Saskatoon Normal School
Saskatoon Normal School c. 1930
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Former names
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Saskatoon Normal School |
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| Active | 1912–1964 |
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Saskatoon, Saskatechewan, Canada 52°08′29″N 106°40′10″W / 52.141252°N 106.669508°WCoordinates: 52°08′29″N 106°40′10″W / 52.141252°N 106.669508°W |
| Campus | 1030 Idylwyld Dr N |
The Saskatoon Teachers' College, originally called the Saskatoon Normal School, was a facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada for training teachers. The school occupied temporary premises at first, then moved to a handsome brick and stone building on Avenue A North in 1922. It was administered by the provincial department of education. In 1964 it was merged into the College of Education of the University of Saskatchewan, and became the Avenue A Campus.
The Saskatoon Normal School opened on 20 August 1912 in rented rooms in the Saskatoon Collegiate Institute (later called the Nutana Collegiate). It was a nondenominational institute for training primary and secondary school teachers. There were twelve second class student teachers and fifty third class students. The students also attended lectures at the University of Saskatchewan. The school moved in 1914 to four rooms rented in the Buena Vista School. In 1916 it moved again to rooms on the first floor of the university's Student's Residence No. 2. In 1919 the school moved again to St. Mary's separate school, and classrooms were also provided by the St. Thomas Presbyterian Church (now St. Thomas Wesley United Church).
In 1920 it was decided to build a permanent home for the school on the west side of Saskatoon on Avenue A North. It was a gothic-style brick and Bedford stone building designed by architect Maurice W. Sharon and undertaken by architect David Webster. While construction was under way the school held classes in St. Paul's school on 22nd Street and 4th Avenue. The new school building was opened in March 1922, and the Provincial Normal School was officially opened on 12 February 1923, under the provincial Department of Education. In 1923 there were 335 students in the normal school.
George Moir Weir was an early principal at the Normal School. He was also Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan, which funded the War Memorial Scholarship Fund. This sent the best-qualified teachers to the most difficult districts. According to Weir, "the real values of the Scholarship Project depend very largely, not so much on what these teachers actually teach, as on what they are, – on their character, influence and personality." The Church of England missionary societies recruited male and female Anglicans as teachers in Britain to work in Western Canada. Those without training attended a short training course at the Normal School before being sent into the field.
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