Historic Sites of Manitoba: Cossette School No. 1378 (Inwood, RM of Armstrong)

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

The Cossette School District was established in May 1907 and, the following year, a schoolhouse operated at NE34-17-1W in the Rural Municipality of Armstrong. In 1911, it was moved to a two-acre site in nearby Inwood. A new two-classroom structure with a full basement was built at the site in 1922, based upon architectural drawings by Gilbert C. Parfitt. In 1942, the district was dissolved and its catchment area became part of the Armstrong Municipal School District No. 1842. Further expansions were made in 1955 and 1957 (one classroom), and the building was used for all classes until high school grades were moved into temporary structures in 1959. Those grades were transferred in the Fall of 1962 to the new Inwood Collegiate across the street, at which point this building became known as Inwood Elementary School.

With the removal of high school grades from Inwood Collegiate grades to Teulon in September 1967, both buildings operated as Inwood Elementary School (later as Inwood School) under a single Principal. That arrangement lasted into the early 1970s, when the former collegiate building was expanded while the old Cossette School was closed and put up for sale or demolition. The building was purchased and moved to Lundar. The former elementary school site is now occupied by an automotive service station.

Principals (Cossette School / Inwood Elementary School)

Period	Principal
1922-1923	Morley H. Lawrence
1923-1925	Frederick “Fred” Morgan (1870-1936)
1925-1926	Jean F. C. Hopkins
1926-1927	Beulah Beryl McNevin (1896-1963)
1927-1928	Dorothy Evangeline Jennison Belcher
1929	Marjorie Blanche Patmore “Marj” Mikkelsen (1905-1998)
1929	Josephus K. “Joseph” Lamb (1891-1975)
1930	Annie Margaret Gillies
1930-1935	Gertrude Elizabeth McRae
1935-1936	Henry Joseph Grenon (1881-1981)
1936-1937	Thomas Bell (1913-1996)
1937-1938	John Archibald “Archie” Carmichael (1916-2001)
1938-1940	Percy Nimrod Hunt (1910-1990)
1940-1941	William Harrison Lucow (1916-?)
1941-1944	Michael John Mazur (1913-2011)
1944-1946	Lena I. Braun
1946-1951	Percy Nimrod Hunt (1910-1990)
1951-1954	John R. Lord
1954-1955	Doris Horosko
1955-1957	Nicholas Krawchuk
1957	Ervin Chezick
1957-1959	Gustaf H. Finnson
1959-1967	William Alexander Knihinicki
1967-1973	See Inwood Elementary

Principals (Inwood High School)

Period	Principal
1959-1960	Calvin A. Bamsfield
1960-1962	Benjamin Franklin Olson (1898-1981)
1962-1967	See Inwood Collegiate

Teachers (Cossette School / Inwood Elementary School)

Period	Teachers
1922-1923	Annie A. Kallman (grades 1-5), Morley H. Lawrence (grades 5-7)
1923-1924	Annie A. Kallman (grades 1-4), Frederick Morgan (grades 4-8)
1924-1925	Ella M. Hedden (grades 1-3, 1925), Annie A. Kallman (grades 1-3, 1924), Frederick Morgan (grades 4-9)
1925-1926	Jean F. C. Hopkins (grades 4-10), Rose Belle Rogers (grades 1-3)
1926-1927	Alice M. Belton (grades 1-4), Beulah Beryl McNevin (grades 5-10)
1927-1928	Dorothy Evangeline Jennison Belcher (grades 5-8), Rose Belle Rogers (grades 1-4)
1928-1929	Winnifred Margaret Baldwin (grades 1-4, 1929), Dorothy Evangeline Jennison Belcher (grades 5-8, 1928), Marjorie Blanche Patmore (grades 5-8, 1929), Mary Estella Sheffield (grades 1-4, 1928)
1929-1930	Annie Margaret Gillies (grades 5-9, 1930), Josephus K. Lamb (grades 5-9, 1929), Vera Shirley Stokes (grades 1-4)
1930-1931	Lois Enid McLellan (grades 1-5, 1930; grades 1-4, 1931), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 5-9)
1931-1932	Lois Enid McLellan (grades 1-5), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 6-9)
1932-1933	Lois Enid McLellan (grades 1-5), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 6-9)
1933-1934	Lois Enid McLellan (grades 1-5), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 6-9)
1934-1935	Lois Enid McLellan (grades 6-9), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 1-5)
1935-1936	Alice L. Clark (grades 1-5), Henry Joseph Grenon (grades 6-11)
1936-1937	Thomas Bell (grades 6-10), Norma Kathlene Mooney (grades 1-5)
1937-1938	John Archibald “Archie” Carmichael (grades 6-10), Viola Uldine Lang (grades 1-5)
1938-1939	Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 6-10), Viola Uldine Lang (grades 1-5)
1939-1940	Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 6-11), Viola Uldine Lang (grades 1-5)
1940-1941	Kathleen Violet Heidel (grades 1-8), William Harrison Lucow (grades 9-12)
1941-1942	Michael John Mazur (grades 9-11), Mabel Belle Smithers (grades 1-8)
1942-1943	Christina Herd Hogue (grades 1-8), Michael John Mazur (grades 9-11)
1943-1944	Rita G. Jubinville (grades 1-8), Michael John Mazur (grades 9-11)
1944-1945	Lena I. Braun (grades 9-11), Marie P. McDonald (grades 1-8)
1945-1946	Lena I. Braun (grades 9-11), Olga Lillian Husack (grades 1-8)
1946-1947	Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 9-11), Lillian Marie Penty (grades 1-8)
1947-1948	Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 9-11), Irene Marie Therese Ponchon (grades 1-8)
1948-1949	Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 9-11), Anne Skrabek (grades 1-8 October-June), Rudy Woelke (grades 1-8, August-September)
1949-1950	Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 9-11), Mary Klym (grades 1-8)
1950-1951	Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 7-11), Jean Frances Sklepowich (grades 1-6)
1951-1952	John R. Lord (grades 7-11), Nina W. Haacke (grades 1-6)
1952-1953	Frank John Gustaw (grades 4-8), Lillian Muriel Klassen (grades 1-3), John R. Lord (grades 9-11)
1953-1954	Irene Theresa Johnson (grades 4-8), John R. Lord (grades 9-11), Joyce Sitko (grades 1-4)
1954-1955	Doris Horosko (grades 9-11), Helen T. Rucki (grades 4-8), Joyce Sitko (grades 1-4)
1955-1956	Pollyanna T. Babula (grades 1-4), Nicholas Krawchuk (grades 9-11), Denise Marguerite Moreau (grades 5-8)
1956-1957	Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-4), Nicholas Krawchuk (grades 9-11), Pauline Labchuk (grades 5-8)
1957-1958	Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-3), Elizabeth Mary Boyachek [Boyachuk?] (grades 3-6), Ervin Chezick (grades 9-11, September; grades 7-9, September-October), Gustaf H. Finnson (grades 10-11, September-June), Joseph Grodecki (grades 7-9, November-June)
1958-1959	Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-3), Elizabeth Mary Boyachek [Boyachuk?] (grades 3-6), Gustaf H. Finnson (grades 10-11), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 7-9)
1959-1960	Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-3), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-3)
1960-1961	Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-3), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 4-5)
1961-1962	William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-3), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 4-5)
1962-1963	William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-3), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 4-5)
1963-1964	William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-3), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 4-5)
1964-1965	William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-2), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 3-5)
1965-1966	Aniceta Blancas (grades 5-6, October-June), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 7-8; & grades 5-6 September), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-2), Anne Elva Nechwediuk (grades 3-4, 1966), Vera Shupenia (grades 5-6, August), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 3-4, 1965)
1966-1967	Freida Bernice Jorheim (kindergarten), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-2), Vera Shupenia (grades 5-6), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 3-5)
1967-1973	See Inwood Elementary

Teachers (Cossette High School)

Period	Teachers
1959-1960	Calvin A. Bamsfield (grades 10-12, August-September; grades 11-12, October-June), Fredrick John Dolney (grade 10), Michael John McLot (grade 9, September-June), A. M. Sveistrup (grade 9, August)
1960-1961	Daniel Joseph MacNeil (grade 9), Benjamin Franklin Olson (grades 11-12), Carl Joseph Safinuk (grade 10)
1961-1962	D. A. Balfour (grade 9, November-June), Hope V. MacNeil (grade 9, September), Benjamin Franklin Olson (grades 11-12), Carl Joseph Safinuk (grade 10)
1962 onward	See Inwood Collegiate

Teachers

Among the teachers who worked at Cossette School through the early years were N. Bennet (1907), M. Lagimodier (1909), M. H. Connelly (1910), Miss Van Den Haven (1913), M. Compayre (1914), M. L. Trottiere (1915), Zoe M. Collins (1915), Maria Senez (1916-1917, wife of Edward Cossette), Marjorie Mann (1917-1918), B. Collins (1918), E. B. Wood (September 1918 - March 1919 & 1919-1920), Hazel Jackson (April-June 1919), C. B. Woods (1919-1920), E. Inkster (August 1920 substitute), L. J. Prette (September-December 1920), Bowen Collins (January-June 1921), and B. J. Siegelman (1921-1922), along with Mrs. Hall (c1960s, kindergarten).

Photos & Coordinates

Inwood Elementary, the former Cossette School (June 1967) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission - Volume 1, File 19a Armstrong. Inwood Elementary, the former Cossette School (June 1967) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission - Volume 1, File 19a Armstrong. Former site of Cossette School (June 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.50667, W97.50229 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Inwood Collegiate / Inwood Elementary School / Inwood School (Inwood, RM of Armstrong)

Sources:

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

Arborg topographic map, 62I/14, Edition 1, Series A743 [Archives of Manitoba].

“For sale by public tender,” Stonewall Argus & Teulon Times, 5 September 1973, page 4.

Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission, Schools in the Interlake - Manitoba - Volume 1, Armstrong Elementary - File 19a, March 1968, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Cossette School District No. 1378 - Daily Registers, GR11220 , Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Cossette School District No. 1378 (Inwood Collegiate) - Daily Registers, GR11220 , Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Lakeshore School Division No. 23 (Inwood Elementary) - Daily Registers, GR11220 , Archives of Manitoba.

Plans and shop drawings (GS 0100), Inwood School District, GR3125, Archives of Manitoba.

School District Formation Files (E 0027), Armstrong Municipal School District No. 1842, GR1688, 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.

The Interlake Beckoned: A History of Inwood and Surrounding Districts by Inwood History Book Committee, 1980, page 261. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.I59 Int]

We thank Jennifer Bisch for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 4 August 2023

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