Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sunnyside School No. 40 / Oakbank School No. 40 “A” (Oakbank, RM of Springfield)

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

Originally known as the Sunnyside School District when it was established in September 1876, a one-room schoolhouse operated at SW27-11-5E in the Rural Municipality of Springfield. A second school site was added in the spring term of 1916, and this original school received an unofficial “A” letter designation to help distinguish it from the “B” school almost two miles to the north. The school was renamed the Oakbank School District in January 1954. The district was dissolved in 1964 and its area became part of the Oakbank Consolidated School District No. 2426. After the school closed, the former schoolhouse was purchased by Robert A. Jacques and converted into a private residence.

Principals

Period	Principal
1938-1942	John Edward Harriott
1942-1944	Mabel Gertrude Williams
1944-1945	David Langton MacDonald (1911-1957)
1945-1946	George Boyer Poole (1880-1958)
1946-1947	Mary Marguerite Rodger “Marge” Andrews (1901-1955)
1947-1948	Henry Joseph Grenon (1881-1981)
1948-1949	Nastia Kolodzinski “Nettie” Stadnyk (?-2017)
1949-1954	Dennis Nazeravich (1916-2010)
1954-1955	Morris Miroslaw Hryhor (1923-1987)
1955-1956	Wilfred Brian Deering (1907-2009)
1956-1957	Dorothy Ellen Swinburne Levine (c1905-1971)
1957-1959	Lawrence Paul Huska (1936-2022)
1959-1964	Michael Dyrda (1929-2004)
1964 onwards	See Oakbank Consolidated School

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1938-1939	Laurie Elizabeth Bush (grades 1-6, 1938), John Edward Harriott (grades 7-10), Marjorie Frances Somerville (grades 1-6, 1939)
1939-1940	John Edward Harriott (grades 7-11), Janet Stroyan Stewart (grades 1-6)
1940-1941	John Edward Harriott (grades 7-11), Janet Stroyan Stewart (grades 1-6)
1941-1942	Mina Christina Dicks (grades 1-6), John Edward Harriott (grades 7-12)
1942-1943	Mina Christina Dicks (grades 1-6), Mabel Gertrude Williams (grades 7-12)
1943-1944	Mina Christina Dicks (grades 1-6), Mabel Gertrude Williams (grades 7-11)
1944-1945	Alice Edna Diehl (grades 1-6), David Langton MacDonald (grades 7-11)
1945-1946	Catherine M. Bryne (grades 1-6), George Boyer Poole (grades 7-11), Myrtle Rusenel (grades 1-6, 1946)
1946-1947	Mary Marguerite Rodger “Marge” Andrews (grades 9-11), Emily Kirner (grades 1-4), Mary Nettie Neufeld (grades 5-8)
1947-1948	Henry Joseph Grenon (grades 9-11), Annie Marie Mihalchuk (grades 1-4), Mary Nettie Neufeld (grades 5-8)
1948-1949	Nettie Kolodzinski (grades 9-11), Annie Marie Mihalchuk (grades 1-4), Mary Nettie Neufeld (grades 5-8)
1949-1950	Sophie Violet Darushka (grades 5-8), Annie Marie Mihalchuk (grades 1-4), Dennis Nazeravich (grades 9-11)
1950-1951	Annie Marie Mihalchuk (grades 1-4), Dennis Nazeravich (grades 9-11), Nicholas George Odaisky (grades 5-8)
1951-1952	Annie Marie Mihalchuk (grades 1-4), Dennis Nazeravich (grades 9-11), Nicholas George Odaisky (grades 5-8, 1951), Mabel Belle Smithers (grades 5-8, 1952)
1952-1953	Lena Leochko (grades 1-4), Dennis Nazeravich (grades 9-11), Mabel Belle Smithers (grades 5-8)
1953-1954	Michael Dyrda (grades 5-8), Edith Myrtle Hokanson (grades 1-4), Dennis Nazeravich (grades 9-11)
1954-1955	Michael Dyrda (grades 5-8), Mary C. Grapentine (grades 1-4, 1955), Edith Myrtle Hokanson (grades 1-4), Morris Miroslaw Hryhor (grades 9-11)
1955-1956	Wilfred Brian Deering (grades 9-11), Michael Dyrda (grades 5-8), Gwendalene Doris “Gwen” Tod (grades 1-4)
1956-1957	Michael Dyrda (grades 7-9), Dorothy Ellen Swinburne Levine (grades 10-11), Gwendalene Doris “Gwen” Tod (grades 1-3), Susan Zacharias (grades 4-6)
1957-1958	Michael Dyrda (grades 7-9), Lawrence Paul Huska (grades 10-11), Gwendalene Doris “Gwen” Tod (grades 1-3), Susan Zacharias (grades 4-6)
1958-1959	Michael Dyrda (grades 7-9), Lawrence Paul Huska (grades 10-11), Richard Ottenbreit (grade 12), Patricia Sargent (grades 4-6), Katherine Wiens (grades 1-3)
1959-1960	Michael Dyrda (grades 7-9), Patricia Sargent (grades 4-6), Katherine Wiens (grades 1-3)
1960-1961	Michael Dyrda (grades 7-8), Jean Mary Fryza (grades 1-3), Patricia Sargent (grades 4-6)
1961-1962	Michael Dyrda (grades 7-8), Jean Mary Fryza (grades 1-3), ? (grades 4-6)
1962-1963	Michael Dyrda (grades 7-8), Susan Lillian Lentowicz (grades 1-3), Rose Marie Pash (grades 4-6)
1963-1964	Michael Dyrda (grades 7-8), Susan Lillian Lentowicz (grades 1-2), Diane L. McFarlane (grades 3-4), Rose Marie Pash Pratt (grades 5-6)
1964 onwards	See Oakbank Consolidated School

Among the other teachers of Oakbank School were Mr. Newmarch (1881-1883), Elizabeth Beckett Scott (1883-1884), Mr. Bond (1894), Charles Millard Hoar (1915-1916), Brenda MacLean (1918-1919), J. P. Solmundsson (1919), C. Coubrough (1919-1920), Rose Law (1920-1921), Josephine Griffin (1921-1922), Lala Boyd (1922-1924), Maude Boyd (1924-1925), Edith O. Windsor (1925-1926), Mary O. Blackford (1926-1927), Mildred Mary Hammond (1928-1929), Jane Campbell (1929-1935), Lily Annie Gillespie (1935-1936), and Laurie Elizabeth Bush (1936-1938).

Photos & Coordinates

Sunnyside School “A” (no date) by R. Goulet Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 3. Oakbank School (1968) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Oakbank 4. The former Oakbank School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1277. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.94681, W96.84182 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sunnyside School No. 40 / Oakbank School No. 40 “B” (RM of Springfield)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Oakbank Consolidated School District No. 2426 / Oakbank Elementary School (826 Cedar Avenue, RM of Springfield)

Memorable Manitobans: Robert Aurel “Bob” Jacques (1914-2004)

Sources:

“Sunnyside,” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 22 February 1883, page 2.

“Oak Bank,” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 15 August 1894, page 1.

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

Manitoba School Records Collection, Sunnyside School District No. 40 Daily Registers, GR9480, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Oakbank School District No. 40 Daily Registers, GR9480, Archives of Manitoba.

Dugald topographic map, 62H/15, Edition 2, Series A743 [Archives of Manitoba].

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.

We thank Robert Jacques and George Stewart for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 June 2023

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