Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ninette School No. 1028 (Ninette, RM of Prairie Lakes)

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

The Ninette School District was organized formally in June 1899 and, for a time, students attended classes above a general store in Ninette in what is now the Rural Municipality of Prairie Lakes. In 1901, a one-storey, one-classroom school building was erected but, around 1912, a second storey (and second classroom) was added, accessible via an exterior staircase that doubled as a fire escape.

With growing student enrollment, a massive one-storey red brick structure was built in 1926 at a cost of about $20,000, a twin of Brookdale School No. 1299, Deloraine School No. 490, Shoal Lake School No. 458, and Woodhaven School No. 2093, based on a design by Winnipeg architect Gilbert Parfitt and constructed by Brandon contractor George Epton. Three of its four classrooms went into use following an official opening ceremony on 17 September 1926, presided over by Dr. D. A. Stewart, Charles Cannon, and R. F. Fletcher. The original school building was torn down around the same time. The fourth classroom did not come into use until 1939. Most of its windows were bricked over around 1985, probably as an energy-saving measure.

Enrollment at the school declined gradually through time and, finally, with a student body numbering around 10, the school closed in June 2007. The school building has been renovated into a private residence.

Principals

Period

Principal

1913-1914

Mrs. N. Dodge

1914-1915

Ralph C. Clench

1915-1916

Mrs. Hagerman

1916

Miss Irvine

1917

Eva Calverley (1895-1988)

1917

Mary Graham

1918

Miss A. Gutzke

1919

Nellie Adams

1919-1920

Miss M. D. Stafford

1920

Annie Tetterly

1921

Kathleen Johnson

1921

Margaret McMillan

1922

Mrs. Pascoe

1922-1923

John Noriah Sturk (1874-1939)

1923-1924

Elsie Irene Kerr Yellowlees (1901-1990)

1924-1925

Miss Moore

1925-1926

Dorothy Strachan

1926-1929

Albert Rae Smale (1897-?)

1929-1931

Albert Lee Herron (1895-1970)

1931-1937

Robert William Lightly (1909-1985)

1937-1939

John Wesley Lorne Graham (1904-2000)

1939-1940

Alexander Maxwell “Max” Segall (1905-1983)

1940-1942

Oliver Clayton Bricker (1900-1992)

1942-1943

Harry Itzkow (1919-1990)

1943-1945

Edward James Marshall (1901-1964)

1945-1946

Stanley Robert Kitchen (1915-1988)

1946-1947

Delorie Wessels “Del” Howell (1925-2008)

1947-1949

Lillian Elizabeth Barker (1920-2005)

1949-1950

David Langton MacDonald (1911-1957)

1950-1951

Anne Sims Crichton (1910-1994)

1951-1952

Michael P. Lysack (?-1989)

1952-1958

Ronald Leslie Chalmers

1958-1959

D. A. Harvey

1959-1962

Ruth McKay

1962-1966

?

1966-1968

Walter Sherrin Cheslock (1944-2023)

1968-1969

?

1969-1970

Donald S. Paterson

1970-1973

?

1973-1974

Dorothy Scott

1974-1975

?

1975-1976

Ken Storie

1976-1977

?

1977-1989

Tom Emslie

1989-1992

Mrs. Maxwell

Teachers

School Year

Teachers

1922-1923

Mary E. A. McMillan (grades 1-4), John Noriah Sturk (grades 5-10)

1923-1924

Elsie Irene Kerr (senior grades), ?

1924-1925

Miss Moore (senior grades), ?

1925-1926

Dorothy Strachan (senior grades), ?

1926-1927

Albert Rae Smale (senior grades), ?

1927-1928

Albert Rae Smale (senior grades), ?

1928-1929

Albert Rae Smale (senior grades), ?

1929-1930

Albert Lee Herron (senior grades), ?

1930-1931

Albert Lee Herron (senior grades), ?

1931-1932

Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?

1932-1933

Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?

1933-1934

Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?

1934-1935

Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?

1935-1936

Robert William Lightly (senior grades), Miss Murray, ?

1936-1937

Robert William Lightly (senior grades), ?

1937-1938

?

1938-1939

?

1939-1940

Miss Helen Bent (grades 3,4,5)

1940-1941

Miss Helen Bent (grades 3,4,5)

1941-1942

?

1942-1943

?

1943-1944

?

1944-1945

?

1945-1946

?

1946-1947

?

1947-1948

?

1948-1949

?

1949-1950

?

1950-1951

?

1951-1952

?

1952-1953

?

1953-1954

Miss R. Alberta Chapman (intermediate room), Miss Annie E. Lawson (primary room)

1954-1955

?

1955-1956

Mrs. Lawson (grades 1-4)

1956-1957

?

1957-1958

Miss Chappell (grades 1-4), Miss Arlene Tosh

1958-1959

?

1959-1960

?

1960-1961

?

1961-1962

Joyce McDonald (grades 3-5)

1962-1963

Miss Heraldton, Joyce McDonald (grades 4-5), Miss Penny, Miss Joyce Wardle, Jayne Williamson

1963-1964

Shirley Ronson, Jayne Williamson

1964-1965

Shirley Ronson, Jayne Williamson

1965-1966

?

1966-1967

Walter Sherrin Cheslock, Lynne Marie Ferguson, Mrs. Marie Anne Whiteside

1967-1968

Walter Sherrin Cheslock, Lynne Marie Ferguson, Mrs. Marie Anne Whiteside

1968-1969

?

1969-1970

Malvina Buhler Heide, Mrs. Rena Scott

1970-1971

Malvina Buhler Heide

1971-1972

?

1972-1973

?

1973-1974

Debbie Dionne, Doreen Mullen, Dorothy Scott, Rina Scott

1974-1975

?

1975-1976

Ken Storie (grades 7 and 8), Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1976-1977

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1977-1978

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1978-1979

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1979-1980

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1980-1981

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1981-1982

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1982-1983

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1983-1984

Mlle Bolduc (French), Donna Jean Lamb, Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1984-1985

Mlle Bolduc (French), Donna Jean Lamb, Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1985-1986

Mlle Bolduc (French), Donna Jean Lamb, Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1986-1987

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1987-1988

Marilyn Cullen, Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1988-1989

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

1989-1990

Colleen Wylie, Jim Wylie

Among the teachers who worked at Ninette School in the early years were: Theodore A. Girling (1900-1902), E. Benson Steele (1902-1903), Arthur Leighton (1903-1904), Leslie E. Grace (1904-1905), Ethel Johnston (1905-?), Dora Faryon (1911-1912), Mrs. Dodge (1912-1913), Gladys Barkwell (1913), Miss Townsley (1914-1915), Miss Kinley (1915-1916), Miss Frame (1916-1919), Mary Overend (1919-1920), Vivian Newton (1920), Miss Gardiner (1921), Jessie Chalmers (1921), Mary McMillan (1921-1923), Miss C. M. Mott (1924-1925), Jean C. Bell (1926), Janet L. More (1926), Miss Carson (1926), and Katrine Clench (1926).

Other teachers included Norman Monk, Miss Goodsky, Walter Sherrin Cheslock, Les Defoort, and Phyllis Brown Paskewitz.

Photos & Coordinates

Postcard view of the original Ninette School

Postcard view of the original Ninette School (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2012-0071

Ninette School

Ninette School (no date) by W. J. Parr
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 43.

Ninette School

Ninette School (1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Ninette 5.

Ninette School

Ninette School (1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1098.

The former Ninette School building, now a private residence

The former Ninette School building, now a private residence (June 2013)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

The former Ninette School building and commemorative sign

The former Ninette School building and commemorative sign (August 2019)
Source: Rose Kuzina

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.40100, W99.63406
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

“Specification, School, Ninette S.D. No. 1028, Manitoba,” 1926. [T. Tennant, Ninette, Manitoba]

“Constructional Activity,” Contract Review and Engineering Review, 7 April 1926, page 52.

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

“Ninette news,” Belmont News, 20 August 1953, page 3.

History of the Ninette School by Keith Worden, 1956.

“Ninette news,” Belmont News, 6 September 1962, page 7.

And So ... Ninette, 1879-1919 by Eva Calverley, circa 1966.

“Ninette elementary staff,” Belmont News, 11 September 1969, page 5.

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.

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

“80 years ago,” Baldur Gazette-News, 17 December 1996, page 5.

“School days,” Brandon Sun, 17 March 1999, page 4.

“Ninette school centennial,” Baldur Gazette-News, 31 August 1999.

“Ninette School officially closes,” Baldur Gazette, 10 July 2007, page 1.

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

We thank Ken Storie, Ruth McKay, Jessie Myers, Shirley Carson, Rose Kuzina, Nathan Kramer, and visitors to the building’s open house on 17 September 2016 for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Tricia Tennent.

Page revised: 5 November 2023

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