Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
Before the town of Roland began, Lowestoft School No. 509 was built in 1888 at SE28-4-4W, approximately three kilometres southeast of the eventual town site. Pupils from the surrounding district, as well as the developing town, which began in 1889, received their early education at this school. The first teacher, hired in 1888, was Miss Maggie Brooks.
The Roland School District was established formally in April 1897 and, with the development of Roland, it was decided to build a two-room school in the town in 1898, on the site of the present school. Local demand for classroom capacity was quickly reached and with a few years that school proved to be inadequate. In 1904, and a larger, two-storey brick school was built at a cost of $9,000, based upon the designs of Winnipeg architect Henry Sandham Griffith.
The 1904 school served the community until 1959 when a modern one-storey brick school was built on a design by the Winnipeg architectural firm of Ward and Macdonald. It featured six classrooms and two assembly-rooms/classrooms. In January 1954, the district became the Roland Consolidated School No. 2348. In 1961, an addition to the school was made due to increased enrolment. Fire destroyed this school on 23 March 1967. By the Fall of 1967, a new school was built to serve the elementary students only. From then on, high school students were transported to Carman or Miami.
Period
Principal
1900
Frank Manning (1869-1945)
1901
John Allison
1901-1903
Albert E. Vrooman
1903-1906
William G. Dunkley
1906-1909
Henry Edward Chaplin (1876-1935)
1909
Thomas Walter Halligan (1875-1934)
1910-1911
Norman Ewart Brett (1881-1957)
1911-1914
Winfred Elmore Marsh (1872-1932)
1915-1916
George Robert Farrar Prowse (1860-1946)
1916-1919
William John Gordon Scott (1885-1953)
1919-1920
G. O. Durnin
1920-1921
Edmund Herbert Leighton (1883-1954)
1921-1924
F. H. Anderson
1924-1927
Dwight Nugent Ridd (1900-1976)
1927-1935
George Patrick Stevens (c1888-1988)
1935-1941
Eleanor Boyce (1898-1997)
1941-1942
Ross Emerson Vasey (1910-2001)
1942-1943
M. G. Lysenko
1943-1956
Victor Harvey Hugo (1888-1972)
1956-1957
G. A. Hamel
1957-1961
David Wallace Shaw (1932-2008)
1961-1964
A. L. Petkau
1964-1966
N. J. McQuarrie
1966-1967
Walter Abram Toews (1923-2006)
1967-1968
?
1968-1969
Bernhard W. “Bernie” Weins
?-?
Dorothy Irene Madill Hudson (1931-2014)
Period
Teachers
1897
none
1898
Frank Manning (all grades, Spring), Edith M. Nicole (all grades, Fall)
1899
Frank Manning (all grades)
1900
Frank Manning (senior grades), Edna Oliver (junior grades)
1901
John Allison (senior grades, Spring), Edna A. Oliver (? grades), Albert E. Vrooman (? grades, Spring; senior grades, Fall)
1902
records not available
1903
records not available
1904
records not available
1905
Mary E. Bowes, Zella M. Collins (Spring), William G. Dunkley (senior grades), Alice Stewart (Spring), Mary C. Turner (Fall)
1906
Mary E. Bowes, Henry Edward Chaplin (senior grades, Fall), William G. Dunkley (senior grades, Spring), Mary C. Turner
1907
Mary E. Bowes, Henry Edward Chaplin (senior grades), Mary C. Turner
1908
Mary E. Bowes (Spring), Henry Edward Chaplin (senior grades), Hattie McAulay, Myrtle Roblin (Fall), Mary C. Turner
1909
Henry Edward Chaplin (senior grades, Spring), Thomas Walter Halligan (senior grades, Fall), Hattie McAulay, Gertrude E. Mowbray (Fall), Myrtle Roblin, Mary C. Turner (Spring), Myrtle V. Whiteford (Fall)
1910
Norman Ewart Brett (senior grades, pt Spring), Thomas Walter Halligan (senior grades, pt Spring), Hattie McAulay (Spring), Gertrude E. Mowbray, Edith E. Robb (Fall), Myrtle V. Whiteford
1911
Norman Ewart Brett (senior grades, Spring), Frances R. Crossland (Fall), Ruth Crossland (Fall), L. Ivey? (Spring), Winfred Elmore Marsh (senior grades, Fall), Gertrude E. Mowbray, Edith E. Robb (Spring)
1912
(January-June only)
1912-1913
?
1913-1914
?
1914-1915
?
1915-1916
?
1916-1917
?
1917-1918
?
1918-1919
?
1919-1920
?
1920-1921
?
1921-1922
?
1922-1923
?
1923-1924
?
1924-1925
?
1925-1926
?
1926-1927
?
1927-1928
?
1928-1929
?
1929-1930
?
1930-1931
?
1931-1932
?
1932-1933
?
1933-1934
?
1934-1935
?
1935-1936
?
1936-1937
?
1937-1938
?
1938-1939
?
1939-1940
?
1940-1941
?
1941-1942
?
1942-1943
?
1943-1944
?
1944-1945
?
1945-1946
?
1946-1947
?
1947-1948
?
1948-1949
?
1949-1950
?
1950-1951
?
1951-1952
?
1952-1953
?
1953-1954
?
1954-1955
?
1955-1956
?
1956-1957
?
1957-1958
?
1958-1959
?
1959-1960
?
1960-1961
?
1961-1962
?
1962-1963
?
1963-1964
?
1964-1965
?
1965-1966
?
1966-1967
Jeanne Elizabeth Sutton (grades 7-8), ?
1967-1968
?
1968-1969
Arlene Anne Bartley (no grade, 0.5), Phylis Ann Digby (grades 2-3), Vivian Elaine Brunn (grades 3-4), Donna Mary Ann Johnston (grades 5-6), Nadeen Marie Lewko (grade 1), Jeanne Elizabeth Sutton (grades 6-7), Bernhard W. “Bernie” Weins (grade 8)
Roland School (1913)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Roland - School.
Postcard view of the Roland School (no date)
Source: Rob McInnes, MN0316.
Roland School (no date) by J. W. Gibson
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2015-0053
Roland schools commemorative sign (September 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Roland schools commemorative sign (June 2025)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.36599, W97.93547
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Rowland School No. 470 (RM of Prairie Lakes)
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
“Tenders for Roland School,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 May 1959, page 38.
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.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba school records collection, Roland Consolidated SD #2348 - Daily Registers, GR7164, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba school records collection, Roland Consolidated SD #2348 - Daily Registers, GR2085, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Rob McInnes, Nathan Kramer, and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 July 2025
Historic Sites of Manitoba
This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. The information is offered for historical interest only.
Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | OtherInclusion in this collection does not confer special status or protection. Official heritage designation may only come from municipal, provincial, or federal governments. Some sites are on private property and permission to visit must be secured from the owner.
Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the MHS Webmaster at webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.Help us keep history alive!
