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The Grand Marais School District was established formally in April 1916 and a school operated at NW16-18-7E in the Rural Municipality of St. Clements. The first school building measured 22 feet by 26 feet and was made of concrete, brick, and stone. It was completed at a cost of around $1,800 and opened to students in February 1917. Within the following decade, as adjoining the Dunlop School District was formed, parts of the district’s eastern area were re-allocated. Between boundary changes and a growing local student enrollment from within the village of Grand Marais, a $3,000 debenture was taken out in 1929 to build a new wood frame schoolhouse closer to most pupils. Completed that year, this second structure was the other side of the creek, within the village. During the early to mid-1930s, the new wooden school (known as School No. 1) and old concrete school (known as School No. 2) were used, though the latter was eventually taken out of service. The concrete School No. 2 is still standing, about one-half mile from the east gate of the Grand Beach Provincial Park (N50.54750, W96.57371) and, in 2014, it was renovated into a private residence.
The newer building, located in the northern half of NE18-18-7E, had its capacity increased several times, including a $2,500 single-classroom addition in the autumn of 1942. That was followed with a $7,100 renovation and expansion in 1954, based on the architectural designs of the Watchler Manufacturing Company, which added one new classroom and subdivided the original classroom into two separate rooms, thus creating a four-classroom configuration (also referred to in documentation as 3.5 classrooms, on account of the smaller nature of the split room). A further $1,900 of improvements were undertaken in 1958. A three-room teacherage, located nearby, was also constructed. When high school grades went to Walter Whyte Collegiate, the school (which had delivered up to grade 11) reverted to grades 1 through 8. The former Dunlop School was relocated here after 1966 and used as a classroom for around two years.
In 1967, the district was dissolved and its catchment area became part of the Lord Selkirk School Division. The school was given yet another capacity increase of two temporary classrooms in the summer of 1968. The school closed a year later, in the summer of 1969, and all grades were subsequently transferred to Walter Whyte School. The former school building was used then as a recreation centre. Damaged by fire, it was extensively renovated and, by 1983, was being used as a club, recreation hall, and change house for nearby curling and skating rinks.
Period
Principal
1929-1930
?
1930-1932
Lucy Evaline Mills “Eva” Horn (1907-1995)
1932-1933
Mary Jean Irene Gunn
1933-1936
?
1936-1939
Edith Mary Baker
1939-1949
?
1949-1959
Frank Nicholas Lupkowski (1929-1991)
1959-1966
David Joseph Damase Boiteau (1911-2002)
1966
Jerome D. Schwinghammer
1967
Austin Gayle
1967-1968
?
1968-1969
John Joseph McDonald (1934-2019)
The teachers of the original Grand Marais School were W. J. Robinson (1917), Anna Hermann (1917-1918), Mr. W. H. Jones (1918), Anna Hermann (1919), Annie E. Mills (1920), Florence E. M. McNee (1920), Rose Barnes (1921), Mary Margretta McDougall (1921), Gertrude V. McCandless (1922-1923), Lillian M. Travers (1924), Hazel Grace Smith (1924-1926), Annie Lucille Thompson (1926-1927), Myrtle Anna Swain (1927-1928), and Dorothy Harnott Dutton (1928-1929).
Period
Teachers
1929-1930
Linda Jones (grades 1-6, new school), Ethel M. Hicks (grades 1-9, old school)
1930-1931
Lucy Evaline Mills (grades 1-7, new school), Elly S. Peters (grades 1-9, old school)
1931-1932
Lucy Evaline Mills (grades 1-7, new school), Elly S. Peters (grades 1-9, old school)
1932-1933
Mary Jean Irene Gunn (grades 1-8, new school), Mary Elizabeth McLaren (grades 3-8, old school)
1933-1934
Mildred Marian Pepper (grades 6-8, school?), Elizabeth Agnes Sawyer (grades 1-8, school?)
1934-1935
Mildred Marian Pepper (grades 6-8, school?), Elizabeth Agnes Sawyer (grades 1-8, school?)
1935-1936
Mildred Marian Pepper (grades 6-8, school?), Elizabeth Agnes Sawyer (grades 1-8, school?)
1936-1937
Margaret Catherine Knight (grades 1-4, August-September; grades 1-3, October-June), Edith Mary Baker (grades 5-9, August-September; grades 4-9, October-June)
1937-1938
Margaret Catherine Knight (grades 1-3), Edith Mary Baker (grades 4-10)
1938-1939
Margaret Catherine Knight (grades 1-3), Edith Mary Baker (grades 4-10)
1939-1940
Lillian Rose Fanstone (grades ?-?), Annie Sims (grades ?-?)
1940-1941
Lillian Rose Fanstone (grades ?-?), Annie Sims (grades ?-?)
1941-1942
Laura Kathleen Brock (grades ?-?, 1941), Erna Emilie Ozol (grades ?-?), Margaret Anne Ursel (grades, 1942)
1942-1943
Erna Emilie Ozol (grades ?-?), Eleanor Lillian Adele Schmok (grades ?-?)
1943-1944
Erna Emilie Ozol (grades ?-?), Eleanor Lillian Adele Schmok (grades ?-?)
1944-1945
Vary Pauline Lysaichuk (grades ?-?), Vlasra Matejka (grades ?-?)
1945-1946
Bessie Eris Vera Richtik (grades ?-?), Inga Storgaard (grades ?-?)
1946-1947
? (all grades)
1947-1948
Jean Mary Funk (grades ?-?, 1947), Marie Recksiedler (grades ?-?), Helen Cecilia Bonnell (grades ?-?)
1948-1949
E. Joyce Reeves (grades ?-?), Irene Ruth Trapp (grades ?-?)
1949-1950
Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Josephine Lorraine Lupkowski (junior grades)
1950-1951
Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Josephine Lorraine Lupkowski (junior grades)
1951-1952
Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Josephine Lorraine Lupkowski (junior grades)
1952-1953
Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Jessie Noreen McConnell (junior grades)
1953-1954
Lawrence W. Fenarin (grades ?-?), Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades ?-?)
1954-1955
David Joseph Boiteau (grades ?-?), S. Marie I. Elder (grades ?-?), Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades ?-?)
1955-1956
David Joseph Boiteau (grades ?-?), Mary F. Kaminsky (grades ?-?), Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades ?-?)
1956-1957
David Joseph Boiteau (grades ?-?), Mary F. Kaminsky (grades ?-?), Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades ?-?)
1957-1958
David Joseph Boiteau (grades ?-?), Ileen Drad (grades ?-?), Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades ?-?)
1958-1959
David Joseph Boiteau (grades ?-?), Anna S. Johnson (grades ?-?), Frank Nicholas Lupokowski (senior grades), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades ?-?)
1959-1960
David Joseph Boiteau (grades 6-8), Anna S. Johnson (grades 1-2), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades 3-5)
1960-1961
David Joseph Boiteau (grades 6-8), Anna S. Johnson (grades 1-2), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades 3-5)
1961-1962
David Joseph Boiteau (grades 6-8), Ileen Drad (grades 1-2), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades 3-5)
1962-1963
David Joseph Boiteau (grades 6-8), Ileen Drad (grades 1-2), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades 3-5)
1963-1964
David Joseph Boiteau (grades 6-8), Ileen Drad (grades 1-2), Marie R. Recksiedler (grades 3-5)
1964-1965
David Joseph Boiteau (grades 6-8), Ileen Drad (grades 1-2), Winnifred G. Thomas (grades 3-5)
1965-1966
Ileen Drad Anderson (grades 1-2), David Joseph Boiteau (grades 6-8), Alfred C. Chorney (grades 3-5, 1966), Winnifred G. Thomas (grades 3-5)
1966-1967
Baldwin P. Berg (grades ?, 1967), Austin Gayle (senior grades, 1967), Jerome D. Schwinghammer (senior grades, 1966), Shirley Schwinghammer (grades ?, 1966)
1967-1968
?
1968-1969
Miss B. Anderson (grde 7), Mr. G. E. Borgford (grade 6), Mrs. A. Lesosky (grade 5), John Joseph McDonald (grade 8), Mrs. M. Palmer (grade 3), Mrs. J. Sanderson (grade 7), Mrs. Miss L. Sawatzky (grade 1), Mrs. G. Sigurdson (grade 2), Mrs. B. Webb (grade 4)
Period
Principal
1959-1965
Frank Nicholas Lupkowski (1929-1991)
Period
Teachers
1959-1965
Frank Nicholas Lupkowski (grades 9-11)
Grand Marais School No. 2 (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 53.
The former Grand Marais School No. 2 building (July 2016)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.54447, W96.61198
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Marais School No. 1385 (RM of DeSalaberry)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Aux Marais School No. 55 (RM of Montcalm)
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Victoria Beach East topographic map, 62I/15 East, Edition 1, Series A743 [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.
East Side of the Red, 1884-1984 by St. Clements Historical Committee, 1984.
“Tenders [The Lord Selkirk School Division],” Selkirk Enterprise, 3 July 1968, page 11.
“School Directory,” Selkirk Enterprise, 4 September 1968, page 3.
Corporate Security registered documents (ATG 0089), #7 - School District of Grand Marais, GR12576, Archives of Manitoba.
Corporate Security registered documents (ATG 0089), #33 - School District of Grand Marais, GR12576, Archives of Manitoba.
Departmentally appointed school trustee files (E 0034), Grand Marais School District #1825 - Miscellaneous, GR1629, Archives of Manitoba.
Departmentally appointed school trustee files (E 0034), Grand Marais School District #1825 - Minute Books, GR1629, Archives of Manitoba.
Departmentally appointed school trustee files (E 0034), Grand Marais School District #1825 - Daily Registers, GR1629, Archives of Manitoba.
Departmentally appointed school trustee files (E 0034), Grand Marais School District #1825 - Cash Books, GR1629, Archives of Manitoba.
Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1825 - Grand Marais School District - Floor Plan for Addition to School, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.
Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1825 - Grand Marais School District - Blueprint for Construction of School, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.
Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1825 - Grand Marais - Permanent, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.
Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1825 - Grand Marais, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.
School Division borrowing files (MA 0038), Grand Marais School District #1825, GR1798, Archives of Manitoba.
Municipal borrowing files (MA 0039), Grand Marais School District #1825, GR1799, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Grand Marais [School Division #11] - Daily Register, GR10837, Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Kathleen Rueckert and Cindy Nachtigall for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 4 July 2020
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