Fonds 098 Sexsmith School District 3600 fonds

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Summary information

Repository: South Peace Regional Archives
Title: Sexsmith School District 3600 fonds
Reference code: 0098
Date: 1920-1976 (date of creation)
Physical description: 23 cm textual records

1 diazo plan

Language: English
Dates of creation, revision and deletion: Added to new database April 2023 – TD

Administrative history / Biographical sketch

On January 5, 1918, Sexsmith area ratepayers met to sign declarations and set boundaries for Sexsmith School District #3600, with Dave Sexsmith, J.B. Foster and D.W. McQuitty as the first trustees. The upstairs of J.B. Foster’s house was used as a classroom until a school could be built and Nettie Hale Ozzee was engaged as the first teacher at $75.00 per month. A.W. Fraser was paid $150.00 per year to be the secretary-treasurer, which involved assessing land values and collecting taxes.

The first school was built in 1920 on three acres of Foster’s land. In 1922, a second room and a basement was added, and from that time, two teachers were employed. In 1929, a second school was built for the Senior High students and by 1950, the school had taken over four buildings: the original school, the High School, a UFA Hall, and the old North Sexsmith School which had been moved in from the country.

North Sexsmith School had closed in 1948, and students from other rural schools also swelled the student numbers. With consolidation in the early 50s, Sexsmith became a central school and in 1955, a multi-roomed facility of eight classrooms, typing room, science room, was built. In 1956, the Sexsmith School District joined the County of Grande Prairie School Division No. 14.

Early teachers at Sexsmith included A. MacAlister, Kathryn Mallory, Kate Ballou, Meta Lively, and W.D. McDougall, Hazel Cox, Clara Johnson, R. Grove, Elsworth Foy, Mona Foy, Anne Saul, A.R.T. Brown, Sarah McWhinnie, Cleora White, Lonelle Coffin, Rhoda Jeffers, W.S. Waddell, Elizabeth Ingram, Sybil Morrison, J. E. Murray, Hilda Muttart, J.H. Blocksidge, Miss Miller, Mrs. Bailey, Mr. Hayduk, Mrs. Walker, Henry Wiebe and Ken Dane.

Custodial history

The major portion of the records were preserved by the Sexsmith Museum and deposited in Grande Prairie Regional Archives in 2004. The collection was added to the seven daily registers preserved by the County of Grande Prairie School Division No. 14 and donated to the Archives in 2000.

Scope and content

The fonds consists of four minute books from 1920-1945; some tax assessment and financial records, correspondence, teacher lists, student records and daily registers from the same time period, 1920-1945; and a 1976 plan of the town of Sexsmith showing the location of the original school lot and the present school lot. There is also a 1932 poster advocating against Agricultural Pests.

Notes

Title notes

  • Source of title proper: Title of fonds based on contents.

Restrictions on access

Some records in series 0098.06 are restricted.

Access points

  • Textual record (documentary form)
  • Education (subject)

Table of contents

0098.01, Minutes, 1920-1945

0098.02, Financial Records, 1920-1945

0098.03, Correspondence, 1921-1944

0098.04, Physical Plant, 1926-1976

0098.05, Personnel, 1921-1945

0098.06, Student Records, 1922-1946

0098.07, Daily Registers, 1922-1942

0098.08, Miscellaneous, 1922-1942

Series descriptions

Series 0098.01: Minutes

Date: 1920-1945 (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of four minute books containing minutes of executive and annual meetings, and lists of accounts. The minutes cover the period from 1918, when the school district was being formed to 1945.

Physical description: 4 cm textual records

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

Series 0098.02: Financial Records

Date: 1920-1945 (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of a Union Bank of Canada (Sexsmith Branch) bank book from 1921 to 1931, Assessment and Tax Rolls from 1924 and 1925, tax lists and papers, audited financial statements from 1942 and 1944, and miscellaneous invoices from 1939-1945 showing expenses relating to teaching and maintaining school buildings.

Physical description: 1 cm textual records

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

Series 0098.03: Correspondence

Date: 1921-1944 (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of declarations of trustees, board correspondence, correspondence and circulars from school supply companies, lists of textbooks to Alberta School Book Branch, bulletins from the Department of Education, and booklets: “The Operation of Schools (War) Act” and “Annual Convention, Alberta Schools Trustees Association (1944).”

Physical description: 1 cm textual records

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

Series 0098.04: Physical Plant

Date: 1926-1976 (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of lists of repairs needed to use turn the U.F.A. Hall into a classroom in 1926, a 1929 contract with Ray Sears to build the High School, the estimate for wiring both schools when electrification was introduced in 1937, a facility report from the Inspector of High Schools in 1937, a list of repairs needed for old and new schools c. 1940, and a 1976 plan for the town of Sexsmith showing the original and present school sites.

Physical description: 0.5 cm textual records

1 diazo plan

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

File / item list
Reference code Title Dates Physical description
0098.04.01 Item – Sexsmith  1976 1 diazo plan
Scope and content:

plan showing boundaries and lay-out of the town of Sexsmith. Public School Lot A is site of first schools and Lot 14A is site of consolidated school built in 1955.

Series 0098.05: Personnel

Date: 1921-1945 (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of contract agreements between individual teachers and the Board of Trustees, income tax forms declaring wages and deductions, applications and correspondence from would-be teachers, inspectors reports on individual teachers, and circulars regarding the Certification of Teachers and salary schedules.

Physical description: 2 cm textual records

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

Series 0098.06: Student Records

Date: 1922-1946 (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of census lists, attendance and classification reports, and term returns from 1922-[1945]; and restricted information giving student marks from 1935 to 1946.

Physical description: 2 cm textual records

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

Restrictions on access:

Records with student grades are restricted.

Series 0098.07: Daily Registers

Date: 1922-1942 (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of 19 Daily Registers for all the years from 1922-1932, and one High School Register from 1938-1939.

Physical description: 12 cm textual records

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

Series 0098.08: Miscellaneous

Date: 1922-1942 (date of creation)

Scope and content:

The series consists of three polls which the ratepayers of Sexsmith School District 3600 voted on: the sale of Debentures for the 1922 addition, an unidentified poll taken September 9, 1942, and an un-dated one selecting Howard over Menzies for office. There is also one School Competition poster and pamphlet regarding “awarding of prizes for the destruction of agricultural pests: gophers, crows, and magpies”; and a list for diphtheria inoculations in 1936.

Physical description: 0.5 cm textual records

Access points:

•                Textual record (documentary form)

File / item list
Reference code Title Dates Physical description
0098.08.01 Item – Agricultural Pests poster  1932 1 page : 18 x 10 in.
Scope and content:

School Competition poster and pamphlet regarding “awarding of prizes for the destruction of agricultural pests: gophers, crows, and magpies”. The back of the poster has writing on it.