Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba School for the Deaf / Manitoba Vocational Centre / Prince Charles School / Prince Charles Education Resource Centre (1075 Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg)

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

Following the displacement of staff and students from the Manitoba School for the Deaf during the Second World War, classes were held in other schools of the Winnipeg School Division, including Isbister School (1947-1957) and Principal Sparling School (1957-1958). In contrast with its former Shaftesbury Boulevard location, these were day school classes, and not as a full (or partial) residential school. Accordingly, it was named the Manitoba Day School for the Deaf, though also known by other names, including the Winnipeg Day School for the Deaf. In 1957, this site was selected by the provincial government to serve as the centre for deaf education in the metro Winnipeg area.

To replace the temporary day schools held in other division facilities, this school was designed by provincial architect Basil Roy McPherson. On 4 October 1957, its cornerstone was laid by Premier Douglas Lloyd Campbell and the school opened to students in early 1958, with all deaf classes consolidated in this building. The $75,000 facility had four classrooms, lunch room, teachers’ room, principal’s office, and boiler room. The Society for Crippled Children and Adults provided transportation for students to and from classes. Despite a recommendation by the MacFarlane Royal Commission on Education, that the school should be closed and all deaf students sent to the Saskatchewan School for the Deaf, the provincial government opted to expand capacity here, adding in 1960 four additional classrooms designed by McPherson at a cost of $40,000.

In 1966, the Manitoba School for the Deaf returned to its former Shaftesbury Boulevard location before moving to the former Alexander Ross School. This building was converted for use as the Manitoba Vocational Centre for teacher training and later underwent a large addition and alterations before being named, in 1972, as the Prince Charles School in the Winnipeg School Division. The cornerstone of this expansion was laid on 22 June 1972 by city Councillor and former Winnipeg School Board Finance Chair Olga Fuga, who officially opened the school on 30 January 1973. The school was designed for teenage students with educational and mental handicaps, reportedly making it unique in Canada. It hosted around 100 secondary-level students and about 20 younger children. The facility was used jointly by the Winnipeg School Division, Seven Oaks School Division, and Assiniboine South School Division. Classes included arts and crafts, clothing, food, music, and physical education, accompanied by services from the Special Education unit of the Child Guidance Clinic, including psychology, social work, psychiatry, speech and hearing.

In 1979, school trustees approved off-site classes for students to be held at Grosvenor School and Churchill High School. In August 1988, the Winnipeg School Board announced the school’s closure with the conclusion of the school year, after which students would be integrated into regular classes with access to programming at Churchill High School, Grant Park High School, Elmwood High School, St. John’s High School, Sisler High School, Gordon Bell High School, Andrew Mynarski VC Junior High School, and Hugh John Macdonald Junior High School.

The school closed on 30 June 1989. The Winnipeg School Division consolidated its three Education Resource Centres into this single and present facility, now known as the Prince Charles Education Resource Centre.

Principals (Manitoba Day School for the Deaf)

Period	Principal
1947-1958	None
1958-1961	?
1961-1964	Esme Elizabeth Eldred (1898-1996)
1964-1966	Donald Malcolm Plummer (1926-1989)

Principals (Prince Charles School)

Period	Principal
1970-1989	Barbara Alice “Barb” Sarson (1931-2020)

Vice-Principals (Prince Charles School)

Period	Vice-Principal
1978-1980	Philip Barry Berger
1980-1981	Robert John Mak
1981-?	?
?-?	Terry McLean
?-1989	?

Teachers (Manitoba Day School for the Deaf)

Period	Teachers
1947-1948	[Isbister School:] Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginners - grade 1), Therise Denise Johnson (grades 2-4), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (grades 5-7)
1948-1949	[Isbister School:] Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginners - grade 2), Therise Denise Johnson (grades 1, 3, 5-6)
1949-1950	[Isbister School:] Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginners - grade 3), Therise Denise Johnson (grades 3-5)
1950-1951	[Isbister School:] Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginners - grade 2)
1951-1952	[Isbister School:] Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginners - grade 2), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (grades 4-6)
1952-1953	[Isbister School:] Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginners - grade 2), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (grades 5-7)
1953-1954	[Isbister School:] Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginners - grade 2), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (intermediate grades), Jane E. Parker (intermediate grades, ages 10-17) Emma J. E. Sigurdson (grades 7-8)
1954-1955	[Isbister School:] Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginner grades, ages 7-9), Ruth May Lewarne (intermediate grades, ages 11-17), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (intermediate grades, ages 10-12), Emma J. E. Sigurdson (grades 7-8)
1955-1956	[Isbister School:] Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginner grades, ages 7-10), Ruth May Lewarne (intermediate grades, ages 11-14), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (intermediate grades, ages 8-12), Emma J. E. Sigurdson (grades 7-8)
1956-1957	[Isbister School:] Shirley Ericka Bietz (intermediate grades, ages 12-15), Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginner grades, ages 6-12), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (intermediate grades, ages 8-13), Emma J. E. Sigurdson (senior grades, ages 15-21)
1957-1958	[Principal Sparling School:] Shirley Ericka Bietz (intermediate grades, ages 13-15), Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginner grades, ages 6-9), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (intermediate grades, ages 8-13), Emma J. E. Sigurdson (ages 10-14)
1958-1959	Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginner grades, ages 6-10), Sylvia Beverlee Grantham (ages 13-17), Helena Lorraine Hjartarson (ages 8-11), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (beginner grades, ages 6-13), Emma J. E. Sigurdson (ages 11-15)
1959-1960	Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginner grades, ages 6-11), Sylvia Beverlee Grantham (intermediate grades, ages 15-18), Helena Lorraine Hjartarson (ages 8-11), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (primary grades, ages 6-13), Emma J. E. Sigurdson (ages 11-15)
1960-1961	Irene Jane Borsa (intermediate and senior grades; ages 13-19), Sylvia Beverlee Grantham (primary grades, ages 8-15), Helena Lorraine Hjartarson (ages 7-9), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (primary grades, ages 6-12), Emma J. E. Sigurdson (ages 11-17)
1961-1962	Irene Jane Borsa (intermediate and senior grades; ages 14-20), Esme Elizabeth Eldred (beginner grades, ages 6-11), Sylvia Beverlee Grantham (other special needs, ages 9-16), Helena Lorraine Hjartarson (primary grades, ages 8-11), Iris Catherine Kujansuu (ages 8-14), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (ages 6-9), Emma J. E. Sigurdson (ages 11-18)
1962-1963	Irene Jane Borsa (intermediate grades, ages 13-18), Helen Letitia Croy (ages 9-14), Helena Lorraine Hjartarson (primary grades, ages 7-11), Iris Catherine Kujansuu (ages 8-12), Sylvia Beverlee Grantham Lauder (beginner grades, ages 9-16), Helen Marjorie Leckie (other special needs, ages 10-16), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (beginner grades, ages 6-7), Emma J. E. Sigurdson (ages 10-14)
1963-1964	Irene Jane Borsa (ages 9-16), Helen Letitia Croy (ages 8-12), Helena Lorraine Hjartarson (intermediate grades, ages 11-17), Charlotte Bertha Heinsohn (ages 8-13), Iris Catherine Kujansuu (primary grades, ages 7-8), Helen Marjorie Leckie (other special needs, ages 7-17), Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (beginner grades, ages 6-8), Eleanore Lorraine Newton Stark (primary grades, ages 7-11), Roger James Ofield (intermediate grades, ages 14-18)
1964-1965	?
1965-1966	Helen Letitia Croy, Joan Dale, I. J. Dauerling, Ena Enid Eldred, Esme Elizabeth Eldred, Ruth Evelyn Hamende, Charlotte Bertha Heinsohn, Helena Lorraine Hjartarson, D. Bruce Jack (grades 2-4), Helen Marjorie Leckie, Ingibjorg Hallson McGlynn (beginner grades), E. McRae, Roger James Ofield, J. Pitcairn, G. Ryckman, Carl A. Simonson, Larry Allan Stuart
1966-1967	See Manitoba School for the Deaf

Teachers (Prince Charles School)

Period	Teachers
1976-1977	Doreen Ellen Campbell, Glen Joseph Cornick, Moses Abraham du Plessis, John Gordon Holland (work co-ordinator), Gertrud Elisabeth Horvath, Anne Elizabeth Klein, Leslie William Klywak, Robert V. F. LeGoff, Bernie Ruth Linney, Joan Carmel Llyod, Robert George McDill, Judith Anne McEwan, Jessie Stewart Paterson Prescott, Johanna Elisabeth G. Rebel, Shirley Ida Skibo, Evelyn Mary Stanley, Henry B. Unruh, John Hubert Van Wallegham
1977-1978	Doreen Ellen Campbell, Glen Joseph Cornick, Moses Abraham du Plessis, Angela Rosemarie Gross, John Gordon Holland (work co-ordinator), Gertrud Elisabeth Horvath, Daniel George “Dan” Johnson (physical education), Anne Elizabeth Klein, Joan Carmel Llyod, Thomas Archie Lovatt, Robert George McDill, Judith Anne McEwan, Jessie Stewart Paterson Prescott, Johanna Elisabeth G. Rebel, John Elmar Silver, Shirley Ida Skibo, Evelyn Mary Stanley, John Hubert Van Wallegham
1978-1979	Doreen Ellen Campbell, Glen Joseph Cornick, Moses Abraham du Plessis, Angela Rosemarie Gross, John Gordon Holland (work co-ordinator), Gertrud Elisabeth Horvath, Karen Dale Hutton, Daniel George “Dan” Johnson (physical education), Anne Elizabeth Klein, Joan Carmel Llyod, Thomas Archie Lovatt, Robert George McDill, Judith Anne McEwan, Jessie Stewart Paterson Prescott (no grades), Johanna Elisabeth G. Rebel, John Elmar Silver, Evelyn Mary Stanley, John Hubert Van Wallegham
1979-1980	Glen Joseph Cornick, Maureen Joan Dowds (physical education), Moses Abraham du Plessis, Angela Rosemarie Gross, Gillian Louise Heaps, John Gordon Holland (work co-ordinator), Karen Dale Hutton, Robert Doyle Jones, Richard Jan Karkota, Anne Elizabeth Klein, Joan Carmel Llyod, Robert George McDill, Judith Anne McEwan, William Jack Miller, Jessie Stewart Paterson Prescott (no grades), James Douglas Smith, Kenneth Blake Smith, Evelyn Mary Stanley, John Hubert Van Wallegham
1980-1981	Janie Elaine Castles, Grant David Cheodle, Maureen Joan Dowds (physical education), Moses Abraham du Plessis (1980), Erica Marsha Goldstein, Gillian Louise Heaps, Kimberley Lois Henderson, John Gordon Holland (work co-ordinator), Gertrud Elisabeth Horvath, Karen Dale Hutton, Bruce Lloyd Johnson, Anne Elizabeth Klein, Robert George McDill, Judith Anne McEwan (no grades), Dennis W. McIntosh, William Jack Miller, Jessie Stewart Paterson Prescott (no grades), Kenneth Blake Smith, Evelyn Mary Stanley, Harvey M. Teal (1980), William Robert Walmsley
1981-1982	?
1982-1983	?
1983-1984	?
1984-1985	?
1985-1986	?
1986-1987	?
1987-1988	?
1988-1989	?

Photos & Coordinates

The former Prince Charles School (July 2015) Source: Nathan Kramer The former Prince Charles School (August 2017) Source: Nathan Kramer Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90091, W97.17987 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Basil Roy McPherson (1903-1995)

Manitoba Organization: Manitoba School for the Deaf

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Deaf and Dumb Institute / Manitoba School for the Deaf (Portage Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba School for the Deaf / Manitoba Teachers’ College / Canadian Mennonite University (500 Shaftesbury Boulevard, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Alexander Ross School / Manitoba School for the Deaf (242 Stradford Street, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central School / Portage Normal School / Prince Charles School (Third Street Southwest, Portage la Prairie)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Prince Charles School (2177 Springfield Road, RM of Springfield)

Sources:

Manitoba School for the Deaf students attendance registers (E 0839), Daily Registers, GR4117, Archives of Manitoba.

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

“Start work on School for Deaf,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 October 1957, page 50.

[Photo caption], Winnipeg Free Press, 2 September 1959, page 12.

“Best pupils neglected, says probe,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 December 1959, page 12.

“Province not likely to close School for Deaf,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 January 1960, page 15.

“Many help exceptional children,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 February 1961, page 11.

“Wanted,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 January 1966, page 46.

“Tender for school building,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 January 1972, page 21.

[Photo caption], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 June 1972, page 11.

“New school opened,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 January 1973, page 3.

“From tax consumer ... to taxpayer,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 August 1976, page 25.

“Students taught skills for the outside world,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 September 1977, page 3.

“Try-out class for deaf set,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 July 1979, page 24.

“Dowds opens door for others,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 May 1982, page 65.

“Inquiry told welfare laws broken here,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 January 1983, page 6.

Obituary [Ingibjorg McGlynn], Winnipeg Free Press, 10 October 1987, page 26.

“Program to close,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly North Edition, 24 July 1988, page 3.

“Victoria School gets addition,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly North Edition, 29 August 1988, page 3.

“School move opposed,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 December 1988, page 3.

“New use for school proposed,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly West Edition, 26 March 1989, page 3.

“Principals shuffled,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly North Edition, 2 July 1989, page 2.

“McLean new Principal,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly North Edition, 8 July 1990, page 3.

“Residents to appeal parking lot plan,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 November 1990.

Winnipeg School Division: Celebrating One Hundred Fifty Years, 1871-2021 by Winnipeg School Division, 2021.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 3 September 2023

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. SEARCH the collection Browse lists of: Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | Other Inclusion 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. Search Tips | Suggest an Historic Site | FAQ Help us keep history alive!