Historic Sites of Manitoba: East St. Paul School No. 541 / Birds Hill School No. 541 (Birds Hill, RM of East St. Paul)

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

Known as the East St. Paul School District No. 541 when it was established in June 1888, in December 1927 it was renamed the Birds Hill School District No. 541. In 1914, a two-storey brick schoolhouse was constructed on Lot 95 on the Birds Hill Road in the Rural Municipality of East St. Paul. The foundation stone was laid on 22 May 1914 by Deputy Minister of Education Robert Fletcher before a large crowd of local citizens and school board officials. The new two-room facility was build by contractor Walter Owens was built with expansion in mind, with two additional classrooms quickly approved by local voters in two months of the schools opening. This expansion cost a further $3,000. The district became part of the East St. Paul Municipal School District No. 2323 in January 1954, and later became part of the River East School Division.

As of 1984, the school had three classrooms with four portable classrooms on site, two of which were used as a gymnasium and library, respectively. The building was put up for sale and demolished in March 1987. The site is now a shopping mall parking lot. The school’s name stone and cornerstone are displayed on the present school at Birds Hill.

Principals

Period	Principal
1912-1914	Anna Margaret Ruth Whitely Garven (1888-1960)
1914-1920	Nellie Helen Agar Haight (1875-?)
1920-1923	Vernon Wallis Mulvin (1891-1972)
1923-1924	George Henry Smithson (?-?)
1924-1933	Henry Gledhill Heasman (1870-1955)
1933-1936	Gordon Henry Clifford Maxwell (1900-1970)
1936-1941	Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (1913-2004)
1941-1947	John Lyzun (1913-1984)
1947-1949	Wilhelmine Isabelle McGregor
1949-1954	Franz Julius Solmundson (1907-1989)
1954-1955	Douglas Gordon Pomeroy (1911-1968)
1955-1963	?
1963-1966	Louise Margaret Roy O’Grady

Teachers

Among the early teachers who worked at Birds Hill School were Neil McMillan (1888), Edward Anthony Wharton Gill (1889), W. Van Blaricom (1890), A. J. Gordon (1891), R. H. Wilson (1891), Miss Davis (1892), Miss B. Poole (1892-1896), John Silas Poole (1897), Belle C. McGregor (1897), Ernest Forster Haffner (1898), Miss K. E. Haffner (1899-1900), Miss E. M. Christie (1900), Walter Gorham (1900-1904), Miss J. M. Springstein (1905), Harry G. Francis (Spring 1906), Sydney E. Clark (Fall 1906 - Spring 1907), Lena M. Davey (Fall 1907 - Spring 1908), W. G. McIntyre (Fall 1908 - Spring 1909), Miss E. Ruby Armstrong (Fall 1909 - Spring 1910), Margaret J. MacWilliam (August-October 1910), Mrs. Lillian E. Scribner (November 1910 - June 1911), and Charles S. White (Fall 1911 - Spring 1912).

Period	Teachers
1912-1913	Miss I. E. Johnson (grades 1-4, at residence of N. J. McGregor), Anna Ruth Margaret Whitely (grades 5-8)
1913-1914	Miss I. E. Johnson (grades 1-4, at residence of N. J. McGregor), Anna Ruth Margaret Whitely (grades 5-8)
1914-1915	Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 5-8, October-June), Miss I. E. Johnson (grades 1-4), Anna Ruth Margaret Whitely (grades 5-8, August-September)
1915-1916	Miss R. I.[J?] Cross (grades 1-4), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 5-8)
1916-1917	Ethel Maud Bennett (grades 1-4, January-June), Miss R. I.[J?] Cross (grades 1-4, August-December), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 5-8)
1917-1918	Ethel Maud Bennett (grades 1-3, August-December), Elsie H. Gibson (grades 1-3, January-June), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 4-8)
1918-1919	Elsie H. Gibson (grades 1-3, August-December & April-June), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 4-8), Annie M. Unger (grades 1-3, January-March)
1919-1920	Elsie H. Gibson (grades 1-4, August-December), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 5-8), Helen L.? Harper (grades 1-4, January-June)
1920-1921	Vernon Wallis Mulvin (grades 7-10), Ida Ermyntrude Norman (grades 1-3), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 4-6)
1921-1922	Vernon Wallis Mulvin (grades 7-10), Ida Ermyntrude Norman (grades 1-3), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 4-6)
1922-1923	Vernon Wallis Mulvin (grades 7-10), Ida Ermyntrude Norman (grades 1-2), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 3-6)
1923-1924	Miss H. MacDonald (grades 1-2, 1924), Mrs. J. McLeod (grades 1-2, 1923), George Henry Smithson (grades 7-10), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 4-6)
1924-1925	Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 5-9), Miss H. MacDonald (grades 1-2), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 3-5)
1925-1926	Delta Selina Gorham (grades 1-2), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 3-5)
1926-1927	Lillian M. Edwards (grades 3-5), Walter Gorham (grades 3-5, 1927 substitute), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9), Margaret Peturson (grades 1-2)
1927-1928	Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 3-5), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-10), Winona Howell (grades 1-2)
1928-1929	Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 3-5), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9), Winona Howell (grades 1-2)
1929-1930	Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 3-5), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9), Winona Howell (grades 1-2)
1930-1931	Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-2), Ethel Maud Bennett (grades 3-5, 1930 substitute), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 3-5), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9)
1931-1932	Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 4-6), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 7-9)
1932-1933	Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 4-6), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 7-9)
1933-1934	Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Florence McLachlan (grades 4-6), Gordon Henry Maxwell (grades 7-10)
1934-1935	Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Florence McLachlan (grades 4-6), Gordon Henry Maxwell (grades 7-10)
1935-1936	Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-3, 1936), Gordon Henry Maxwell (grades 7-10), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 4-6)
1936-1937	Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-3), Gordon Henry Maxwell (grades 8-10, 1936), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 8-10), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 4-7)
1937-1938	Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-3), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 8-10), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 4-7)
1938-1939	Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-3), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 8-10), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 4-7)
1939-1940	Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-4), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 9-11), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 5-8)
1940-1941	Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-4), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 9-11), Emily Ann Priest (grades 5-8)
1941-1942	John Lyzun (grades 9-11), Emily Ann Priest (grades 5-8), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 1-4)
1942-1943	John Lyzun (grades 9-11), Emily Ann Priest (grades 4-8), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 1-3)
1943-1944	John Lyzun (grades 9-11), Emily Ann Priest (grades 5-8), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 1-4)
1944-1945	John Lyzun (grades 9-11), I. Marguerite Miller (grades 4-8), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 1-3)
1945-1946	Mary Madeline Darling (grades 1-3), John Lyzun (grades 7-11), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 4-6)
1946-1947	Elizabeth Muriel Curta (grades 5-8), Evelyn Eve Dutchak (grades 1-4), John Lyzun (grades 9-11)
1947-1948	Mollie Dobchuk (grades 1-3, 1947), Ruth May Lewarne (grades 4-6), Wilhelmine Isabelle McGregor (grades 7-9), Mary Niven (grades 1-3, 1948)
1948-1949	Ruth May Lewarne (grades 4-6), Wilhelmine Isabelle McGregor (grades 7-9), Mary Niven (grades 1-3)
1949-1950	Mona Katherine Johnson (grades 4-6), Wilhelmine Isabelle McGregor (grades 7-9), Joanne Elizabeth Manson (grades 1-3), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1950-1951	Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Lucille A. Lambert (grades 3-5, 1951), Katiebelle McKnight (grades 3-5, 1950), Ethel May Matthews (grades 6-8, 1950), S. Allan Murray (grades 6-8, 1951), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1951-1952	Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Peter Kruszelnicki (grades 6-8), Jacqueline Naven (grades 3-5, 1951), Ida Penner (grades 3-5, 1952), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1952-1953	Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Ida Penner (grades 3-5), Eileen Joyce Reeves (grades 6-8), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1953-1954	Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Ida Penner (grades 3-5), Eileen Joyce Reeves (grades 6-8), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1954-1955	Marguerite Dora Clark (grades 3-4), Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Neil McTavish (grades 5-6), Douglas Gordon Pomeroy (grades 7-9)
1955-1956	?
1956-1957	?
1957-1958	?
1958-1959	?
1959-1960	?
1960-1961	?
1961-1962	?
1962-1963	?
1963-1964	Kathryn Pronyk (grade 2), Louise Margaret Roy (grade 1)
1964-1965	Louise Margaret Roy O’Grady (grade 1), Jennie Marion Hayka (grade 3), Kathryn Pronyk (grade 2)
1965-1966	Louise Margaret Roy O’Grady (grade 1), Jennie Marion Hayka (grade 3), Kathryn Pronyk (grade 2), Sharon Jean Wieler (grade 4)
1966-1967	Edith Elizabeth Bowman (grade 4, 1967), Miss A. Cushman (grade 4, 1966), Joan Elizabeth Gratton (grade 4, 1967), Jennie Marion Hayka (grade 3), Donna Diane Hewko (grade 2)

Photos & Coordinates

Birds Hill School (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 87. Name stone for Birds Hills School, on display at the present school (October 2014) Source: Nathan Kramer Date stone for Birds Hills School, on display at the present school (October 2014) Source: Nathan Kramer Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.97492, W97.00716 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Birds Hill School (3950 Raleigh Street, RM of East St. Paul)

Sources:

“The Indian famine fund,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 March 1897, page 4.

Winnipeg East topographic map, 62H/14 East, Edition 1, 1952, Series A743 [UFS Reference Collection].

1921 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.

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.

Marriage registrations [Ida Ermyntrude Norman and Alexander Ragne Pearson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Dance and social given by members of Bird’s Hill School District,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 December 1934, page 6.

Board of Education registers (A 0050), GR7643, Archives of Manitoba.

Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.

Board of Education meeting minutes and office files (A 0052), GR1622, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Birds Hill School District No. 541 Daily Registers, GR8245, Archives of Manitoba.

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

Obituary [Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone Langton (1907-2006)], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 February 2006, page 32.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 9 September 2023

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