About/History of LaVérendrye
February 4, 2021
The School Board agreed that a new school was needed in the Fort Rouge area to help ease the overcrowding of the existing Fort Rouge School. Plans were accordingly prepared by the Commissioner of Buildings, submitted, accepted, and tenders called for the erection of a building on the site in Fort Rouge, block 57, to be named LaVerendrye School. Messrs. Saul & Irish won the building contract for $69,920 while the installation of heating and ventilation went to the Steam Power & Heating Co. at $10,200. LaVerendrye was built with a solid stone and brick construction, fireproof stairways, and was fully modern in all respects. The cornerstone of the school was placed by Mr. F.C. Hubbard, Trustee for Ward 1 on July 7, 1909. LaVerendrye was planned with the view of providing suitable rooms in which to carry on the several branches of school work which up to that time were sanctioned by the Board, but did not include gymnasiums, swimming baths, bowling alleys etc. The Board provided research that stated “the idea is growing that such features do not assist in the actual work of the school.”
The original solid stone and brick three storey fifteen classroom school remained virtually unchanged until an addition was built in 1960 which included a multipurpose room with storage and washroom space.
In 1983, the French Milieu Centre was established at LaVerendrye and a few years later the school was converted to a French Immersion school. In June 2009, École LaVérendrye celebrated its centennial with a major community barbecue and carnival, as well as numerous historical projects. A circa-1909 heritage classroom was made a permanent part of the school, offering students from across the Division a chance to experience history in an immersive environment.
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de la Verendrye Explorer - Between 1731 and 1744, Varennes and his sons discovered and described Lakes Winnipeg, Winnipegosis, and Manitoba and their relation to the major rivers of the region. They decided that the Saskatchewan River provided the best route to the Pacific.