The Prestwick School District was established formally in October 1891 and, for a time, classes were held in the home of farmer Robert Inglis. Soon after, however, a wood frame school building was constructed on one acre of land at NW24-8-1E in the Rural Municipality of Macdonald. In December 1911, it was moved to 36-8-1E where it stayed for the remainder of its period of operation. A new schoolhouse was built in 1935, on two acres of land purchase for $75 from Albert Girardin. The one-classroom frame structure had separate cloakrooms by its entrance for girls and boys. It accommodated students in grades 1 to 8, with those in grade 9 going to Sanford School. Enrollment declined in the 1940s and the school closed finally in 1945. Its remaining students went to St. Hyacinthe Consolidated School No. 2373, Oak Bluff Consolidated School No. 600, or Sanford Consolidated School No. 86. The building was sold to a local farmer who moved it to his yard and the district was dissolved in 1959.
The teachers who worked at Prestwick School included Louella Dalmadge (1891, 1894), William J. Robertson (1892-1893), Elizabeth Isbister (1895), C. Beaudry (1896), Miss Trudeau (1897), Matthew Rogers (1898), S. Preston (1899), Modeste Gaudry (1899), Miss E. Siblald (1900), G. A. Laroux (1901), Anna Bonneau (1902), Alma Vandalle (1903), Bella McDougall (1904), Della Frances Neaphy (1905), Melinda Gantheam (1906), Bertha Coulombe (1906-1909), Miss Leblanc (1910), Alice Michaud (1910), Della Leblanc (1910), Lucienne Lapointe (1911, 1913), Bertha Lapointe (1912), Anna Dufort (1914), Laura Senez (1915), Jeanne Lavoie (1916), Marie Saurette (1917-1918, 1920), Madame Courchene (1919), Regina Champagne (1920), Antoinette Desautels (1921), Eugenie Bourke (1922), Miss E. Bourgues (1922), Jeanne Baril (1923), Yvonne Simard (1924), Anne Toupin (1925), Gabrielle Gauthier (1926, 1927-1929), Juliette Lachance (1926), Therese Trottier (1930-1931), Cecile Bonin (1932), Isabel Conrad (1932-1938), Marcelle Lemair (1938-1939), Lucille Rioux (1940), Lucille St. Jacques (1941), Isabel Girardin (1942), and Denise Gratton Girardin (1943-1945).
The original Prestwick School building (no date) by E. D. Parker
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 106.
The second Prestwick School building (1935)
Source: Then to Now: The History of La Salle, Manitoba,
La Salle History Book Committee, 1986.
Aerial photograph of the Prestwick School site in the centre of view (May 1950)
Source: Manitoba Air Photo Library, A12455-232.
Prestwick School commemorative sign (September 2014)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.69507, W97.33307
denoted by symbol on the map above
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.
Then to Now: The History of La Salle, Manitoba by La Salle History Book Committee, c1986 [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.L385]
Financial support for research reported on this page was provided by the Manitoba Heritage Grants Program (grant 12F-C101, 2012-2013).
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 20 April 2020
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