Scholastic education in Spring Coulee began in
1907 when a one room school building was erected
by Neil Forsyth. It was on the south west corner of
Sec. 23 Twp. 4 Range 24, W of the 4th, which was
donated by John C. Thompson.

The School District was designated by the Province
as No. 1549. W.L. Thompson was appointed as the
first secretary. Following his death, his widow, Clara
C. Thompson acted in that capacity. John N. Barrus
was one of the early trustees, and his son Emery
also served as a trustee after his father.

The first teacher for the new school was Miss Estelle
Bowness who came from Prince Edward Island in 1907.
She was followed by many teachers, both male and
female, some of whom spent more than one year
teaching the students of the area. A list of teachers
is included in the school section.

At the time that Miss Creighton, from Nova Scotia
taught in 1910, the school enrollment had increased
to 38 pupils. She gave her history class an
assignment to draw two maps. One was to be the
village of Spring Coulee noting the places of interest
as well as the homes. The other map was to depict
the surrounding sections of land with the names
of the canals and highways.

In 1922 with the increasing population, it became
necessary to expand the one room school to two
rooms. The school board purchased the building
located just across the street, west, which had
originally housed the Bank of Montreal. However,
in 1915 the banking business was re-located in
Magrath. Roy Matson became the new owner of the
building where he and his family lived until 1917,
when they moved to Montana. For the next five
years it was a family residence until it was sold to
the School Board.

There were enough rooms in the building for a
comfortable home for the teachers, as well as a
large one on the north which provided for the
needed classroom. A door between separated
it from the teacherage.

There was also a barn nearby which was used to
house the ponies the children would ride to and
from school every day.

With the extra room another teacher was hired.
Grades one through four were taught in one room,
and grades five through ten were taught in the other.
This system continued for some time until 1939
when the students in grade ten, eleven and
twelve began to attend High School in Magrath.

The school bus service had not been introduced yet.
Fortunately, the Greyhound Bus schedule for trips
between Cardston and Lethbridge was ideal for the
transportation of the seven students who required it.
The bus conveniently stopped in front of the high
school about 8:45 a.m. in time for morning classes.
The return trip left Magrath at 6:00 p.m., making it a
long day for the students. However, the bus depot
in Magrath was in Fletcher's Drug Store, where Denny
Fletcher operated a soda fountain in one corner of
the store. So it was not too much of a problem to wait
for the bus in this "tantalizing" atmosphere. At the
time Denny's thick, super milk shakes were only 25
cents, and a "David Harem", a generous serving of
ice cream and several toppings just cost 35 cents.

For the privilege of riding the Greyhouse Bus to and
from school, each student paid $6.30 per month.
There was no monetary assistance from the school
board at that time, a far cry from the school bus
system of to-day that carries students from their
door to school, and return, a welcome sign of progress.

Beginning in 1907, when the first school was organized,
local residents were appointed to the Board to administer
the affairs and needs of the school, and to procure the
necessary funds. Later, the Provincial Government
became the source of revenue.

A decision to eliminate the small one room school and
to send the students to the large one was made by
the Provincial Government in 1942. From that time on,
the Spring Coulee School Board, as such, was
dissolved, and a representative from the designated
district was elected to serve on said Board for a
specified term. Bill Matson, of the Raley area was
the first to be chosen to serve on the Cardston
School Divisional Board, and the representative
for the district in which Spring Coulee was located.

He was followed by others from elsewhere in the
district. In 1962, campaigning for the continuance
of the school in Spring Coulee, which was in
jeopardy of closing. John M. Thompson of Spring
Coulee was elected to the Cardston School Division
where he served for eight years.

He was followed by other Spring Coulee cittizens,
namely Eric Hohm, Dan Gruninger, Roslyn Beswick,
and Gerri Ripley in that order. Gerri continued to
serve on the Board until Regionalization changed
the electoral boundaries which took effect on
August 31,1994.

With the closing of the country school in 1942, the
Davisville building was moved on to the Spring
Coulee site, about 300 yards north of the teacherage.
This third room was really needed as the students
frorn the Vernal and Raley schools began attending
the school in Spring Coulee. Cliff Johnson drove
the students from Raley and Tom Beswick brought the
ones from Vernal to the school.

With the beginning of construction of the St. Mary's
Dam, located four miles to the west and north,
several families moved onto the site in 1948. To
accommodate their children the School Division
added three rooms and a large multi-purpose
room as well. This was quite an evolution from the
original one room unit in 1907, with it's pot- bellied
stove for heat, to the modern conveniences of
more space, central heating, electric lights and
indoor plumbing.

With the completion of St. Mary's Dam, and the
departure in 1956 of some of the families involved,
the enrollment at the school began to dwindle
to the point where only two teachers were
needed for instruction. From that time on, until
the school was closed for scholastic purposes,
there were no more than two teachers.

To put it succinctly, the citizens of Spring Coulee
area, both past and present have left a noteworthy
heritage to those who came after them.

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