Historic Sites of Manitoba: Miles Macdonell Collegiate / Melrose Junior High School (757 Roch Street, Winnipeg)

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

Built in 1952 as a replacement for a high school at a different location, it was named in commemoration of pioneer Miles Macdonell. The eight-classroom structure was opened officially in a ceremony attended by Premier Douglas Campbell, and Minister of Education W. C. Miller, East Kildonan Mayor J. Bodie, East Kildonan School Board Chairman R. D. Nicholson, Municipal and Public Utility Board of Manitoba Chairman J. Spalding, and N. A. Matheson of the Lord Selkirk Settlers Association.

Melrose Junior High School was located at the southeast corner of Melrose Avenue and Roch Street. Designed by the architecture firm of Prain and Ward, construction by East Kildonan contractor Peter Koop began in May 1954. The structure cost around $296,000 to build and a further $55,000 to furnish. It was the first school in East Kildonan to have both an auditorium and shops classes. In addition to its 18 classrooms, the building had three staff rooms, library, and principal’s office. The school was opened on 22 April 1955 by Minister of Education W. C. Miller. In 1961, the school was sold by the East Kildonan School District to the River East School Division for $400,000. The building and its facilities were later incorporated into Miles Macdonell Collegiate.

Principals (Miles Macdonell Collegiate)

Period	Principal
Before 1952	See Lord Wolseley School / East Kildonan Collegiate
1952-1967	James Edwin Scarrow (1902-1982)
1967-1969	Henry J. Dick
1969-1975	William Kormylo
1975-1985	Peter L. Friesen (1930-2021)
1985-1988	Joseph Anthony “Joe” Degen (1929-2016)
1988-1989	Ted Stoesz
1989-1992	Charles Eber Douglas (1927-2020)
1992-1998	Carolyn Lintott
1998-	Garry Bowles

Vice-Principals (Miles Macdonell Collegiate)

Period	Vice-Principal
Early 1950s	John Wesley Alexander “Jack” Muirhead (1906-1996)

Teachers (Miles Macdonell Collegiate)

Among the teachers of Miles Macdonell Collegiate were Alden I. Slawson, George Florence, and Sonja Mandziuk Bejzyk.

Principals (Melrose Junior High School)

Period	Principal
1955-1956	Howard Robert Haines (1891-1974)
1956-1961	John Martin Hawryluk (1910-1975)

Vice-Principals (Melrose Junior High School)

Period	Vice-Principal
1959-1960	Melvin “Mel” Borody (1922-2010)

Teachers (Melrose Junior High School)

Period	Teachers
1954-1955	Lucien A. J. Allard (grade 9), A. J. Anderson (grade 9, August-March), Vera Gertrude Bell (grade 7), Jean Pearl Dunbar (grade 9), Eva Menzies Lovatt Fallis (grade 8), Joseph Charles Flood (grade 9), Jacob D. Friesen (grade 7), Lorenz Harvey Guenther (grade 8, April-June), Murray Herman Harris (grade 7), John Martin Hawryluk (grade 8, August-March), Peter Franz Klassen (grade 8), Raymond A. “Ray” Kuran (grade 7), Robert McElroy (grade 9), Dorothy Margaret Matheson (grade 7), John Alexander Melnyk (grade 7), John J. Pauls (grade 8), Dorothy Emily Ryan (grade 8), William Paul Solypa (grade 7), Alice Rowan Gray Wiley (grade 9, April-June)
1955-1956	Vera Gertrude Bell (grade 9), Madelaine Ruth Campbell (grade 8), Christina Marie de Moissac (grade 9, August-March), Jean Pearl Dunbar (grade 9), Eva Menzies Lovatt Fallis (grade 8), Joseph Charles Flood (grade 9), Jacob D. Friesen (grade 7), Elaine Marion Mollard Goudie (grade 7), Murray Herman Harris (grade 7), Grace Doreen Ison (grade 8), Martha Hilde Kendall (grade 7), Leona Kosjar (grade 9), Raymond A. “Ray” Kuran (grade 8), Diana Eleanor Lucas (grade 9, April-June), John J. Pauls (grade 8), Dorothy Emily Ryan (grade 8), Marlene Ellen Barbara Sinclair (grade 7), Harry Steve Stadnyk (grade 7, 1955; grade 8, 1956), Audrey Bernice Fallis Taylor (grade 7), Alice Rowan Gray Wiley (grade 7, 1956)
1956-1957	Eileen Marie Bart (grade 7, May-June), Vera Gertrude Bell (grade 9), Madelaine Ruth Campbell (grade 8), Jean Pearl Dunbar (grade 9), Eva Menzies Lovatt Fallis (grade 8), Jacob D. Friesen (grade 7), Ruth Elizabeth Galbraith (grade 8), Elaine Marion Mollard Goudie (grade 7, August-April), Murray Herman Harris (grade 7), Grace Doreen Ison (grade 8), Martha Hilde Kendall (grade 7), Peter Franz Klassen (grade 8), Leona Kosjar (grade 9), Raymond A. “Ray” Kuran (grade 8), Una Darlene Kuran (grade 7), James Gordon Ladoski (grade 7), John Alexander Melnyk (grade 7), Ernest Pankratz (grade 9), John J. Pauls (grade 8, 1956), Dorothy Emily Ryan (grade 8), Marlene Ellen Barbara Sinclair (grade 7), Harry Steve Stadnyk (grade 7), Edward Stanley Starsiak (grade 7), Stephen Stanley Szucki (grade 8), Janet M. Werier (grade 8, 1957), Alice Rowan Gray Wiley (grade 9)
1957-1958	Vera Gertrude Bell (grade 9), Agnes S. Campbell (grade 7), Jean Pearl Dunbar (grade 9), Eva Menzies Lovatt Fallis (grade 8), Jacob D. Friesen (grade 7), Ruth Elizabeth Galbraith (grade 9), Eva Eileen Goodridge (grade 8), Elaine Marion Mollard Goudie (grade 8), Murray Herman Harris (grade 7), Charlotte Bertha Heinsohn (grade 7, August-January), Grace Doreen Ison (grade 8), Una Darlene Kuran (grade 7), James Gordon Ladoski (grade 7), Walter William Melnyk (grade 9), Madeline Imogene Redgwell (grade 7), Dorothy Emily Ryan (grade 9), Wilf Schaefer (grade 7, February-June), Harry Steve Stadnyk (grade 8), Edward S. Starsiak (grade 8), Willard Charles Staska (grade 7), Stephen Stanley Szucki (grade 8), Mosie Nicholas Tobin (grade 9), Alice Rowan Gray Wiley (grade 9)
1958-1959	Vera Gertrude Bell (grade 9), Agnes S. Campbell (grade 7), Jean Pearl Dunbar (grade 9), Eva Menzies Lovatt Fallis (grade 8), Jacob D. Friesen (grade 7), Eva Eileen Goodridge (grade 8), Elaine Marion Mollard Goudie (grade 8), Murray Herman Harris (grade 7), Charlotte Bertha Heinsohn (grade 7), Grace Doreen Ison (grade 8), Edward Francis Morton (grade 9), Madeline Imogene Redgwell (grade 7), Dorothy Emily Ryan (grade 9), Wilf Schaefer (grade 7), Willard Charles Staska (grade 7), Stephen Stanley Szucki (grade 8), Mosie Nicholas Tobin (grade 9), Alice Rowan Gray Wiley (grade 9)
1959-1960	Ronald Morris Bean (grade 8), Vera Gertrude Bell (grade 9), Jean Pearl Dunbar (grade 9), Eva Eileen Goodridge (grade 8), Elaine Marion Mollard Goudie (grade 8), Archibald Gordon Haas (grade 8), Charlotte Bertha Heinsohn (grade 7), Val Kovachik (grade 7), Leonard Samuel Lyons (grade 9), Walter William Melnyk (grade 9), Michael Olynyk (Industrial Arts), Leslie Porteous (grade 7), Grace Doreen Ison Reedmueller (grade 8), Madeline Imogene Redgwell (grade 7), Edward S. Starsiak (Industrial Arts), Stephen Stanley Szucki (grade 8), Margaret Eleanor Tobin (grade 8), Mosie Nicholas Tobin (grade 9)
1960-1961	Ronald Morris Bean (grade 9), Vera Gertrude Bell (grade 9), Joan Brisley (grade 8), Jean Pearl Dunbar (grade 9), Eva Eileen Goodridge (grade 8), Elaine Marion Mollard Goudie (grade 8), Murray Herman Harris (grade 7), Charlotte Bertha Heinsohn (grade 8), Ruth Myrna Janke (grade 7), Val Kovachik (grade 8), Edward William Lefteruk (grade 7), Madeline Imogene Redgwell (grade 9), Grace Doreen Ison Reedmueller (grade 7), Dorothy Emily Ryan (grade 9), Willard Charles Staska (grade 9), Stephen Stanley Szucki (grade 8), Mosie Nicholas Tobin (grade 9), Donald Clifford Woods (grade 7)
1961-1962	(Fall Term only): Mina Boyd (grade 7), Victor Ray Burns (grade 9), Madelaine Ruth Campbell (grade 8), Peter U. Dueck (grade 7), Jean Pearl Dunbar (grade 9), Eva Menzies Lovatt Fallis (grade 9), Murray Herman Harris (grade 7), Leonard Samuel Lyons (grade 8), Joan Alice McGregor (grade 8), Ellen Darlene McLaren (grade 8), Lorraine Caroline McTavish (grade 8), Anne Mary Dykun Olchowecki (grade 7), Dorothy Emily Ryan (grade 9), George Wesley Semchuk (grade 9), Roger Francis Starr (grade 7), Dan Stasiuk (grade 8), Williard Charles Staska (grade 9), Donald Zaporzan (grade 7)
After 1961	See John Henderson Junior High School

Photos & Coordinates

Miles Macdonell Collegiate (May 2018) Source: Nathan Kramer Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.92402, W97.09632 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lord Wolseley School / East Kildonan Collegiate (939 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Melrose School No. 1039 (RM of Springfield)

Memorable Manitobans: Miles Macdonell (1769-1828)

Sources:

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

Manitoba School Records Collection, River East School Division #9 (Melrose Junior High School - Daily Registers), GR8245, Archives of Manitoba.

“E. Kildonan lets contract for school,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 May 1954, page 3.

“East Kildonan school opens Friday,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 April 1955, page 3.

“New suburban school opened,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 April 1955, page 12.

“Students give $525 to March of Dimes,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 March 1957, page 37.

“E. K. okays 2 school bylaws,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 April 1961, page 3.

A History of Miles MacDonell Collegiate by Jim Smith.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 5 January 2023

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