Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Charles School No. 826 / Beauchemin School / Charleswood School No. 826 (Roblin Boulevard, RM of Charleswood)

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Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The St. Charles District was established formally in August 1894, and a wood frame school operated on lots 59 and 60 within the Parish of St. Charles on land donated by local resident Patrick “Pat” Beauchemin (1871-1941), in what would later become the Municipality of Charleswood, now a suburb of Winnipeg. Classroom instruction began that Fall and was overseen by a single teacher.

In 1914, the original schoolhouse was replaced at the site by a two-storey, red brick building designed by Winnipeg architect Eldred Dodsworth Tuttle. Formally named Beauchemin School, it was also known as the “Old Red Brick School,” by district residents, and was later renamed Charleswood School.

In the latter half of 1918, the district was renamed the Charleswood School District, in keeping with the Department of Education's efforts to reduce the potentially confusing variation of school district names and unify them with that of the respective local communities. The districts original name would soon be reused with the opening of the St. Charles School District No. 2071 in 1921. By the 1930s, the school hosted grades 1 to 11 in three of its four classrooms, with the fourth room used as the municipal office. An indoor recreation facility was in the basement along with bathrooms that lacked running water.

The district opened a second school, Roblin Park School, in 1948. In 1951, it became Charleswood Consolidated School No. 2327, merging with Loudoun School No. 1511 and Chapman School No. 1677.

Charleswood School closed in 1956 and henceforth students went to other newly-constructed schools in the area: Beaumont School, Dieppe School, or Royal School. High school students went to Chapman School for a time until Charleswood Collegiate was built. The former Charleswood School building was taken over by the Royal Canadian Legion, which used it as a Legion Hall until a new structure was erected. The building was demolished in 1969.

Principals

Period	Principal
1914-1915	Armandine Desautels
1915-1917	Laura Vivian Asselstine Singleton (1888-1968)
1917-1918	Margaret Harper
1918-1922	Albina Marie Bleau (1897-1982)
1923	M. E. Walls
1923-1928	George Morgan Wade (1894-1984)
1928-1944	Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (1899-1990)
1944-1945	Mae Eileen Smith
1945-1946	Henry Joseph Grenon (1881-1981)
1946-1947	Vitaline Yvonne Gauthier
1947-1949	George Lecoq (1905-2000)
1949-1950	Louis Erwin “Lewis” Gendron (1896-1973)
1950-1952	Benjamin Franklin Olson (1898-1981)
1952-1953	Alice Marie Rousseau (1918-1983)
1953-1954	Ernest Friesen Reimer (1909-1999)
1954-1955	Irvin Labovitch
1955-1956	Lillian Eva Elizabeth Robertson

Teachers

Among the early teachers of St. Charles School were Marie Desgagner (Fall 1894 - Spring 1895), ? (Fall 1895 - Fall 1896), M. Louise Caron (Spring 1898 - Spring 1900), Ad. Manseau (Fall 1900 - Fall 1901), records not available (Spring 1902 - Spring 1904), Mr. Collins (Fall 1904), Josephine Paradis (Spring 1905), Rose A. Perras (Fall 1905 - Spring 1906), Cecile Paille (Fall 1906 - Spring 1908), Leda A. Benoit (Fall 1908), Caroline Boiteau (Spring 1909 - Spring 1910), and Berthe Benjamin (Fall 1910 - Spring 1911).

School Year	Teachers
1911-1912	Berthe Benjamin (Fall), Berthe Caron (Spring), Eva Langevin
1912-1913	Berthe Benjamin (Fall), Eva Langevin
1913-1914	N. Valentine Desautels
1914-1915	Armandine Desautels, N. Valentine Desautels
1915-1916	N. Valentine Desautels (grades 1-3), Laura Vivian Singleton (grades 4-8)
1916-1917	Albina Marie Bleau (grades 1-4), Laura Vivian Singleton (grades 5-9)
1917-1918	Albina Marie Bleau (grades 1-4), Margaret Harper (grades 5-10)
1918-1919	Albina Marie Bleau (grades 4-10), Mona Brown (grades 1-3)
1919-1920	Albina Marie Bleau (grades 4-9), Mona Brown (grades 1-3)
1920-1921	Albina Marie Bleau (grades 4-8), Mona Brown (grades 1-3)
1921-1922	Albina Marie Bleau (grades 4-9), Mona Brown (grades 1-3)
1922-1923	Albina Marie Bleau (grades 4-9, Fall), Mona Brown (grades 1-3), M. E. Walls (grades 5-8, Spring)
1923-1924	Maud Palmer Hall (grades 5-8), Nita McArthur (grades 1-4), George Morgan Wade (grades 9-11)
1924-1925	Mrs. Booth (grades 5-8, September-October), Elsie E. Cameron (grades 5-8, October-December), Miss Kilpatrick (grades 5-8, October), Nita McArthur (grades 1-4), George Morgan Wade (grades 9-11)
1925-1926	Elsie E. Cameron (grades 5-8), Jean H. Dunlop (grades 1-4, ?-June), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4, September-December & January-?), George Morgan Wade (grades 9-11, September-December; grades 9-10, January-June)
1926-1927	Elsie E. Cameron (grades 5-8), Jean H. Dunlop (grades 1-4), George Morgan Wade (grades 8-10)
1927-1928	Elsie E. Cameron (grades 5-8), Jean H. Dunlop (grades 1-4), George Morgan Wade (grades 9-11)
1928-1929	Lillian Kathleen Betsworth (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1929-1930	Lillian Kathleen Betsworth (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1930-1931	Irma Marguerite Preston (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1931-1932	Irma Marguerite Preston (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1932-1933	Irma Marguerite Preston (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1933-1934	Dorothy Hazel Betsworth (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1934-1935	Dorothy Hazel Betsworth (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1935-1936	Dorothy Hazel Betsworth (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1936-1937	Dorothy Hazel Betsworth (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1937-1938	Dorothy Hazel Betsworth (grades 5-8), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4)
1938-1939	Dorothy Hazel Betsworth (grades 5-8), I. Margaret E. Kelly (grades 1-4, pt Spring), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Eleanor Marie Vosper (grades 1-4, Fall - pt Spring)
1939-1940	Dorothy Hazel Betsworth (grades 5-8), Nena [Nina?] Agnes Halloway (grades 1-4), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11)
1940-1941	Nena [Nina?] Agnes Halloway (grades 1-4), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Minerva Caroline Stevin? (grades 5-8)
1941-1942	Nena [Nina?] Agnes Halloway (grades 1-4, Fall), Gertrude Maude Kendrick (grades 1-4, Spring), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Minerva Caroline Stevin? (grades 5-8)
1942-1943	Ethel Catherine Edwards (grades 5-8), Gertrude Maude Kendrick (grades 1-4), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11)
1943-1944	Christina Fraser (grades 1-4), Kristjan Bergthor Sigurdsson (grades 9-11), Mae Eileen Smith (grades 5-8)
1944-1945	Christina Fraser (grades 1-3), Mabel Laura Magnusson (grades 4-6), Mae Eileen Smith (grades 7-9)
1945-1946	Henry Joseph Grenon (grades 7-9), Mabel Laura Magnusson (grades 3-5), Mae Eileen Smith (grades 1-2)
1946-1947	Hilda Johanna Arnason (grade 1), Vitaline Yvonne Gauthier (grades 7-9), Mabel Laura Magnusson (grades 4-6), Dorothy Mary Sheldrake (grades 2-3)
1947-1948	Hilda Johanna Arnason (grades 1-2), I. Margaret E. Kelly (grades 3-4), George Lecoq (grades 7-9), Dorothy Mary Sheldrake (grades 4-6)
1948-1949	Hilda Johanna Arnason (grades 1-2), Jeanette Y. Defresne (grades 3-4), George Lecoq (grades 7-9), Dorothy Mary Sheldrake (grades 4-6)
1949-1950	Hilda Johanna Arnason (grades 1-2), Ella Aubrey Brown (grades 3-4, January-June), Gwendoline Nettie May Corbett (grades 3-4, September-December), Ruth Elizabeth Galbraith (grades 4-6), Lewis Erwin Gendron (grades 7-9)
1950-1951	Hilda Johanna Arnason (grades 1-2), Ella Audrey Brown (grades 3-4), Mrs. S. Margaret Cantelon (grades 1-2), Ruth Elizabeth Galbraith (grades 5-6), Benjamin Franklin Olson (grades 7-9)
1951-1952	Hilda Johanna Arnason (grades 1-2, 1951), Ella Audrey Brown (grades 3-4), Ruth Elizabeth Galbraith (grades 4-5), Benjamin Franklin Olson (grades 6-8), Jennie Elizabeth Tait (grades 1-2)
1952-1953	Ella Audrey Brown (grades 3-4), Clara Louise Dee (grades 5-6, 1952), Irvin Labovitch (grades 5-6, 1953), Alice Marie Rousseau (grades 7-8), Jennie Elizabeth Tait (grades 1-2)
1953-1954	Ella Audrey Brown (grades 2-3), E. Dugard (grades 4-5, 1953 substitute), Miss N. Kassian (grades 4-5, 1953), Irvin Labovitch (grades 6-7), Jennie Elizabeth Tait (grades 1-2), Nan E. Yurkiw (grades 4-5, 1954)
1954-1955	Ella Audrey Brown (grades 2-3), Irvin Labovitch (grades 6-7), Lillian Eva Elizabeth Robertson (grades 4-5), Jennie Elizabeth Tait (grades 1-2)
1955-1956	Ella Audrey Brown (grades 2-3), Joan Alice Butler (grades 3-4), Beatrice Arnetta Connon (grade 1), Lillian Eva Elizabeth Robertson (grades 5-6)

Photos & Coordinates

The second Charleswood School building, known as the “Old Red Brick School,” in which the Charleswood municipal office was situated (1914) Source: Len Van Roon The second Charleswood School (February 1933) Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7447, Album 4, Page 2. The second Charleswood School building shortly before demolition (1969) Source: Planning, Property & Development, City of Winnipeg , #4536 The second Charleswood School building being demolished (1969) Source: Len Van Roon Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.86164, W97.30104 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Charles Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery (320 St. Charles Street, Winnipeg)

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

Sources:

“School openings,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 August 1904, page 5.

“Appointed Chairman,” Manitoba Free Press, 18 July 1916, page 2.

“News from the suburbs - Charleswood,” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 August 1921, page 9.

“News from the suburbs - Charleswood [The high school opened in Charleswood ...],” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 August 1923, page 5.

Obituary [Patrick Beauchemin], Winnipeg Tribune 10 December 1941, page 18.

“Meeting demands Board re-instate fired teachers,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 May 1949, page 9.

“Board to probe teacher status,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 May 1949, page 17.

“Should girls wear slacks?” Winnipeg Tribune, 15 June 1949, page 1.

“Centre of slacks-in-school fight, girl defends “comfortable attire”,” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 June 1949, page 7.

“Charleswood children back to school Monday,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 August 1949, page 3.

“Charleswood lists teachers,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 September 1954, page 3.

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.

Photos & Fragments of Charleswood History: A Collection of Historic Photographs of our Community and the Stories They Tell by Len Van Roon & Verna Van Roon, 2003, pages 67-71.

Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.

School division and school district formation files (E 0027), St. Charles School District No. 826, GR1688, Archives of Manitoba.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Charleswood School District No. 826 [School Division No. 3] - Daily Registers, GR10356, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Charleswood Consolidated School District No. 2327 (School Division No. 3) - Daily Registers, GR10356, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Len Van Roon for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 23 July 2022

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