John Pritchard School still thriving after 100 years

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This article was published 07/05/2015 (4041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

North Kildonan has seen a lot of changes in the last 100 years.

Once a thriving agricultural community, the area is now a vibrant part of urban Winnipeg. But for all the changes the decades have brought, John Pritchard School has been a cornerstone of the community.

The staff and students at John Pritchard School (1490 Henderson Hwy.) are looking forward to celebrating their place in the community with a big centennial bash on Oct. 8, and they’re hoping to connect with as many former students as possible.

“We’d like to get the community in here, or back in here, and excited about what we have going on,” said Barbara Bowles, principal at John Pritchard.

Todd Schulz, a teacher at John Pritchard and head of the anniversary committee, explained that while the school has a long and interesting history on its own, they are hoping the centennial celebration will “be more of a retrospective of the student body, rather than looking back over the years.”

“We’re trying to solicit people who might be willing to be interviewed, former staff or alumni, and share their stories in the school,” added Schulz, who also attended John Pritchard as a student in the 1990s.

John Pritchard School is one of three K-8 schools in the River East-Transcona School District (Bernie Wolfe Community School and Salisbury Morse Place School are the others). As such, involving the students in the celebrations will mean different things for different age levels.
“There’s a lot of opportunities to do things across grades. We have older kids working with younger kids, and everyone coming up with ideas to celebrate,” Schulz said.

Schulz explained that for younger students, the focus will be on understanding what 100 years (or even the concept of “one hundred”) means. Older students will engage in creating historic displays and, hopefully, interviewing former students and staff about their experiences at John Pritchard.

“That’s the part I’m excited about, the opportunity for our current students to connect with people who have come before them,” Bowles added.

“It’s a key facility,” Jeff Browaty, city councillor for North Kildonan and a John Pritchard alumnus, told The Herald. “There’s a lot of activities that go on in the shool. Thousands of students have been through it over the years. I had a great experience there in my junior high years.”

The centennial celebration on Oct. 8 will also feature school tours, an opening of a time capsule from 1990, and a more formal evening program with a musical performance and presentations from local dignitaries.

“For me, I’m really excited about getting our current students involved and having them feel good about being a part of this school,” Bowles added.

Plenty of changes at school over past century

When John Pritchard School first opened its doors, as Lord Kitchener School, on Sept. 1, 1915, North Kildonan was an agricultural community. Following the Second World War, development boomed in the area, and by the 1960s, the area had become urban, with subdivisions spreading in every direction.

Over the last 100 years, the school itself has undergone a number of changes and expansions. When it first opened, the gym and auditorium were on the second floor, and the caretaker, a Mr. F. Nelson, lived on site in Room 8.

In 1953, Building #2 was built in behind the main school building.

In 1967, a large expansion was built, including the gym, a two-storey wing of classrooms known as Manitoba Hall, and what is now the front office.

It was at this time, too, that the school name was changed to John Pritchard School, after the man who founded the area’s first schoolhouse in the early 1800s on the same tract of land where the school is located today.

In 1975, another addition was added, including science rooms, a lab, a shop, music and multi-purpose rooms. The primary wing was added in 1985.

In 2003, Building #2, which had long been used only for storage, was demolished. Today, the space where Building #2 once stood is used a recreation field.

For more information, or to get involved with the John Pritchard School centennial celebration, email jp@retsd.mb.ca or call 204-339-1984.

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