Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sandhill School No. 1372 (RM of Brokenhead)

The Sandhill School District was established in March 1906 and a one-room schoolhouse operated at NW3-14-7E in the Rural Municipality of Brokenhead. The original building was destroyed by an accidental fire in late 1938 and a replacement was built in time for classes to resume in September 1939. The new school had a boys cloakroom, lobby and toilet room, girls lobby and toilet room. A large wood-burning furnace was located at the back of the classroom along with a library corner. A four-room teacherage on the school grounds was occupied by the teacher.

In June 1966, the district was dissolved and its catchment area became part of the Garson-Tyndall Consolidated School District No. 2450 and later the Agassiz School Division. The former schoolhouse was sold to a Beausejour man and converted into a private residence. The only vestige remaining at the site is the school's shelterbelt of trees, although the flagpole was present there in the early 1970s.

Among the teachers of Sandhill School were Mr. Crystal, Miss McCrae, Nicholas Andrusko (1939-1942), Evelyn Wawryshyn (1942), Mrs. Chwaliboga (1943-1944), Eva Menzies Fallis (1944-1945), John Duchominsky (1945-1953), Gregory Marko (1953-1954), Walter Stefanchuk (1954-1955), Andrew Ilchyna (1955-1957), Marion Scyrup (1957-1959), Harry Hryhorka (1959-1960), and Mrs. Dorothy Munro (1960-1966).

The original Sandhill School (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 106. The second Sandhill School (August 1939) Source: Katherine Fecio Entrance to the second Sandhill School (July 1956) Source: Katherine Fecio Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.16467, W96.56583 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Selkirk topographic map, 62I/2, Edition 2, Series A743 [Archives of Manitoba].

“Elma news,” Steinbach Carillon, 9 August 1972, page 23.

They Stopped at a Good Place: History of the Beausejour, Brokenhead, Garson and Tyndall Area of Manitoba, 1875-1981 by Beausejour-Brokenhead Historical Book Committee, 1982, page 255.

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 Edna Saluk, Evelyn Bukoski, and Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Katherine Krawchuk Fecio.

Page revised: 1 February 2023

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