South Napanee School

Three Years Wasted, and No Settlement of the Question Yet Reached.

Meetings have been held from time to time over a period of about three years, of school trustees and ratepayers in South Napanee, which is in the Township of North Fredericksburgh. Each of these meetings resembled a miniature Donnybrook Fair, so that it is easily understandable that very little has been accomplished, with the exception that something like fifteen hundred dollars has been paid out for legal opinions.

The nearest township school, capable of accommodating thirty-five pupils, is about a mile west of South Napanee, a long distance and an uphill road for young children. South Napanee has an overwhelming majority of the school children, about forty or fifty, and the parents of these children desire to have a school built in their midst. The rest of the School Section will have thirty or thirty-five pupils.

It is reported that the Department of Education stated some time ago that a new school had to be built, but the two factions, for and against, have nullified such pronouncement, if it was made.

At an election meeting held yesterday, it was decided to purchase an acre of land from the Napanee Golf Club as a suitable site for the new school; but this action, it is reported this morning, is to be subject to an appeal on the ground of illegality.

It is high time that the Department of Education should take a hand in this matter and settle the trouble without further delay. In the meantime many children cannot go to school on account of the existing conditions.

Jan 27 1928 Napanee Beaver

S.S. #15E North Fredericksburgh Golf Course School

1939 Map

Golf Course School Marks 50^th Anniversary

1978

Golf Course Public School presented an open house on Nov 7. In its 51^st year of existence. More than 100 persons attended, estimated principal Robert Dunlop. The school itself has served the area since 1928.

Beginning as a one-room school, the building has since expanded to four rooms. Today there are two teachers on staff, Mary Gillott, who instructs kindergarten through Grade 5 and Principal Dunlop who teaches the remaining senior grades.

Officially recognized as North Fredericksburgh Township School Section 15 East, the Golf Course School was built in 1928 in time for the fall term of that year. Initially it had a student capacity of 41.

Upon its completion it was a source of pride to the community being modern and convenient for its day. It contained a large, well-lighted classroom, with a furnace in the basement and sanitary washroom facilities, cloakrooms and a teachers’ room.

The school was built out of necessity. Overcrowded conditions developed in the one-room Jubilee School, built in the year of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, 1897. The school’s lone teacher found it difficult to educate sometimes 60 students in the cramped conditions.

Prior to the decision to build Golf Course School, there was an unsuccessful attempt by the school trustees at solving the problem of cramped facilities. Sixteen students were transferred to Napanee public schools. Their tuition was covered by the ratepayers of North Fredericksburgh zone. Several parents sent additional students into Napanee at their own expense.

However, this solution proved inadequate. Public indignation meetings held at the Jubilee School prompted the decision to build a modern structure on a lot directly east of the golf course. This became known as Golf Course School.

The first board of trustees included T.U. Anderson, Harold Yeomans and F.S. McCabe.

Miss Armitage, final teacher at the Jubilee School, was hired as the initial instructor at the new school. Between 1928 and 19465, five other persons occupied the position.

In the fall of 1945, due to increasing enrolment, the school added a second teacher to the staff. At that time, Miss Laura Alkenbrack was employed to teach the senior grades and Mrs. Leroy Abrams was placed in charge of the junior classes.

In January. 1941, the school was incorporated in a rural school area. The school board was increased to five members.

In 1944, a new furnace was installed to replace the original. One year later, electricity was added.

Additions of one room were made in 1953, 1957 and finally in 1960. Today it remains a four room structure. Renovations have been made when necessary, such as partial re-roofing a few years ago.

Today the school is officially known as Golf Course Public School and is under the jurisdictions of the Lennox and Addington County School Board.

Golf Course School Closes

1980

Enrolment drop closes Napanee’s Oldest School

The little red brick school house has had its day. Declining enrolment and high maintenance costs have claimed their latest victim – Golf Course Public School in Napanee. The 52-year-old school, the oldest in Napanee, closed its doors in June. Its 40 students have been transferred to The Prince Charles School for this fall.

Ed Thompson, superintendent of schools, said the closure was needed because of a large enrolment drop three years ago. That was when a boundary change allowed about half of the school’s 80 students to transfer to Prince Charles. Since that time, only two of the school’s six rooms have been used for teaching.

The school’s demise is “a sign of the times,” said Thompson. “There was another loss of students predicted for next year,” he added. The decision to close the school came at a Board of Education meeting April 18.

Former students, some of them original pupils, attended a social evening, June 23 to mark the school’s closing.

Golf Course Principal, Rob Dunlop, who will become vice-principal at Odessa Public School this fall, said he has enjoyed his four years at the small school. “There’s a real closeness with the students and parents that you don’t get in a bigger school.”

Mary Gillott, the other full-time teacher, has been at Golf Course for 14 years. She will be teaching at Prince Charles this fall.

Thompson said that there are no plans yet for the school. “There has been a lot of talk about it,” he said. “It will probably be assessed and opened for teacher.”

Students Proud of Small School

Transferring to a different school is tough for most children – students at Golf Course Public School in Napanee are no different. Declining enrolment at their school means they have to attend the larger Prince Charles School this fall.

Many aren’t happy. Their loyalty to the smaller school showed in letters they wrote for a class assignment in June. “This is the best school of them all in my whole life,” wrote Elizabeth Grant, a Grade 3 student. Debbie Galt, a Grade 4 student echoed those feelings. “It might be a small school, but it’s a good school.”

But most, like Grade 3 student Tracy McCutcheon, seem willing to accept the challenge. “I’m not happy, but that’s the way it goes.”

Ad for the Sale of the Golf Course School

Aug 29 1985, Kingston Whig Standard

Golf Course School Sale

Mar 14 & Sept 30 1985, Kingston Whig Standard

Golf Course School North Fredericksburgh S.S. #15E

Jean Paul, teacher

Students unidentified

Golf Course School North Fredericksburgh S.S. #15E

c1954

Promotions & Honour Rolls
North Fredericksburgh S.S. #15E - Golf Course
Publication Date Teacher	Student Names
July 2 1930 Marguerite M. Way	Senior III to Junior IV – Dorothy Thompson, Allan Leary, Patsy Culhane, Philip Coathup, Noreen Waitson, Isabelle Norris, Beverley Birrell, Bruce Norris Junior III to Senior III – Olga Culham, Teddy Fox Senior II to Junior III – Doris McCabe, Gertrude Thompson, Margaret Baldwin, Jessie Wagar Junior II to Senior II – Alice Harmer, Carl Baldwin Senior I to Junior II – Donald Robinson, Arvilla Coathup, Thelma Thompson, Lottie Green, Vincent Fox, Jessie Green Senior Primer to Junior I – Percy Green, Phyllis Richardson, Marshal Fox, Philmer Sedore, June Baldwin, Bruce Thompson, Willard Snider, Harold Snider

Teachers at S.S. #15E North Fredericksburgh
Year	Board Secretary	Teacher	Building	Average Attendance	Salary
Nov 1929	F.S. McCabe	Marguerite Way	Brick	37	1000
Nov 1930	F.S. McCabe	Marguerite Way	Brick	35	1000
Nov 1931	F.S. McCabe	Marguerite Way	Brick	37	1000
Nov 1932	F.S. McCabe	Marguerite Way	Brick	38	900
Nov 1934	Frank S. McCabe	Muriel K. Wilson	Brick	29	700
Nov 1935	Frank S. McCabe	Jean C. Paul	Brick	37	650
Nov 1936	Frank S. McCabe	Jean C. Paul	Brick	38	650
Nov 1937	Frank S. McCabe	Jean C. Paul	Brick	38	700
Nov 1938	Frank S. McCabe	Jean Paul	Brick	55	700
Nov 1939	Frank S. McCabe	Jean C. Paul	Brick	53	700
Nov 1940	Leslie Richardson	Jean C. Paul	Brick	45	800
Nov 1941	R.I. Chapman	Norma L. Wood	Brick	--	800
Nov 1942	R.I. Chapman	Norma L. Wood	Brick	--	1000
Nov 1943	R.I. Chapman	Norma L. Wood	Brick	34	1150
Nov 1944	Reginald I. Chapman	Norma Wood	Brick	23	1250
Nov 1945	Reginald I. Chapman	Russell H. Shultz	Brick	40	1300
Nov 1946	Sam J. Baird	Laura Alkenbrack Mrs. Gertrude Abrams	Brick	44	1300 1200
Nov 1947	Sam J. Baird	Laura Alkenbrack Mrs. Gertrude E. Abrams	Brick	42	1600 1500
Nov 1948	Sam J. Baird	Mrs. Laura Simpkins Mrs. Gertrude Abrams	Brick	43	1700 1600
Nov 1949	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Isobel Ring	Brick	--	1750
Nov 1950	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Isobel Ring	Brick	30	1850
Nov 1951	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Isobel L. Ring	Brick	40	2100
Nov 1952	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Isobel L. Ring Mrs. Helen Wood	Brick	--	2300 2100
Nov 1953	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Isobel L. Ring Mrs. Marguerite T. Ellis	Brick	--	2300 2200
Nov 1954	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche E. Dickson Mrs. Marguerite Ellis	Brick	--	2500 2350
Nov 1955	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche Dickson Mrs. Marguerite Ellis	Brick	--	2600 2450
Nov 1956	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche E. Dickson Mrs. Marguerite Ellis	--	--	2750 2600
Nov 1957	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche E. Dickson Mrs. Jean E. Burns Mrs. Marguerite T. Ellis	--	73	3000 2800 2800
Nov 1958	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche E. Dickson Mrs. Jean E. Burns Mrs. Marguerite T. Ellis	--	78	3200 3000 3000
1962	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche E. Dickson Mrs. Blanche E. Duff Mrs. Sara M. Robertson	--	108	4200 3700 3700
Nov 1963	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche E. Dickson Mrs. Blanche E. Duff Mrs. M. Pauline Hutchinson Mrs. Sara M. Robertson	--	97	4400 3900 3600 3900
Nov 1964	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche E. Dickson Mrs. Catherine L. Clark Mrs. Blanche E. Duff Mrs. Sara M. Robertson	--	99	4600 4100 4100 4100
Nov 1965	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche E. Dickson Mrs. Catherine Clark Mrs. Blanche Duff Mrs. Sara M. Robertson	--	103	--
Nov 1966	Marshal Vanalstine	Mrs. Blanche Dickson Mrs. Catherine Clark Mrs. Gloria Pixley Mrs. Frances Pringle	--	106	--
1980	Closed