Historic Sites of Manitoba: Victory School (395 Jefferson Avenue, Winnipeg)

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

Victory School was built in 1920 to alleviate overcrowding in Centennial School and Governor Semple School. Named for the recent Allied victory in the First World War, it was opened officially on 26 November 1920, at a ceremony attended by Lieutenant Governor J. A. M. Aikins, Minister of Education R. S. Thornton, and municipal Reeve C. A. Tanner. Eventually, it became part of the Seven Oaks School Division.

Originally a ten-classroom school, a bylaw was passed in 1949 allotting $70,000 for an expansion. School capacity was enhanced in 1950 with the addition of six more classrooms. The official expansion opening was on 16 November 1950, at which dignitaries included Mayor Cecil Joseph Henry Lyon, chief school inspector Clifford Knox Rogers, West Kildonan School Board Chairman William T. Jenkinson, and district school inspector Eleanor Boyce, and Principal John Leamen.

On 4 October 1990, a new 659 square meter facility expansion accomodated handicapped students.

Principals

Period	Principal
1920-1929	John William Lawbe Doubleday (1867-1938)
1929-1935	Earl Innes Fritch (1891-1983)
1935-1936	Eldon Franklin Simms (1907-1964)
1936-1953	John Leamen (1908-1967)
1953-1960	John Walter Clarke (c1887-1972)
1960-1961	Robert William “Bobby” Bend (1914-1999)
1961-1964	John Frederick Archibald “Jack” Partridge (1912-1966)
1965	Agnes Isabelle Arnold (1908-1996)
1965-1969	Vyrna A. Havard Heggie (1924-1994)
1969-1980	Mary Kolach Faseruk (c1925-2001)
1980-1988	?
1988-1990	Louise Evaschesen
1991	Murray Otter

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1944-1945	Vivian D. Glass, Ethel Winnifred Harrison, ?
1945-1946	Vivian D. Glass, ?
1946-1947	Vivian D. Glass, ?
1947-1948	Vivian D. Glass, ?
1948-1949	Shirley Branston, Elsie MacKay, Edith Miller, Edna Poersch, Elaine Thorpe, ?
1949-1950	?
1950-1951	?
1951-1952	?
1952-1953	?
1953-1954	Miss Clark (grade 1), Miss Lyons (grade 1), ?
1954-1955	Miss Krayeski (grade 2), ?
1955-1956	Miss V. Denhardt (grade 3), ?

Among the other teachers who worked at Victory School was Edward Kowalchuk.

Photos & Coordinates

Victory School (c1922) Source: “West Kildonan school system expands,” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 September 1922, page 2. Victory School (June 2014) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Victory School (July 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.93702, W97.12937 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Victory School No. 1143 (Municipality of Lorne)

Sources:

“West Kildonan will open Victory School,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 November 1920, page 6.

“Teachers honored,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 June 1949, page 13.

Obituary [Ethel Winnifred Harrison], Winnipeg Tribune, 1 September 1949, page 10.

“Majority slim in referendum,” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 October 1949, page 1.

“West Kildonan opens Victory School wing,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 November 1950, page 10.

“Seven Oaks teacher assignments announced,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 September 1960, page 5.

“Principals shifted in close vote,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 December 1964, page 24.

A Historical Study of Public Education in West Kildonan to 1959 by Raymond Ronald Bailey, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, 1966.

“Victory School tea,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 March 1967, page 22.

“Victory School tea,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 March 1969, page 15.

“Early settlers tea at Victory School,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 April 1970, page 13.

“Designing playground excites Grade 4,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 March 1977, page 4.

“A victory at Victory School,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly North Section, 5 June 1988, page 3.

“Victory School throwing party,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly North Section, 30 September 1990, page 5.

“Deadline may keep Apples out of classes,” Winnipeg Free Press Weekly North Section, 11 February 1992, page 3.

Victory School, Seven Oaks School Division.

We thank Rose Kuzina and Bill Stevens for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 15 May 2021

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