Little Schools in the Parkland

ALBERT SCHOOL DISTRICT No.2358

  1. The first Albert School was built in 1911 by William Smith on land
  2. donated by Mr. William Matthews on the NW ¼ 36-47-9 W4. The district
  3. was originally called Zoldovara but was changed to Albert after Alberton,
  4. Prince Edward Island, home of many district pioneers. The first Board
  5. consisted of Herbert Oakley, W.D. Ramsay and E.J Jones. Miss Rooney
  6. Christenson, the first teacher, taught Pyles, Mitchells and Larsons.
  7.  
  8. In 1938 the first school was sold and a second one built by Ivan and Gerald
  9. Currie. This building stands today, but for a time was part of Albert
  10. Centralized School. In 1954 Avonglen School was moved in, and in 1955, a
  11. basement was dug between the two buildings so they could be joined to
  12. form a fully modern Albert Centralized School. Wilf Symington and Vance
  13. Shippy bussed students from Albert, Orbindale, Education Point, Lynx, Echo
  14. and Willowview districts to the central school.
  15.  
  16. In 1957-58 a record number of teachers - Mrs. Larson, Mrs. Landers, Miss
  17. Van Hyfte, Mrs. Meakins and Mr. Spomitz taught at Albert. A teacherage
  18. called “The Apple Box” was brought in during 1955, but was replaced in
  19. 1959 by a larger one.
  20.  
  21. As the barn and coal shed were no longer needed they were sold and moved
  22. away. A skating rink maintained by Tri-way Association was built north
  23. of the school and provided a lot of entertainment for school and district.
  24. In 1960 the school bus transported pupils from Albert district to Irma
  25. High School. Graduation exercises were held in 1961 for the last class of
  26. Grade 9 attending the Albert Centralized School. The following term saw
  27. the end of Junior High. From 1962 to 1969 just two rooms with Mrs.
  28. Genon Astley, Mrs. Carol Prior, and Mrs. Phyllis Craig as teachers, were in
  29. operation. The fall of 1969 saw the full closure of the school.
  30.  
  31. In 1971 the newly formed Albert Community Association purchased the
  32. school and made it into a community centre, which is in full use today.

Albert School District No. 2358
from “Down Memory Lane”

28-29