Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ridgeville School No. 102 / Ridgeville Consolidated School No. 2359 (Ridgeville, Municipality of Emerson-Franklin)

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

Ridgeville School No. 102 was formally established in October 1880, and a school house was built in 1885 about 1½ miles north of Ridgeville, in what is now the Municipality of Emerson-Franklin. In 1912, it was moved to this four-acre site in Ridgeville. Enlarged in 1920, it became a two-room school in 1930, and began offering instruction at the grade 11 level in 1933. During the school consolidation movement of the 1950s and 1960s, it joined Springbank School No. 104 and Emerado School No. 1237 to form Ridgeville Consolidated School No. 2359.

The consolidated school opened in late 1958 in a newly built wood-frame, four-room structure offering instruction in grades 1 to 12. In 1961, Overstone School No. 1106 joined the consolidated district and its school house was brought to the site, providing a fifth classroom. In April 1967, the school joined Boundary School Division No. 16. With declining enrollment in the early 1970s, it closed in June 1972, after which the building was used for community events through the mid-1970s. It was eventually sold at auction to a private owner.

The years had not been kind to the former Ridgeville Consolidated School building. At the time of a 2011 site visit, most of its windows were broken and the roof had collapsed in several places. The building was demolished by the municipality in late 2015. Only a concrete pad remains at the site.

Principals

Period

Principal

1928-1929

Cecilia Teresa Alke (1905-1991)

1929-1930

Hilda Harrison

1930-1932

Emma Gruenke Kornelsen (1896-1985)

1932-1933

John Clayton Stewart (1906-1990)

1933-1936

Lois Mae Falloon (1910-2000)

1936-1939

Harry Sharpe (c1905-1958)

1939-1941

Frank Cecil Jacobs (1914-2002)

1941-1942

Olive Mildred McMahon (c1914-1962)

1942-1944

Emma Gruenke Kornelsen (1896-1985)

1944-1945

Emma Idea Scheibe Gilchrist (1917-2004)

1945-1946

Alma Clara Schiebe

1946-1947

Lucille Elise Desaulniers

1947-1949

no Principal

1949

Ada Marjorie Balderstone

1950

Stanley Francis Pye (1908-1985)

1950-1952

Michael Romanuik

1952-1954

Iris Noreen Ginn

1954-1955

Mary P. Kolodzinski Paley (1917-2005)

1955-1956

John William “Jack” Carroll (1926-2018)

1956-1966

Peter Yarmie (1933-1988)

1966-1967

Sheila Diane Lenton

1967-1968

Wayne Frank Okapiec

1968-1970

Otto Rosner

1970-1971

Samuel Symons

1971-1972

Andrew Alexiuk

Vice-Principals

Period

Vice-Principal

1961-1965

Mytro “Tony” Onysko (1928-1992)

Teachers

Period

Teachers

1908-1909

M. McLennan, John William Lawbe Doubleday

1909-1910

John William Lawbe Doubleday

1910-1911

?

1911-1912

George William Burrell, S. Gertie Turner

1912-1913

?

1913-1914

Eleanor M. Fry

1914-1915

?

1915-1916

Hazel Stewart

1916-1917

?

1917-1918

?

1918-1919

?

1919-1920

M. Amy Duff

1920-1921

Georgina E. McKay

1921-1922

A. Helen Spear

1922-1923

L. Alvina Killen

1923-1924

Louise M. Gruenke

1924-1925

H. S. Percival

1925-1926

L. B. Moar, Alice M. Jack

1926-1927

?

1927-1928

J. Ritchie

1928-1929

Cecilia Teresa Alke (grades 5-9), Pauline Johnson (grades 1-4)

1929-1930

Hilda Harrison (grades 5-10), Rosa Mary Remus (grades 1-5)

1930-1931

Emma Gruenke (grades 5-9), Rosa Mary Remus (grades 1-5)

1931-1932

Emma Gruenke (grades 5-10), Rosa Mary Remus (grades 1-5)

1932-1933

Annie McKinnon (grades 1-6), John Clayton Stewart (grades 7-11)

1933-1934

Lois Mae Falloon (grades 7-11), Annie McKinnon (grades 1-6)

1934-1935

Lois Mae Falloon (grades 7-11), Annie McKinnon (grades 1-6)

1935-1936

Lois Mae Falloon (grades 7-11), Annie McKinnon (grades 1-6)

1936-1937

Amelia Mary Lee (grades 1-6), Harry Sharpe (grades 7-11)

1937-1938

Amelia Mary Lee (grades 1-6), Harry Sharpe (grades 7-11)

1938-1939

Amelia Mary Lee (grades 1-6), Harry Sharpe (grades 7-11)

1939-1940

M. Eyjolfson (grades 7-11, 1939), Frank Cecil Jacobs (grades 7-11), Amelia Mary Lee (grades 1-6)

1940-1941

Frank Cecil Jacobs (grades 7-11), Amelia Mary Lee (grades 1-6)

1941-1942

Olive Mildred McMahon (grades 7-11, 1941), Mary Jenkins Perry (grades 7-11, 1942), Myrtle Jean Russenel (grades 1-6)

1942-1943

Emma Gruenke (grades 7-11), Katherine Hamm (grades 1-6)

1943-1944

Marie-Therese Larose (grades 1-8), Emma Gruenke (grades 9-11)

1944-1945

Alma Clara Schiebe (grades 1-8), Emma Ida Schiebe (grades 9-11)

1945-1946

Elizabeth F. Green (grades 1-8, 1945), Alma Clara Schiebe (grades 9-11), Lillian Schultz (grades 1-8, 1946)

1946-1947

Lucille Elise Desaulniers (grades 7-11), Josephine Melnychuk (grades 1-6)

1947-1948

Josephine Melnychuk (grades 1-8), (grades 9-11 not available)

1948-1949

John Senkiw (grades 1-8), (grades 9-11 not available)

1949-1950

Ada Marjorie Balderstone (grades 7-11, 1949), Stanley Francis Pye (grades 7-11, 1950), John Senkiw (grades 1-6)

1950-1951

Ethel D. Adam (grades 1-6, 1950), Elizabeth Gwendoline McKenzie (grades 1-6, 1950), Aline May Nadiger (grades 1-6, 1951), Michael Romaniuk (grades 7-11)

1951-1952

Michael Romaniuk (grades 7-11), Shirley Geraldine Solar (grades 1-6)

1952-1953

Iris Noreen Ginn (grades 7-11), Shirley Geraldine Solar (grades 1-6)

1953-1954

Iris Noreen Ginn (grades 7-11), Shirley Geraldine Solar (grades 1-6)

1954-1955

Elsie Mary Bodnarchuk (grades 1-6), Mary P. Kolodzinski Paley (grades 7-11)

1955-1956

Roy Belding Pickell (grades 1-6), John William “Bill” Carroll (grades 7-11)

1956-1957

M. Frances Jablonski (grades 1-6), Peter Yarmie (grades 7-11)

1957-1958

Edward Chesko (grades 1-6), Peter Yarmie (grades 7-11)

1958-1959

Gabriel Jean Girard (grades 9-10), Raymond Painchaud (grades 9-10, 1959), Grayce Irene Seward (grades 1-4), Irene Treichel (grades 5-8), Peter Yarmie (grades 11-12)

1959-1960

Gabriel Jean Girard (grades 9-10), Pauline Nedohin (grades 5-8), Grayce Irene Seward (grades 1-4), Peter Yarmie (grades 11-12)

1960-1961

Gabriel Jean Girard (grades 9-10), Pauline Nedohin (grades 5-8), Grayce Irene Seward (grades 1-4), Peter Yarmie (grades 11-12)

1961-1962

Pauline Nedohin (grades 3-5), Mytro “Tony” Onysko (grades 9-10), Otto Rosner (grades 6-8), Grayce Irene Seward (grades 1-3), Peter Yarmie (grades 11-12)

1962-1963

Pauline Nedohin (grades 3-5), Mytro “Tony” Onysko (grades 9-10), Otto Rosner (grades 6-8), Grayce Irene Seward (grades 1-3), Peter Yarmie (grades 11-12)

1963-1964

Pauline Nedohin (grades 3-5), Mytro “Tony” Onysko (grades 9-10), Otto Rosner (grades 6-8), Grayce Irene Seward (grades 1-3), Peter Yarmie (grades 11-12)

1964-1965

Pauline Nedohin (grades 3-5), Mytro “Tony” Onysko (grades 9-10), Otto Rosner (grades 6-8), Grayce Irene Seward (grades 1-3), Peter Yarmie (grades 11-12)

1965-1966

Sheila Diane Lenton (grades 3-5), Edythe Merle Pickell (grades 9-10), Otto Rosner (grades 6-8), Grayce Irene Seward (grades 1-2), Peter Yarmie (grades 11-12)

1966-1967

Gabriel Jean Girard (grades 9-10), Kathleen Ruth Kerda (grades 1-3), Sheila Diane Lenton (grades 4-6), Carole June Warkentin (grades 7-8)

1967-1968

Kathleen Ruth Kerda (grades 1-2), Olga Margaret Ann Lobur (grades 3-4), Sheila Diane Lenton (grades 6-7), Wayne Frank Okapiec (grade 8), Gail Reesa Tolchinsky (grade 5)

1968-1969

Andrew Alexiuk (grade 7), Kathleen Ruth Kerda (grades 1-3), Olga Margaret Ann Lobur (grade 6), Otto Rosner (grade 8), Gail Reesa Tolchinsky (grades 4-5)

1969-1970

Andrew Alexiuk (grade 8), Sarah Jane Hunter (grades 1-2), Sheila Diane Lenton (grades 5-6), Otto Rosner (grade 7), Gail Reesa Tolchinsky (grades 3-4)

1970-1971

Andrew Alexiuk (grades 5-6), Margaret Lee Chubaty (grades 1-2), Samuel Symons (grades 7-8), Gail Reesa Tolchinsky (grades 3-4)

1971-1972

Andrew Alexiuk (grades 7-8), Margaret Lee Chubaty (grades 1-2), Bruce G. Clark (grades 5-6), Sheila Diane Lenton (grades 3-4)

Photos & Coordinates

Ridgeville School

Ridgeville School (circa 1911)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspector Photos GR2664, C65.

Ridgeville School

Ridgeville School (circa 1928)
Source: Judy Gleich

Ridgeville School

Ridgeville School (1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission, File 173 Ridgeville.

Exterior of the former Ridgeville School building

Exterior of the former Ridgeville School building (May 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Interior of the former Ridgeville School building

Interior of the former Ridgeville School building (May 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.06653, W97.01501
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

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.

“700 attend old school reunion,” Steinbach Carillon, 12 July 1972, page 31.

“Boundary School Division No. 16, Notice of Tender,” Steinbach Carillon, 19 December 1973, page 13.

Arnaud Through the Years by Arnaud Historical Society, 1974. [Manitoba Legislative Library]

Manitoba School Records Collection, Ridgeville School District No. 102 Daily Registers, GR2088, Archives of Manitoba.

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

Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission, Schools in Manitoba - Volume 2, Ridgeville School - File 173, March 1968, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Holly Thorne, Carol Wilkinson, Judy Gleich, and Brian Nedohin for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 10 October 2024

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