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