Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sundown School No. 1820 / Sundown Village School (Sundown, RM of Stuartburn)

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

The Sundown School District was established formally in March 1916 and a schoolhouse, built during the summer of 1916 by Case Stromberg, was originally located in the southeast corner of SE 1-2-9 East (around 49.09005, -96.25180) in the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn. It was later relocated to the former station grounds of the Canadian Northern Railway at Sundown along the western side of NW 1-2-9 East. In 1949, this site became known as the Sundown Village School when a second school, Sundown South School, was established within the southern portion of the district. A new three-classroom school was built in 1952 based upon architectural designs of the Watchler Manufacturing Company of Winnipeg. In April 1967, the district was dissolved and the catchment area became part of the Boundary School Division. The school closed in the summer of 1970.

Principals

Period	Principal
1934-1936	Margaret Annie Witty Hassett (1914-2012)
1936-1938	Anna Dill Carson (1878-1964)
1938-1942	Benjamin Hodkinson (1864-1948)
1942-1943	John William Gross (1914-1994)
1943-1944	Mildred Eleanor Ginn?
1944	Edith Margaret Nugent
1944-1961	Walter Constantine Bilych (c1911-1984)
1961-1964	Myron Oryschuk
1964-1970	Metro “Matt” Drewniak (1937-2013)

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1934-1935	Anna Dill Carson (grades 1-3), Margaret Annie Witty (grades 4-9)
1935-1936	Anna Dill Carson (grades 1-2, 1935; grades 1-4, 1936), Margaret Annie Witty (grades 3-10, 1935; grades 4-10, 1936)
1936-1937	Anna Dill Carson (grades 7-11), John Eliuk (grades 1-6)
1937-1938	Anna Dill Carson (grades 7-11), John Eliuk (grades 1-6)
1938-1939	John Eliuk (grades 1-4), Benjamin Hodkinson (grades 5-11)
1939-1940	John Eliuk (grades 1-4), Benjamin Hodkinson (grades 5-11)
1940-1941	John Eliuk (grades 1-4), Benjamin Hodkinson (grades 5-11)
1941-1942	John Eliuk (grades 1-4), Benjamin Hodkinson (grades 4-11)
1942-1943	John William Gross (grades 5-10), Abram Wiebe (grades 1-4)
1943-1944	Mildred Eleanor Ginn? (grades 5-10), Norma Jean Houston (grades 1-4), Edith Margaret Nugent (grades 5-10, 1944), Myrtle Rusenel (grades 1-4, 1944)
1944-1945	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 5-11), Ida Podolsky (grades 1-4)
1945-1946	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 5-11), Ida Podolsky (grades 1-4)
1946-1947	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Ida Podolsky (grades 4-8), Nettie Cecilia Shydlowsky (grades 1-3)
1947-1948	Zenith Catherine Arseny (grades 1-3), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Bohdan Harasym (grades 4-8)
1948-1949	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Bohdan Harasym (grades 5-8), Minnie Pearl Onyschuk (grades 1-4)
1949-1950	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Bohdan Harasym (grades 5-8), Zenith C. Harasym (grades 1-4)
1950-1951	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Bohdan Harasym (grades 5-8), Zenith C. Harasym (grades 1-4)
1951-1952	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), Elizabeth Bilych (grades 1-4, 1952 substitute), Bohdan Harasym (grades 5-8), Jean Koshelanyk (grades 1-4)
1952-1953	Andrew Alexiuk (grades 4-8), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 1-3)
1953-1954	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 4-8), Mary Kereliuk (grades 1-3)
1954-1955	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 4-8), Paul Kereliuk (grades 1-3)
1955-1956	Nettie Cecilia Bereziuk (grades 1-3), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 4-8)
1956-1957	Nettie Cecilia Bereziuk (grades 1-3), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 4-8)
1957-1958	Jean Alexiuk (grades 1-4), Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8)
1958-1959	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1959-1960	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1960-1961	Walter Constantine Bilych (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1961-1962	John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Myron Oryschuk (grades 9-11), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1962-1963	John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Myron Oryschuk (grades 9-11), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1963-1964	John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Myron Oryschuk (grades 9-11), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1964-1965	Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1965-1966	Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 9-11), John Eliuk (grades 5-8), Eva Waskiul (grades 1-4)
1966-1967	Nell Pauline Chobotar (grades 1-2), Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 6-8), John Eliuk (grades 5-6), Eva Waskiul (grades 3-4)
1967-1968	Nell Pauline Chobotar (grades 1-2), Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 6-8), John Eliuk (grades 5-6), Eva Waskiul (grades 3-4)
1968-1969	Nell Pauline Chobotar (grades 1-2), Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 6-8), John Eliuk (grades 5-6), Eva Waskiul (grades 3-4)
1969-1970	Nell Pauline Chobotar (grades 1-2), Metro “Matt” Drewniak (grades 6-8), John Eliuk (grades 5-6), Iris Rose Happychuk (grades 3-4)

Among the other teachers of Sundown School / Sundown Village School were Lyle J. S. Dereck (1916-1918), Grace Peacock (1919), Miss C. Johnston Christine (1919-1920), C. M. Avery Jones (1920-1922), Emma Edith Lewis (1922-1924), O. A. Wursten (1924-1925), John Ference (1925), Lela Reed (1925), J. S. Wood (1926), Zella Arthur (1926), Msr. M. McClure (1926), Kathleen Grier (1927), Mrs. Adolfson (1927), Frank Bowman (1928), Leo Fisher (1928-1929), Leslie Ernest Grace (1929-1930), Mrs. A. E. Packer (1930), Eugenia Tkachyk (1931-1933), and Lillian Elizabeth Nicholin (1933-1934).

Photos & Coordinates

The old (left) Sundown School and new (right) Sundown School (December 1967) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission, File 176 Sundown School. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.10059, W96.26923 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sundown School No. 1820 / Sundown South School (RM of Stuartburn)

Sources:

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

Schools in Manitoba - Volume 2, Sundown School - File 176, Local Government Boundaries Commission, March 1968, Archives of Manitoba.

Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1280 - Sundown School District - Permanent, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.

Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1280 - Sundown School District - Blueprints for School, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.

School division and school district formation files (E 0027), Sundown School District No. 1820, GR1688, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Sundown School District No. 1820 Daily Registers (Sundown School / Sundown Village School), GR2088, 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.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 3 October 2023

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