I have been thinking a lot about grad recently and those early schools that become home to our pioneer students.
Wetaskiwin School District 264 was formed on Nov. 30, 1892 with John West serving as School Board Chairman. The first classes were held in 1893 in a hall rented for $12 a month above Henderson Clothing Store and Tailor Shop located on McDonald and Pearce Street (approximately where Cosmic Pizza currently stands). When it was cold, Mr. Henderson provided a stove to heat the hall for an additional $5 month. The first teacher, Isaac Harrison, was paid $32.50 a month. He soon left and Mabel Talbot took over. Her salary saw an increase to $46 per month. The Henderson building burned down the same year and Miss Talbot taught classes in several buildings throughout town.
In 1894 the school board purchased property to build a formal school. The location was on the east side of the current Queen Elizabeth School property. A new dedicated school building was constructed of wood at the cost of $2,071. On Sept. 28, the evening of this its inauguration, it too burned down. Arson was suspected, and the school board hired a watchman for $1.25 a night while an almost identical three-room school was constructed on the same spot. Classes in the new school were begun by Dec. 1. At the time, it was considered one of the best schools in Alberta. A second, two-story school was constructed before 1900 next to it and within a couple more years additional space was needed. And so the School Board took on the construction of a large school also on this property, which would be named after the reigning Queen Alexandra, wife of Edward VII.
The corner stone of the new building was laid in 1902. Every source I have read about Alexandra School states that the corner stone was laid on Aug. 19, 1904, but the Heritage Museum has recently acquired a primary source that tells a different story. A couple of weeks ago I visited Bud Moan who had a family heirloom that he wanted to donate. It is an intricately decorated silver cake bowl and server (pictured). The inscription on the server is still perfectly clear and reads:
PRESENTED / TO / J.F. Fowler Esq. / CHAIRMAN of the WINNIPEG / PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD / ON THE OCCASION 0F / LAYING THE CORNER STONE / OF THE / ALEXANDRA SCHOOL / OCTOBER 15TH / 1902
Mr. Fowler, the father of Bud’s Aunt who gave him this treasure, later served as Mayor of Wetaskiwin in 1911, and was Chairman of the Wetaskiwin School Board when the Alexandra School opened.
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The cost for the brick and sandstone building and its furnishing was $25,000. It was an impressive three-stories (the tallest and most impressive in town), surmounted by a tower and flagstaff and reputed to be the finest school between Winnipeg and the Rockies. It was also the first school in the province to follow the new plan of two school ‘departments’ consisting of lower school, from kindergarten to Standard (or Grade) 5, and high school Standards (Grades) 5-8.
Each of the large and airy 10 classrooms had a slate chalkboard on two walls, while the back wall was covered with burlap to hang student’s assignments. The third story included an assembly hall that could sit 350 people, while the second floor had a large library with over 400 books and a “Physical Science Laboratory”. The school also had its own 113.5-foot deep well and was powered by electricity (a brand-new luxury in town) that not only kept it well lit, but also served call bells in each of the classrooms. In poor weather, the classrooms were heated by nine furnaces and students could play in the large cellars rather than outside. Just like the outdoor playgrounds, the cellars were divided into a boy’s space and a girl’s space.
In its first year, Alexandra School was home to seven teachers and 254 students. Their motto was Veritas Vincit(Truth Conquers) with purple and gold as their school colours and a crest of an “A” with scroll, quill, flag, and crown.
A variety of renovations over the years included dividing the assembly hall on the third floor into classrooms, adding a fire escape on the outside of the building (pictured), building a chemistry lab in the boy’s basement, and a home economics room in the girl’s basement.
Alexandra school served the community for less than 50 years. It was demolished in 1954 and with it that early era of schools in Wetaskiwin ended.
Originally published in the Wetaskiwin Times, June 10, 2020
