Batt School District No. 1960
The first school, named after Mr. Batt, who was the first settler in the
Batts Valley, was built in 1908 by carpenters Lambie and Rainie. It was
located seven miles north of the hamlet of Jarrow, on SE ¼ 3-47-10 W4.
At that time, the school was kept open only four or five months in the
summer due to insufficient funds. In the early years most of the children
walked to school. Some had several miles to go. Eventually, nearly every
family acquired a saddle horse and some drove one horse or a team. It was
not uncommon to see the eight-stalled barn filled and some horses
standing in the alleyway.
The first teacher was an English girl, Miss Robinson. She boarded at the Denison home. There were many arguments between her and Mr. Denison, as he had come from the state of Washington, and naturally both defended their own country’s ways and customs.
In 1911, there were eleven children attending school, namely, Carl, Ruby and Ruth Whidden; Stanley Lennox; Marion Haynes; Ezra, Lydia and Pearl Denison; and Paul, Amelia and Esther Loring. Miss Taite and Mr. Hull were the teachers following Miss Robinson. In 1913, Miss Rutherford arrived to teach. She boarded at the Loring home as had Miss Taite and Mr. Hull. The oldest register shows that E.M. Ross was the teacher in 1918. Until the Echo and Lynx Schools were built, some of their children attended Batts School.
Concerts, dances, basket socials, card parties and plays were often put on by the teachers and the young people, both married and single, as a source of entertainment. Church services were held in the homes throughout the district until after the school was built. Mr. D. Whidden was the Sunday school superintendent for many years. Sunday school and church services were conducted at Batts School until the Batts and Jarrow congregations were joined in about 1950; then services were conducted in the Jarrow Church. Mrs. George Theroux deserves a lot of credit for keeping Sunday school, church services, and U.C.W. active in the community.
In 1914, Miss McGuire was the teacher, with three Bridgemans, four Lorings, three Denisons, five Andersons, two Lennoxes, Marion Haynes and Lester Brown as pupils.
Pioneers all remember the great ‘flu of 1918.’ The school was closed by the Minister of Education owing to the influenza epidemic. In 1920 Alice M. Marshall was the teacher. Teachers in later years were as follows: 1923-24 Miss Lila Wright (Mrs. Dick Rohrer); 1924 Viola Good; 1925-26 Beatrice Webb; 1927 Barbara Caines; 1927-28 D.E. Peterson; 1928-29 Mrs. O Theroux; 1929-31 Gladys Bowen; 1931-38 Nan Kennedy; 1938-39 Miss Irene Ross (Mrs. Elwyn Gilpin); 1939-46 Mrs. R. Mark.
Inspectors signing the register include J.W. Russell (1918); J. Fowler (1920); M.O. Nelson (1924-27); W.H. Swift (1929-30); L. Goode (1930-37); and H.J. Coutts (1943-44).
Chairmen of the Batts School Board include (1926) Carl Ahlf; (1927-29) H.S. Denison; (1929-30) Wm. Bridgeman; (1931-35) Ezra Denison; (1936- 41) Viggo Lindberg. Secretaries of the board include (1926-29) H.B. McCully; (1929-31) Earl Moore; (1932-35) L.L. Moore; (1936-41) G.M. Bridgeman.
The highlights of the school year were the Christmas concert and the annual year-end picnic with pie-eating contest, ball games, races and potluck suppers.
The original school was destroyed by fire in February 1940. School was held at the Carl Ahlf house until a new school was built. Teachers in the following years were Mrs. Earl Burr, Miss Mary Mansfield, Miss Peggy McPeak, Mrs. R. Mark and Mrs. Wm. Meakins.
District names recorded by the registers include Theroux, Swartz, Denison, Lennox, Edmunds, Williams, Greene, Smith, Brown, Lindberg, Carter, Barker, McCully, Whidden, Ahlf, Grant, Bridgeman, Jewell, Good, Goldman, Kennedy, Fuder, Ambler, Marbery, Miller, Moore, Mark, Lockhart, Westley, Campbell, Lingley, McNall, Holt, Granger, Bruhaug, Burr, Oracheski, Meakins, Guthric, Myers, Matthews, and Murray.
After the school was closed and the children bussed to Irma, the building served as a community centre for a number of years. The school building is still standing, but has suffered from vandalism the last few years.
Batt School District No. 1960
from “Down Memory Lane”
24-25