Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lavallee School No. 1538 (548 St. Anne’s Road, Winnipeg)

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

Named for community activist Louis Lavallee and the extended Lavalee family, this school district was formed in May 1910 as a part of the St. Boniface South / Mager School District No. 989 and a two-room schoolhouse was erected along St. Anne’s Road at the corner of De La Giclais Avenue, on Lot 50 in the Rural Municipality of St. Vital. In 1946, the original building was replaced with a new eight-classroom structure at the northwest corner of St. Anne’s Road and Sterling Avenue. In April 1959, the district was incorporated into the St. Vital Municipal School District No. 2374 and later the St. Vital School Division.

The facility was later replaced at a different site by the present Lavallee School. The older building was leased for $1 to the Children’s Home of Winnipeg for use as a learning centre for emotionally disturbed children. The building was demolished when Bishop Grandin Boulevard was constructed.

Principals

Period

Principal

1920-1921

Beatrice Thibodeau

1921-1923

Cordelia E. Toupin

1923-1924

Bessie Sinclair Crawford

1924-1926

Philip Markus Petursson (1902-1988)

1926-1928

John Neriah Sturk (1874-1939)

1928-1935

Irene Marie Eleanor Bain Smith (c1908-1968)

1935-1937

Merlin Victor Borden Newton (1909-1987)

1937-1938

Thomas Edwin “Ed” Sweet

1938-1940

Charles Middlemiss “Jock” Langford (1902-1946)

1940-1942

Willard Ervin Rife (1890-1970)

1942-1952

Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere [Labossiere] (1915-1999)

1952-1954

Borislaw Nicholas Bilash (1929-2021)

1955-1956

Marcel Philippe

1955-1956

Raymond Arthur Joseph “Ray” Labelle (c1931-1981)

1956-1969

?

1969-1971

Simon “Cy” Nimchuk (1933-2020)

Teachers

Among the early teachers at Lavallee School were Anne Seney? [Savoy?] (Fall 1910 - Spring 1911), Lucia Seney? [Savoy?] (Fall 1911 - Spring 1911), M. W. MacCoshan? (Fall 1911), Marie Lagamodiere (Spring 1912), G. A. Lariviere (Fall 1912 - Fall 1914), and Rosa Johnson (Spring 1915 - Spring 1920).

School Year

Teachers

1920-1921

Odile Parent (grades 1-2, Beatrice Thibodeau (grades 3-7)

1921-1922

Jeanne Blanc (grades 1-3, August-December), Marie Jeanne Pelletier (grades 1-3, January-June), Cordelia E. Toupin (grades 4-8)

1922-1923

Marie Jeanne Pelletier (grades 1-3), Cordelia E. Toupin (grades 7-10, August-December; grades 4-9, January-June), Maria Toupin (grades 4-6, August-December)

1923-1924

Bessie Sinclair Crawford (grades 5-9), Therese Lemoine (grades 1-4)

1924-1925

Louise Benoit (grades 1-4, January-June), Therese Lemoine (grades 1-3; August-December), Philip Markus Petursson (grades 4-9)

1925-1926

Louise Benoit (grades 1-4), Philip Markus Petursson (grades 5-9)

1926-1927

Louise Benoit (grades 1-4), John Neriah Sturk (grades 5-8)

1927-1928

Louise Benoit (grades 1-4), John Neriah Sturk (grades 5-8)

1928-1929

Irene Marie Eleanor Bain (grades 5-8), Anna Delima Todd (grades 1-4)

1929-1930

Irene Marie Eleanor Bain (grades 5-8), Anna Delima Todd (grades 1-4)

1930-1931

Irene Marie Eleanor Bain (grades 4-8), Anna Delima Todd (grades 1-4)

1931-1932

Irene Marie Eleanor Bain (grades 4-8), Anna Delima Todd (grades 1-4)

1932-1933

Irene Marie Eleanor Bain (grades 4-8), Yvonne Sicotte (grades 1-4)

1933-1934

Irene Marie Eleanor Bain (grades 4-8), Yvonne Sicotte (grades 1-3)

1934-1935

Irene Marie Eleanor Bain (grades 5-8), Yvonne Sicotte (grades 1-4)

1935-1936

Merlin Victor Borden Newton (grades 5-9), Yvonne Sicotte (grades 1-4)

1936-1937

Merlin Victor Borden Newton (grades 5-9), Yvonne Sicotte (grades 1-4)

1937-1938

Yvonne Sicotte (grades 1-4), Thomas Edwin “Ed” Sweet (grades 6-9)

1938-1939

Charles Middlemiss Langford (grades 5-9), Yvonne Sicotte (grades 1-4)

1939-1940

Charles Middlemiss Langford (grades 5-9), Irene Anne Marie Sicotte (grades 1-5)

1940-1941

Hilda Louise Cloutier (grades 1-5), Willard Ervin Rife (grades 6-9)

1941-1942

Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 1-5), Willard Ervin Rife (grades 6-9)

1942-1943

Hilda Louise Cloutier (grades 1-4, January-June), Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 5-9), Dorothy Elizabeth McKay (grades 1-4, August-December)

1943-1944

Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 5-9), Elizabeth Mary Landry (grades 1-4, January-June), Margarette Billings McNabb (grades 1-4, August-June)

1944-1945

Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 4 & 6-9), Elizabeth Mary Landry (grades 1-3 & 5, August-June), Annie Wenden (grades 1-3, August-June)

1945-1946

Myrtle Cook (grades 1-4, August-June), Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 5-9), Annie Wenden (grades 1-3, August-June)

1946-1947

Myrtle Cook (grades 1 & 3), Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 7-9), Antoinette Marie St. Onge (grades 4-6), Annie Wenden (grades 2-3)

1947-1948

Myrtle Cook (grades 1-2), Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 7-9), Antoinette Marie St. Onge (grades 4-6), Annie Wenden (grades 3-4)

1948-1949

Myrtle Cook (grades 1-2), Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 8-9), Antoinette Marie St. Onge (grades 6-7), Patricia Joan Scorah (grade 5), Annie Wenden (grades 3-4)

1949-1950

Myrtle Cook (grade 1), Agnes Rose Goulet (grades 2-3), Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 7-9), Antoinette Marie St. Onge (grade 6), Patricia Joan Scorah (grade 5), Annie Wenden (grades 3-4)

1950-1951

Myrtle Cook (grades 1-2), Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 7-9), Antoinette Marie St. Onge (grades 6-7), Patricia Joan Scorah Stanger (grades 4-5), Annie Wenden (grades 2-3)

1951-1952

Myrtle Cook (grades 1-2), Alexandrine Marie Juliette LaBossiere (grades 8-9), Antoinette Marie St. Onge (grades 6-7), Patricia Joan Scorah Stanger (grades 4-5), Annie Wenden (grades 2-3)

1952-1953

Borislaw Nicholas Bilash (grade 9), Dorothy Agnes Bilash (grades 7-8, August-December), Myrtle Cook (grade 1), Mary Mildred Hollama (grades 5-6), Shevaun Sayer Smith (grades 7-8, January-June), Patricia Joan Scorah Stanger (grades 3-4), Annie Wenden (grades 2-3)

1953-1954

Borislaw Nicholas Bilash (grades 8-9), Sonia Daciw (grades 3-4, ?-December & January-June), Lucille Elise Desaulniers (grades 4-5, January-June), Margaret Beth Duggan (grades 6-7), Therese E. Gelinas (grades 4-5, August-December), Shevaun Sayer Smith (grade 1), Mrs. A. M. Valour? (grades 3-4, August-?) Annie Wenden (grade 2)

1954-1955

Sonia Daciw (grade 3), Lucille Elise Desaulniers (grades 5-6), Margaret Beth Duggan (grade 7), Anna Catherine Kosman? (grades 4-5), Marcel Philippe (grades 8-9), Annie Wenden (grade 2), Stephanie Winnifred Wilson (grades 1)

1955-1956

Ernest Raymond Cicierski (grades 6-7), Georgina A. Crawford (grades 5-6), Sonia Daciw (grade 4), Raymond Arthur Joseph Labelle (grades 8-9), Sylvia Saurette (grade 1), Annie Wenden (grade 2)

1956-1957

?

1957-1958

?

1958-1959

?

1959-1960

?

1960-1961

?

1961-1962

?

1962-1963

?

1963-1964

?

1964-1965

?

1965-1966

?

1966-1967

?

1967-1968

?

1968-1969

?

1969-1970

Jo-Anne Marie Skakun (grade 1), Heather Diane Stewart (grade 2), Lylah Christine Myers (grade 3), Heather Dale Potter (grade 4), Margaret Mary Healey (grade 5), Elmer Henry Penner (grade 6), Edith Adeline Matthisen (grade 7), Robert McKinley Millman (grade 8)

1970-1971

Jo-Anne Marie Skakun (grade 1), Emma Brabent (grade 1), Heather Diane Stewart (grade 2), Lylah Christine Myers (grade 3), Heather Dale Potter (grade 4), Margaret Mary Healey (grade 5), Elmer Henry Penner (grade 6), Edith Adeline Matthisen (grade 7), Robert McKinley Millman (grade 8)

Among the other teachers of Lavallee School was Maria Emma McDougall Brabant.

Photos & Coordinates

Architectural drawings for the ground floor of the first Lavallee School

Architectural drawings for the ground floor of the first Lavallee School (1926)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Plans and Shop Drawings (GS 0100), Lavallee School, 1926 (GR 3125).

The first Lavalee School

The first Lavalee School (circa 1915)
Source: St. Vital Museum

The second Lavallee School building

The second Lavallee School building (1970s)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Winnipeg, St. Anne’s Road, No. 23/70

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.83746, W97.09351
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lavallee School / Ecole Lavallee (505-511 St. Anne’s Road, Winnipeg)

Memorable Manitobans: Louis Lavallee (1852-1935)

Sources:

“St. Vital council to urge new car line,” Manitoba Free Press, 7 January 1922, page 17.

“Wanted - two lady teachers for Lavallee School District No. 1538,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 August 1923, page 14.

“Rogers’ meeting,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 August 1926, page 2.

“Lavallee School District,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 April 1946, page 5.

Street Map of Winnipeg, The H. M. Gousha Company, 1961.

“Leasing of school okayed,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 September 1974, page 54.

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.

Obituary [Thomas Edwin Sweet (1906-1985)], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 August 1985, page 59.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

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

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

We thank Junette Taylor for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 4 December 2024

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