School District 57 Prince George (SD 57) is a school district in central British Columbia that encompasses urban Prince George, its surroundings, and the outlying communities of McBride and Valemount to the southeast, and Mackenzie to the north.
Land developers organized and sponsored the first schools within Prince George.
[3] During the Great Depression, centralization increased because local boards abrogated their responsibilities, forcing the installation of official trustees and creating larger administrative units.
[4] Attracting and retaining qualified rural teachers proved difficult.
Factors included salaries,[5] scathing inspectors,[6] isolation, community factions,[7] no running water, no electricity, inadequate heat,[8] teaching multiple grades,[9] and sometimes an expectation to organize the various children's social activities for the community at large.
[10] Rural schools were dependent upon a smaller and volatile local tax base for funding.
When an economic downturn, fire, or depleted accessible timber, closed a sawmill (the primary employer in most rural communities), workers relocated, student numbers dropped, and the tax base collapsed.
[11] Rural school buildings were usually rudimentary, and many in a poor state of repair.
[12] Consequently, rural students, receiving the barest elementary programs,[13] lacked educational opportunities, and few progressed to a secondary school offered only by a main centre.
[14] The 1946 implementation[15] of the 1945 Cameron Report into BC school financing and administration[16] created centralized larger districts.
[19] The earlier municipal districts provided no guidance as to setting boundaries, because many were quite small, and 90 percent of the province was unorganized.
[20] The new Prince George school district boundaries were equidistant between Quesnel southward, Vanderhoof westward, and at Penny southeastward.
[15] The elected 1948 board comprised four city and three rural representatives,[22] reaffirming some degree of local control.
[19] The new board did not operate with complete autonomy, but had to avail itself of the experience, training, and knowledge of local inspectors of schools,[23] who represented the province.
[24] The board became a buffer between local residents and the province,[25] and the inspectors were freed from petty management issues.
[26] Burgeoning student numbers throughout the 1950s saw massive increases in teacher recruitment and classroom capacity.
[27] Many new schools served residential development along the new highways north and west.
Called Van Bow initially; accommodated at Connaught elementary.
[173] In 2010, Dunster Fine Arts School Society acquired property.
Accommodated at College Heights elementary[174] prior to Apr 1977 building opening.
Called Canyon Creek; in 1958, renamed Hixon Superior; in 1965, became elementary.
École Lac des Bois assumed former Lakewood Junior Secondary building.
From 1927 Millar Addition school used for overflow elementary students;[74][202] in 1929 renamed Connaught;[189] operated until about 1936.
Called McMillan Creek; immediately renamed Shady Valley.