Historic Sites of Manitoba: Kelwood School No. 1317 (Kelwood, RM of Rosedale)

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

The Kelwood School District was organized formally in December 1904 and, in March 1905, classes commenced in a room over the general store in Kelwood, in the Rural Municipality of Rosedale. By the fall of 1905, a school building had been erected at a cost of $1,300. In 1910, the school was consolidated with Smith’s Glen School No. 677 to form the Kelwood Consolidated School No. 1317.

During the summer of 1912, a four-classroom, two-storey brick building was constructed on a five-acre site, and the former school building was sold for use as a private residence. The new school featured a full basement with concrete floor and was heated by hot air. It was opened by a ceremony held on 6 December 1912. This building was destroyed by fire in 1925. Classes were held in nearby Anglican and United churches until a replacement could be constructed two years later. It was a single-storey, four-classroom structure with a large basement containing lavatories and a chemistry laboratory.

In 1979, the elementary and high schools were combined. The high school was closed in 1989 and the students were transported to Glenella School or McCreary School. Kelwood School had only Kindergarten to grade 8.

Principals

Period	Principal
1912-1913	Harold Ludlow Albright (1888-1955)
1913-1921	Andrew Dick Russell (1886-1951)
1921-1922	Robert William Dunlop (1876-?)
1922-1924	James Charles Wherrett (1893-1980)
1924-1925	John Osborn Wilson (1900-1972)
1925-1929	John Hazelett Duffy (1878-1942)
1929-1930	Thomas Walter Halligan (1875-1934)
1930-1939	Edgar John Jarvis (1894-1972)
1939-1942	James Edwin Scarrow (1902-1982)
1942-1943	Henry Benjamin Bees (c1886-1968)
1943-1951	William Wallace Cutforth (1910-1996)
1951-1953	John Sigfus Helgason (?-1978)
1953-1956	Johann Edvald Sigurjonsson (1900-1972)
1956-1957	M. N. Andrusiak
1957-1959	Edward Turner Revel
1959-1960	F. Wainwright
1960-1961	Robert J. Graham
1961-1962	N. P. Hallson
1962-1966	R. M. Chambers
1966-1973	B. Veselovsky
1973-1974	Vern Braun
1974-1976	Garry Henry Doyle (1934-2014)
1976-1982	Malcolm Timlick
1982-1989	Leonard Komenda

Principals (Elementary School / Combined School)

Period	Principal
1965-?	Mr. A. Feser
?-1978	?
1978-1979	Kenneth McCurdy

Teachers

Among the early teachers of Kelwood School were Miss Payne (1912), A. D. Russell (1912), Miss Robinson (1912), Miss McCrae (1912), Miss Davidson (1918), Mrs. Frank Smith (1921), Miss McGuire (1925), Mrs. M. Scott (1925), Mrs. F. M. Smith (1925), R. Walton (1925), Frances Mary Jones, E. J. Jarvis (1939), F. G. Stevens (1939), Miss Heyes (1939), Miss Wallwin (1939), Bertha Elliott (1944-1949), Miss Joyce McDonald (1946), Miss Daisy McIntyre (1953-1962), Miss Eleanor Terrick (1965), Miss MacDonald (1965), Miss M. Grimstead (1965), Ed Jarvis, Peter Drosdowech (1950s), Bill Welsh, Harvey L. Walker, and Keith A. Cosens.

School Year	Teachers
1978-1979	Margaret Andrews, Lois Graham, Ruth Neill, Daisy Newton, Lisa Reynolds, Martin Rollins
1979-1980	?
1980-1981	Lois Graham, Patricia Guick, Ruth Neill, Daisy Newton, Donna Newton, Lisa Reynolds, Martin Rollins, Karen Watson, Ronald Watson, Lorne Whitelock
1981-1982	?
1982-1983	Verna Bulas, John Egolf, Lois Graham, Ruth Neill, Daisy Newton, Donna Newton, Murray Scott, Malcolm Timlick, Karen Watson, Ronald Watson
1983-1984	?
1984-1985	John Egolf, Lauria Jones, John Malanik, Ruth Neill, Daisy Newton, Murray Scott, Dianne Tanasichuk, Malcolm Timlick, Karen Watson, Ronald Watson

Teachers (Kelwood Collegiate)

School Year	Teachers
1965-1966	Mrs. Eileen Lupier, George Botchett, James Deacove
1966-1978	?
1978-1979	John Cochrane, Marion McCutcheon, Karen Watson, Ronald Watson, Lorne Whitelock

Photos & Coordinates

The Kelwood Consolidated School building, constructed in 1912 and destroyed by fire in 1925 (circa 1912) Source: Consolidation of Rural Schools in Manitoba, Special Report of the Department of Education for the Year 1912, Manitoba Legislative Library. Postcard view of the Kelwood School building (circa 1918) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0020 The second Kelwood School, built in 1927 after a fire destroyed its predecessor (no date) by W. C. Hartley Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 97. Kelwood School teacherage, constructed in 1916 (1916) Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library. Former Kelwood School building (June 2018) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.62452, W99.46702 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Kelwood Bridges the Years 1890-1967 by Kelwood Centennial Committee, 1967.

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.

“Add one position in Turtle R.,” Dauphin Herald, 6 September 1978, page 2.

“Teachers begin year in Turtle River S.D.,” Dauphin Herald, 10 September 1980, page 24.

“Teachers ready in Turtle River,” Dauphin Herald, 1 September 1982, page 18.

“Teachers in Turtle River schools,” Dauphin Herald, 9 October 1984, page 30.

We thank Malcolm Timlick, Nathan Kramer, and Mariann Freeman for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 23 June 2021

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