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School District 57 Prince George
School district in British Columbia, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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School District 57 Prince George (SD 57) is a school district in central British Columbia that encompasses urban Prince George, its surroundings, and the outlying communities of McBride and Valemount to the southeast, and Mackenzie to the north.
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Land developers organized and sponsored the first schools within Prince George.[1] By 1914, one high and three elementary schools existed.[2] Within the area of what would become SD 57, the establishment of separate school districts (usually comprising a single school), totalled 9 in 1911–1920, 17 in 1921–1930, and 11 in 1931–1940.[3] During the Great Depression, centralization increased because local boards abrogated their responsibilities, forcing the installation of official trustees and creating larger administrative units.[4]
Attracting and retaining qualified rural teachers proved difficult. Factors included salaries,[5] scathing inspectors,[6] isolation, community factions,[7] no running water, no electricity, inadequate heat,[8] teaching multiple grades,[9] and sometimes an expectation to organize the various children's social activities for the community at large.[10] Rural schools were dependent upon a smaller and volatile local tax base for funding. When an economic downturn, fire, or depleted accessible timber, closed a sawmill (the primary employer in most rural communities), workers relocated, student numbers dropped, and the tax base collapsed.[11]
Rural school buildings were usually rudimentary, and many in a poor state of repair. Equipment and supplies were limited.[12] Consequently, rural students, receiving the barest elementary programs,[13] lacked educational opportunities, and few progressed to a secondary school offered only by a main centre.[14]
The 1946 implementation[15] of the 1945 Cameron Report into BC school financing and administration[16] created centralized larger districts. Benefits to rural schools were a broader tax base,[17] to Prince George schools an augmentation of existing infrastructure,[18] and to all schools an increase in provincial funding from 30 to 50 percent.[19] The earlier municipal districts provided no guidance as to setting boundaries, because many were quite small, and 90 percent of the province was unorganized.[20] The new Prince George school district boundaries were equidistant between Quesnel southward, Vanderhoof westward, and at Penny southeastward.[21] On the disbanding of local boards, the former Prince George one, comprising members of civic and economic stature, became the interim board.[15] The elected 1948 board comprised four city and three rural representatives,[22] reaffirming some degree of local control.[19]
The new board did not operate with complete autonomy, but had to avail itself of the experience, training, and knowledge of local inspectors of schools,[23] who represented the province. The latter, who had been regarded as faultfinders by local trustees, became mentors aligned with the centralized trustees.[24] The board became a buffer between local residents and the province,[25] and the inspectors were freed from petty management issues.[26]
Burgeoning student numbers throughout the 1950s saw massive increases in teacher recruitment and classroom capacity.[27] Many new schools served residential development along the new highways north and west.[28] However, by the mid-1950s, building remote rural schools rarely occurred because of maintenance challenges, and from the late 1950s, numerous schools closed as mills closed.[29]
In 1970, SD 58 McBride merged into SD 57, and its board dissolved. The new enlarged school district matches the boundaries of the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George.[30]
Board of trustees and superintendents
Schools
^A . Includes schools which had existed prior to 1945 within the initial boundaries of SD 57 Prince George, and excludes SD 58 McBride schools closed prior to 1970.
^B . Formerly SD 58 McBride.
^a . A.k.a Airport Hill.[162]
^b . Integrated into the school district in Sep 1959 to be primary section of Winton School.[74]
^c . Called Hart (Heart) Lake;[163] in 1965 renamed Bear Lake.[164]
^d . Called Blackburn Road initially.[165]
^e . Called Van Bow initially; accommodated at Connaught elementary.[166] renamed Carney Hill;[167] Feb 1968 building opening;[168] Aboriginal Choice assumed building.
^f . In 1910, one-room log building built; later frame building; in 1916 replaced by two-room building known as Millar Addition on Queensway Ave; in 1963 reconstructed; a.k.a. Fort George Central; in 1998, became a traditional choice school.[169][170]
^g . Former John McInnis Jr. Secondary building.
^h . Accommodated at John McInnis prior to Feb 1978 building opening.[171]
^j . Accommodated at Lakewood Jr. Sec. prior to Feb 1978 building opening.[172]
^k . In 1998 became a choice school and renamed Dunster Fine Arts School.[173] In 2010, Dunster Fine Arts School Society acquired property.[74]
^l . Accommodated at College Heights elementary[174] prior to Apr 1977 building opening.[175]
^m . Known as Birchwood during early construction phase; relocatable building soon moved; in 1975 permanent building.[176]
^n . Accommodated at Vanway elementary[177] prior to Oct 1979 building opening.[74]
^o . Accommodated at Austin Rd.[178] prior to May 1977 building opening.[179]
^p . Called South Central;[180] in 1959, renamed Harwin.[181]
^r . In 2010, middle school became elementary.[70]
^s . Accommodated at Highglen elementary.[166] prior to Jun 1977 building opening.[74]
^t . In 1985, Montessori program established at Highglen elementary;[182]
after 2013 fire relocated to former Gladstone elementary building;[183][184] in 2015 renamed Polaris Montessori.
^u . Called Canyon Creek; in 1958, renamed Hixon Superior; in 1965, became elementary.[185]
^w . In 1957, opened as elementary;[76] in 1961, became elementary/junior high;[186] in 1967, became solely a junior high.[103]
^x . Called Mile 4 at the Stevens and Rahn sawmill;[187] in 1956, renamed when mill relocated about 30 miles to Kerry Lake.[188]
^y . Called Prince George City elementary or Prince George public school, opened in three cottages on Vancouver St; in 1916, four-room building opened on Winnipeg St; in 1929 renamed King George V elementary.[107][189]
^α . École Lac des Bois assumed former Lakewood Junior Secondary building.[190]
^β . Accommodated at various schools.[191] prior to Oct 1979 building opening.[192]
^δ . Refer McBride Secondary; c. 1970, renamed McBride Centennial elementary.[193]
^ε . Refer McBride Secondary.
^ζ . Accommodated at various schools.[194] prior to Sep 1979 building opening.[195]
^η . Completed spring 1973;[196] relocatable building soon moved to be replaced by permanent building.[197]
^θ . Former Carney Hill elementary building.[198] Aboriginal Choice to 2012.[199]
^λ . Accommodated at Westwood elementary.[166] prior to Apr 1977 building opening.[200][201]
^μ . Refer Prince George Secondary.
^ξ . From 1927 Millar Addition school used for overflow elementary students;[74][202] in 1929 renamed Connaught;[189] operated until about 1936.[203] in 1946, reopened;[204] in 1978, renamed Ron Brent elementary.[205]
^π . Called McMillan Creek; immediately renamed Shady Valley.[76][206]
^ρ . In 1910, a room rented; in 1913 new building opened.[98][169][207]
^ς . Accommodated in portables at other schools[208] prior to Jan 1994 building opening.[209]
^σ . Accommodated at Quinson elementary.[166] prior to May 1977 building opening.[210]
^χ . School in adjacent Swift Creek 1916–35. Valemount opened in 1935.[76][211]
^ψ . In 1956, elementary became a superior school offering to grade 10;[212] in 1974 extended to grade 12.[213]
^ω . In 1974, closed with integration of students into regular classes.[74]
Enrolment
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Footnotes
References
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