The St. Ouens School District was organized formally in October 1897 and a one-classroom wood frame building was built on the northwest quarter of 33-12-8 east of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Brokenhead. This was later called the North School when a second schoolhouse, called the South School, opened about 2.5 miles due south. By the late 1960s, grades taught were divided between both schools. In 1968, the North School was closed but the building remained in use for storage by the Agassiz School Division until sometime in the 1990s. The property was then sold and was eventually rehabilitated by new owners who moved the former schoolhouse approximately 100 feet east and completed renovations into a private residence by 2019.
Among the teachers who worked at St. Ouens North School were Elta Larson (Spring 1950 - Spring 1952), William Harry “Bill” Kozyra (Fall 1952 - Spring 1955), Miss M. Munday? (Fall 1955 - Spring 1956), Miss T. Pshednowek? (Fall 1956 - Spring 1958), Mrs. T. Buss (Fall 1958 - Spring 1966), Mrs. O. Gerard (Fall 1966 - Spring 1967), and Penny Judith Lamont (grades 1-4, 1967-1968).
St. Ouens North School (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 21.
St. Ouens North School (1968)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - St. Ouens 1.
The former St. Ouens North School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1267.
The former St. Ouens North School building (2008)
Source: Manny Jacob
The former St. Ouens North School building (March 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
The former St. Ouens North School building (June 2019)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.05455, W96.45210
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Ouens South School No. 909 (RM of Brokenhead)
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.
They Stopped at a Good Place: A History of the Beausejour, Brokenhead, Garson and Tyndall Area of Manitoba, 1875-1981 by Beausejour-Brokenhead Historical Book Committee, 1982, page 246.
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
Manitoba School Records Collection, St. Ouens (North) School District #909 - Daily Registers, GR0565, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, St. Ouens School District #909 - Cash Books, GR9480, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, St. Ouens School District #909 - Minute Book, GR0565, Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Rose Kuzina and Manny Jacob for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared Gordon Goldsborough, and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 29 December 2021
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