The Valley River School District was established formally in August 1894 and a log school, built on land donated by Richard Parrot about one-half mile east of here, operated in what is now the Municipality of Grandview from 1894 to 1910. Said to be the first school in the municipality, the school’s first teacher, May Russell, taught ten students. The second school building, constructed using plans purchased from the T. Eaton department store, was built in 1910 at this site, SW15-25-23W.
The second school building was replaced in 1954 by a third (and final) one which operated until 1967 when it was consolidated into the Intermountain School Division. The final teacher was Mildred Abrey, teaching twelve students. Through the years, the school hosted church services, dances, Christmas concerts, public meetings, picnics, and other local functions. After the school closed, its remaining students went to Grandview School No. 1065 at Grandview or Brickburn Consolidated School No. 998 at Gilbert Plains. The school building is no longer present at the site but a commemorative monument was unveiled on 31 July 1995.
Among the teachers of Valley River School were Frederick Ladlay “Fred” Bousfield (c1918), A. S. Cottick (1938), J. Hrushowy (1938), and V. Chorneyko (1938).
The original Valley River School (no date)
Source: Dale Dutton
The second Valley River School (no date) by H. L. Albright
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 7.
The former Valley River School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 456.
The former Valley River School building (1980s)
Source: Ed Arndt
The former Valley River School building (1980s)
Source: Ed Arndt
Valley River School commemorative monument (June 2012)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N51.15522, W100.61653
denoted by symbol on the map above
“The local round,” Dauphin Herald, 20 October 1938, page 9.
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.
Manitoba Heritage Council Commemorative Plaques and Manitoba Community Commemorative Plaques, Fiscal Year 1995-1996, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Citizenship, page 37.
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
We thank Ed Arndt, Maureen Harris, Nathan Kramer, and Dale Dutton for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 27 March 2022
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