Time Traveller / Voyageur du temps

Musical roots

A choir contest won in 1929 perhaps signaled the beginnings of Connaught’s musical roots. Students and parents of more recent years will remember epic musicals directed by Jane Ursan, such as the Sound of Music and Oklahoma! Notable musicians who went to Connaught include:

Concert pianist Catherine Vickers

Violinist Erika Raum

Guitarist Jack Semple

Members of Rah Rah

Wage gap

In 1913, a “Teacher of Domestic Science (Cooking)” received a base salary of $900 per year, while an “Assistant (Male) of Manual Training” received a base salary of $1,200 a year. Kindergarten teachers received $800 per year. Click here to see the salary list.

How Wise Owl got it name

Wise Owl day care, located in Connaught’s basement, was incorporated in 1984. It is so named because the program was an offshoot of one originally provided by the YWCA – hence it was the ‘Y’s Owl.’

Oldest school

Connaught is the oldest school in Regina. Its closest public school competitor is Imperial School, built in 1914.

Hard Times

In 1939 School District study found that Connaught students were asked to buy the second-most expensive set of textbooks in Regina: $10.35 (roughly $160.29 in 2011 dollars) over their school career. The study also found that many families couldn’t afford the price: of Connaught’s 591 pupils, 70 (11.8%) were the children of unemployed parents.

How crowded can it get?

The school was originally designed to hold 595 students, but from 1930 to 1945 enrolment was always well over 600. The most crowded year of that decade-and-a-half was 1935, when 704 students attended! Over the years, the school has given some of its space to community services and special programs (like daycare and a nutrition program) making about 350 students a full house today.

J.H. Puntin

Connaught’s architect, J.H. Puntin, lived in the neighborhood, att 2256 Rae St. He designed 10 other Regina schools, as well as several churches, additions to Regina College and Luther College, and the first buildings at the Fort San tuberculosis sanatorium in Fort Qu’appelle, including the Main Lodge. As well, he oversaw the construction of the provincial Legislative Building, designed by E. and W.S. Maxwell.

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