Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Charles School No. 2071 (77 Dandurand Avenue, Winnipeg)

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

The St. Charles School District was established in March 1921 and, by the autumn, a one-storey, three-room stone and brick school building was constructed at a cost of $25,000 by contractor Patrick H. Hedges, on Lot 94 in St. Charles. A small room on a mezzanine between the two classrooms served as a library and “scolding room.” A small stable behind the building accommodated the horses ridden by students to school. Teachers Annie Cameron and Regina Champagne taught students in ten grades. In 1946, a third teacher was hired to teach a class housed in the basement.

In 1955, four more classrooms were constructed on the back of the building and, four years later, laboratories, a gymnasium, and more classroms were added, bringing the total classroom complement to twelve. In 1967, the school became part of the Assiniboine North School Division. As student enrollment declined through the 1970s, especially after construction Hedges Junior High School, the number of classrooms in active use decreased. Finally, in June 1983, with only 146 students, the school closed and the remaining students moved to Buchanan School. The building was demolished and its cornerstone (laid on 22 July 1921 by Deputy Education Minister Robert Fletcher) was also transferred to Buchanan.

Principals

Period	Principal
1957-1964	Peter Slonowski
1964-1967	?
1967-1968	Thaddeus Edward “Ted” Witoski (1932-2014)
1968-1970	Ron Sigurdson
1970-1973	Lyall Evert Sims (1930-1996)
1973-1977	?
1977-1983	Nell Angela Ruchkall Ramsay (1925-2016)

Vice-Principals

Period	Vice-Principal
1963-1965	Christopher Shaughnessy O’Grady (1939-2017)

Teachers

Some of the teachers at St. Charles School included Annie Cameron (1921), Regina Champagne (1921), and Christopher S. O’Grady (1958-1963).

Photos & Coordinates

St. Charles School (circa 1930) by E. D. Parker Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 88. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.88275, W97.32284 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Charles Convent / St. Charles Catholic School (331 St. Charles Street, Winnipeg)

Sources:

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

A Brief History of Buchanan Elementary School, St. James Assiniboia School Division.

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.

We thank the St. James - Assiniboia School Division for providing information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 25 March 2021

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