The Laval School District was established formally in April 1912 and a one-room schoolhouse operated at SE25-24-2W in what is now the Rural Municipality of Fisher. During the school year of 1928-1929, the building was moved to a more central location at SE31-24-1W and was renovated. It was put on a rudimentary basement, a new roof was installed, the chimney was relocated, the entry porch was enclosed, and the entire building was clad in insulbrick. Toilets for boys were in the basement; those for girls were upstairs. Water was obtained from a well in the schoolyard and stored in a ceramic crock in the cloakroom.
Among the teachers of Laval School were J. Bemault (1914-1916), W. Gregoir (1916-1917), Miss Lucy Vermette (1916-1917), Henriette LeClande (1917-1918), Marie Brisson (1917-1918), George Berron (1918-1919), W. J. Billyard (1919-1920), Anna Dufort (1920-1924), Mrs. Dejarlais (1924-1925), Henry Guynt (1924-1925), Rose Berard (1925-1926), May Breton (1926-1927), Laura Jerome (1926-1927), Julet Desmariers (1927-1932), Rita Lynch (1932), Walter Malenchak (1932-1934), Calre Ayothe (1934-1937), L. Couture (1937-1943), Odile St. Pierre (1942-1943), ? LaCroix (1943-1944), M. Marion (1944), A. Toupin (1944-1945), Mrs. Stonge (1945-1947), Annette Erie (1947-1953), Annette Desrosiers (1953-1956), Mark Howard (1956-1957), Mary Michalchuk (1956-1957), Annette Bouchard (1958-1959), Margaret Gingera (1959-1961), Richard Ferniak (1961-1962), Ivan Packulak (1962-1963), Ted Sobkowich (1963-1967), and Pat Yacuik (1967-1968).
The district was dissolved in 1967 and the school closed in 1968. Its catchment area became part of the Lakeshore School Division and students were bussed to Fisher Branch. The former schoolhouse was sold to a local resident and moved to his farm west of Fisher Branch.
Laval School (no date) by M. Hall-Jones
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 4.
Laval School (no date)
Source: Gail Vandersteen
Laval School (1962)
Source: Gail VandersteenSite Location (lat/long): N51.11219, W97.57995
denoted by symbol on the map above
School Formation File, Laval School District No. 1617, 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.
A Place of Our Own: A History of No Ordinary People by Fisher Branch Historical Society, 1982, pages 39-40.
We thank Gail Vandersteen for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 October 2026
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