Historic Sites of Manitoba: Flora School / Amaranth School No. 1534 (Amaranth, RM of Alonsa)

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

Known as Flora School District No. 1534 when it was organized in May 1910, named for early settler Flora Robinson, a small schoolhouse was situated at SW12-19-10W in the Rural Municipality of Alonsa. It became Flora Consolidated School District in 1913 and a new school building was erected at SE11-19-10W. The original building was moved to Harcus where it was renovated into an Anglican church. In 1920, the name was changed to Amaranth Consolidated School and plans were made for a new four-classroom school in Amaranth. Completed by the fall of 1921, it operated until 1953 when it was destroyed by fire. A new school was constructed on the same site and, in 1967, it became part of the Turtle River School Division. The school closed in 1981 and students were transferred to the Amaranth Collegiate building. A plaque commemorating the school was erected by the Amaranth History Book Committee in July 1994 on the site of a war memorial.

Principals

Period	Principal
1931-1933	Miss L. W. Bradley
1933-1937	Arthur John Charles Starr (1907-1966)
1937-1941	?
1941-1942	Guy Chauviere (1907-1992)
1942-1943	Winnifred Dunbar
1943-1945	Henry Benjamin Bees (c1886-1968)
1945-1946	William John “Bill” Dutka (?-2008)
1946-1947	Beulah Beryl McNevin (1896-1963)
1947-1948	William J. Menzies
1948-1949	Henry W. Jones
1949-1950	?
1950-1951	Harold Schulz
1951-1953	Thomas Peterson
1953-1954	Joseph “Joe” [Szezygol] Shygol (c1928-1974)
1954-1957	Robert D. Neilson
1957-1958	Christine McSherry
1958-1961	Mrs. Elsie E. Butler
1961-1962	R. M. Chambers
1962-1964	W. Godolphin
1964-1965	Rudolf Ewald “Rudy” Mehmel (1918-2013)
1965-1966	William Korytowski
1966-1973	Mrs. N. Oswald
1973-1978	?
1978-1981	John Tober
After 1981	See Amaranth Collegiate

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1978-1979	Robert Cochrane, Horace James, Arthur McConkey, Phyllis Sahulka, Marilyn Shamuyarira, Diane Sharpe
1979-1980	?
1980-1981	Sister Marie Berlinguette, Horace James, Lucy Passante, Phyllis Sahulka, Marilyn Shamuyarira, Judy Thompson

Among the other teachers at Amaranth School was George L. Dibblee (1919-1921).

Photos & Coordinates

Amaranth School (no date) by C. K. Rogers Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 135. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.59807, W98.74092 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Amaranth War Memorial, Schools, and Churches (Amaranth, RM of Alonsa)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Amaranth Collegiate / Amaranth School (Amaranth, RM of Alonsa)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Floral School No. 397 (Municipality of Louise)

Sources:

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

Amaranth East topographic map, 62J/10 East, Edition 1, Series A743 [UFS Reference Collection].

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.

“Add one position in Turtle R.,” Dauphin Herald, 6 September 1978, page 2.

“Teachers begin year in Turtle River S.D.,” Dauphin Herald, 10 September 1980, page 24.

Seasons of Our Lives, A History of Amaranth and District, Manitoba, Canada by Amaranth Historical Society, 1985.

We thank Nathan Kramer, Barbara Botelho, and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 June 2021

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