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The Sundown School District was established formally in March 1916 and a schoolhouse, built during the summer of 1916 by Case Stromberg, was originally located in the southeast corner of SE 1-2-9 East (around 49.09005, -96.25180) in the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn. It was later relocated to the former station grounds of the Canadian Northern Railway at Sundown along the western side of NW 1-2-9 East. In 1949, this site became known as the Sundown Village School when a second school, Sundown South School, was established within the southern portion of the district. A new three-classroom school was built in 1952 based upon architectural designs of the Watchler Manufacturing Company of Winnipeg. In April 1967, the district was dissolved and the catchment area became part of the Boundary School Division. The school closed in the summer of 1970.
Period
Principal
1934-1936
Margaret Annie Witty Hassett (1914-2012)
1936-1938
Anna Dill Carson (1878-1964)
1938-1942
Benjamin Hodkinson (1864-1948)
1942-1943
John William Gross (1914-1994)
1943-1944
Mildred Eleanor Ginn?
1944
Edith Margaret Nugent
1944-1961
Walter Constantine Bilych (c1911-1984)
1961-1964
Myron Oryschuk
1964-1970
Metro “Matt” Drewniak (1937-2013)
School Year
Teachers
1934-1935
Anna Dill Carson (grades 1-3), Margaret Annie Witty (grades 4-9)
1935-1936
Anna Dill Carson (grades 1-2, 1935; grades 1-4, 1936), Margaret Annie Witty (grades 3-10, 1935; grades 4-10, 1936)
1936-1937
Anna Dill Carson (grades 7-11), John Eliuk (grades 1-6)
1937-1938
Anna Dill Carson (grades 7-11), John Eliuk (grades 1-6)
1938-1939
John Eliuk (grades 1-4), Benjamin Hodkinson (grades 5-11)
1939-1940
John Eliuk (grades 1-4), Benjamin Hodkinson (grades 5-11)
1940-1941
John Eliuk (grades 1-4), Benjamin Hodkinson (grades 5-11)
1941-1942
John Eliuk (grades 1-4), Benjamin Hodkinson (grades 4-11)
1942-1943
John William Gross (grades 5-10), Abram Wiebe (grades 1-4)
1943-1944
Mildred Eleanor Ginn? (grades 5-10), Norma Jean Houston (grades 1-4), Edith Margaret Nugent (grades 5-10, 1944), Myrtle Rusenel (grades 1-4, 1944)
1944-1945
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 5-11), Ida Podolsky (grades 1-4)
1945-1946
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 5-11), Ida Podolsky (grades 1-4)
1946-1947
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Ida Podolsky (grades 4-8), Nettie Cecilia Shydlowsky (grades 1-3)
1947-1948
Zenith Catherine Arseny (grades 1-3), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Bohdan Harasym (grades 4-8)
1948-1949
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Bohdan Harasym (grades 5-8), Minnie Pearl Onyschuk (grades 1-4)
1949-1950
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Bohdan Harasym (grades 5-8), Zenith C. Harasym (grades 1-4)
1950-1951
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Bohdan Harasym (grades 5-8), Zenith C. Harasym (grades 1-4)
1951-1952
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Elizabeth Bilych (grades 1-4, 1952 substitute), Bohdan Harasym (grades 5-8), Jean Koshelanyk (grades 1-4)
1952-1953
Andrew Alexiuk (grades 4-8), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 1-3)
1953-1954
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 4-8), Mary Kereliuk (grades 1-3)
1954-1955
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 4-8), Paul Kereliuk (grades 1-3)
1955-1956
Nettie Cecilia Bereziuk (grades 1-3), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 4-8)
1956-1957
Nettie Cecilia Bereziuk (grades 1-3), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 4-8)
1957-1958
Jean Alexiuk (grades 1-4), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8)
1958-1959
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1959-1960
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1960-1961
Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1961-1962
John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Myron Oryschuk (grades 9-11), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1962-1963
John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Myron Oryschuk (grades 9-11), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1963-1964
John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Myron Oryschuk (grades 9-11), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1964-1965
Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1965-1966
Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1966-1967
Nell Pauline Chobotar (grades 1-2), Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 6-8), John Eliuk (grades 5-6), Eva Waskiul (grades 3-4)
1967-1968
Nell Pauline Chobotar (grades 1-2), Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 6-8), John Eliuk (grades 5-6), Eva Waskiul (grades 3-4)
1968-1969
Nell Pauline Chobotar (grades 1-2), Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 6-8), John Eliuk (grades 5-6), Eva Waskiul (grades 3-4)
1969-1970
Nell Pauline Chobotar (grades 1-2), Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 6-8), John Eliuk (grades 5-6), Iris Rose Happychuk (grades 3-4)
Among the other teachers of Sundown School / Sundown Village School were Lyle J. S. Dereck (1916-1918), Grace Peacock (1919), Miss C. Johnston Christine (1919-1920), C. M. Avery Jones (1920-1922), Emma Edith Lewis (1922-1924), O. A. Wursten (1924-1925), John Ference (1925), Lela Reed (1925), J. S. Wood (1926), Zella Arthur (1926), Msr. M. McClure (1926), Kathleen Grier (1927), Mrs. Adolfson (1927), Frank Bowman (1928), Leo Fisher (1928-1929), Leslie Ernest Grace (1929-1930), Mrs. A. E. Packer (1930), Eugenia Tkachyk (1931-1933), and Lillian Elizabeth Nicholin (1933-1934).
The old (left) Sundown School and new (right) Sundown School (December 1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission,
File 176 Sundown School.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.10059, W96.26923
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sundown School No. 1820 / Sundown South School (RM of Stuartburn)
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Schools in Manitoba - Volume 2, Sundown School - File 176, Local Government Boundaries Commission, March 1968, Archives of Manitoba.
Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1280 - Sundown School District - Permanent, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.
Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1280 - Sundown School District - Blueprints for School, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.
School division and school district formation files (E 0027), Sundown School District No. 1820, GR1688, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Sundown School District No. 1820 Daily Registers (Sundown School / Sundown Village School), GR2088, 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 Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 3 October 2023
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