Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dakota Elementary School / Victor Mager School (81 Beliveau Road, Winnipeg)

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

This school across the street from Dakota Collegiate was originally known as the Dakota Elementary School. It was built during the winter of 1959-1960, with staff and students temporarily quartered at Hasting School during that period. Following a 1970-1971 expansion, based on designs of Ward Macdonald & Associates, it was renamed for former St. Vital Reeve Victor Mager.

The school is operated by the Louis Riel School Division.

Principals

Period	Principal
1960-1968	Jennie Ellen “Jean” Kerr (1903-2001)
1968-1973	Grace Darling Cormode Watson (1910-2005)
1973-c1975	?
c1975	Harold David Christie (1927-2019)
c1975-?	?
?-1992	Gordon Ptashnick
1992-?	Brenda Yost
?-2016	?
2016-?	Karen Magnusson
?-2019	?
2019-?	Troy Reinhardt

Vice-Principals

Period	Vice-Principal
?-1992	Marlene Murray
1992-1997	John Charles Douglas “Jack” Fraser
1997-2016	?
2016-?	Nicole Mager
?-2019	?
2019-?	Sheila Lynch-Mondor

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1959-1960	Wreatha Allen (grade 2), Verna Louise Bendall (grade 1), Helen Bergen (grade 3), Margaret Brown (grade 3), Jennie Ellen “Jean” Kerr (grade 4), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4), Irene Oliver (grade 2)
1960-1961	Wreatha Allen (grade 2), Verna Louise Bendall (grade 1), Helen Bergen (grade 3), Jennie Ellen “Jean” Kerr (grade 5), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4), Elizabeth Menzel (grade 1)
1961-1962	Wreatha Allen (grade 3), Verna Louise Bendall (grade 1), Eldeen Henderson (grade 2), Jennie Ellen “Jean” Kerr (grade 5), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4), Elizabeth Menzel (grade 5)
1962-1963	Wreatha Allen (grade 3), Verna Louise Bendall (grade 1), Jennie Ellen “Jean” Kerr (grade 6), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4), Elizabeth Menzel (grade 5), Susan Ward (grade 2)
1963-1964	Wreatha Allen (grade 3), Verna Louise Bendall (grade 1), Elizabeth Menzel Chesko (grade 5), Pat Cibula (grade 2), Jennie Ellen “Jean” Kerr (grade 6), Audrey Jacqueline Cheetham McGregor (grade 1), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4)
1964-1965	Wreatha Allen (grade 3), Verna Louise Bendall (grade 1), Grace Hartley (grade 2), Jennie Ellen “Jean” Kerr (grade 6), Audrey Jacqueline Cheetham McGregor (grade 1), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4), Alvina Thiessen (grade 5)
1965-1966	Wreatha Allen (grade 3), Verna Louise Bendall (grade 1), Grace Hartley (grades 2-3), Dolores Horn (grade 5), Jennie Ellen “Jean” Kerr (grade 6), Audrey Jacqueline Cheetham McGregor (grades 1-2), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4), ? (grade 1)
1966-1967	Wreatha Allen (grade 3), Verna Louise Bendall (grade 1), Dolores Horn (grade 5), Margaret Ann Huta (grade 2), Virginia Macartney (grade 6), Audrey Jacqueline Cheetham McGregor (grade 1), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4)
1967-1968	Verna Louise Bendall (grade 1, 1967; grades 1-2, 1968), Elsie Helen Dyck (grade 5), Margaret Ann Huta (grade 2), Theresa Marion Kuryk (grade 3), Audrey Jacqueline Cheetham McGregor (grade 1), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4), Mary Edith Smith (music), Mary Anne Sydor (grade 6)
1968-1969	Elsie Helen Dyck (grade 5), Helen Feniuk (grade 1), Margaret Ann Huta (grade 2), R. Komzak (grade 6), Theresa Marion Kuryk (grade 3), Audrey Jacqueline Cheetham McGregor (grade 1), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4)
1969-1970	Elsie Helen Dyck (grade 5), Margaret Ann Huta (grade 2), R. Komzak (grade 6), Theresa Marion Kuryk (grade 3), Audrey Jacqueline Cheetham McGregor (grade 1), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4), M. Moir (grade 1)
1970-1971	Suzanne Marie Bibaud (grade 2), Mabel Eileen Fair (grade 1), Alvin Edward Friesen (grade 5), Theresa Marion Kuryk (grade 3), Audrey Jacqueline Cheetham McGregor (kindergarten), Blande Annette Matthews (grade 4), Titus R. Premdas (grade 6), Henriette Cecile Raine (kindergarten, 1971), Sharon Mae LaRue Steeves (special education)

Photos & Coordinates

Victor Mager School (October 2015) Source: Nathan Kramer Site Location (lat/long): N49.83612, W97.10959 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Victor Magar [Victor Mager] (1849-1930)

Sources:

“Staggered classes in many schools,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 August 1959, page 3.

“Letters to the editor [Overcrowded School],” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 October 1959, page 44.

“Wading in St. Vital,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 April 1960, page 3.

“Tender notice - Addition and alterations to Dakota Elementary School,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 June 1970, page 14.

Obituary [Audrey Jacqueline McGregor], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 August 2009, page C13.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), GR1196, Archives of Manitoba.

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

We thank Le Centre du patrimoine of La Société historique de Saint-Boniface, John Buermeyer, and Jack Fraser for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 29 November 2021

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