Mountbatten School Traditional Cache

You will be looking for a small round lock n lock (can hold small pins and geocoins) cammoed to it's surroundings.  No FTF certificate and no writing stick.  So please bring your own.

The spot you have come to used to be a small school.  I attended this school while in grades 1 thru 6.  This place is special to me and holds many treasured memories.  This is my tribute to a great school.  I hope you can follow me down memory lane and please state in your log if you attended this school or if you have any childhood memories of your school that you would like to share.

Standing at ground zero, if you look West, there is a building there that used to be called Burnell's Store.  We would ride our bikes there or at lunch time cross the road and get our fill of the newest treats they had for sale.  Looking NW you will see a building that used to be a church as well as a multipurpose type of building.  We held our Christmas concerts there every year as the school was much to small to make productions as elaborate as we did.  From where you parked, there is still the remains of the two fence posts that led up to the schools front doors, past the flag pole that flew the Canadian flag every morning.

History: The community known as the St Germain Post Office area existed long before the City of Winnipeg grew large enough to include St. Vital as a suburb. This area was originally part of the Parish of St. Norbert, dating as far back as the early 1800's. Many of the settlers were market gardeners, mink ranchers, fanners and labourers.

The children attended school in St. Norbert, crossing the river on the Ferry in late spring and early fall. During the freeze-up and break-up of the river ice, children crossed over the best way they could. They were affectionately known as the ''"river rats" until 1946 and 1947 when they were bussed to school via the old Elm Park Bridge.

The municipality of St. Vital owned part of the property where Mountbatten School was located, the remaining land being purchased from Mr. Jim Mills. Mountbatten School was built in the summer of 1948 and opened in September using two classrooms in which grades 1 to 11 were taught. A few years later the four classrooms were used. In 1957 the School Districts amalgamated. After the amalgamation Grades 1 to 6 only were taught at the school. The remainder of the children were bussed north to attend the St. Vital Junior and Senior High Schools.

How it got it name? An excerpt from a letter written by Marie Davies to Queen Elizabeth" on the occasion of Mountbatten's 40th Anniversary reads, "I have researched the original minutes of the board during the formation of the school and found that the name 'Mountbatten' was chosen at the first meeting of the electors on January 9, 1948; and that it was chosen in honour of your husband, Prince Philip."

What caused the closure? The concern was about investing significant resources into an ageing school with a small school population particularly when the Division has under capacity schools in close proximity to Mountbatten School and with that, June30, 2004, Mountbatten School was closed forever.  Please come back and visit the park often.  I hear there are great things in store for this little park, including a geocache for starters.