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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”

Sunnyside School “A” (no date) by R. Goulet
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 3.

Oakbank School

Oakbank School (1968)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Oakbank 4.

The former Oakbank School building

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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