The first Patricia School was opened in 1891 near the corner of 264 and 8 Avenues on the northeast side. The official name was listed as “Aldergrove South” in the 1891-2 BC Annual Report of Public Schools. It was 20 x 34 feet, located on one acre with a land value of $25. The value of the building was $700. The first teacher was Christina Shortreed, followed by Mr. A. J. Gordon. The children of the area had a long walk over the rough trails of Jackman and County Line Roads. Warner Avenue (8) did not go through in the early years.
The school was renamed “Patricia” in 1912 after the youngest daughter of the Duke of Connaught who became Governor General in 1911. The school became the focal point for the community, which used the building for concerts, meetings, dances, etc., before Patricia Hall was built.
In 1962, South Otter School was moved from 248 and joined with Patricia to make a two-room school. Washrooms and an office were added in 1963, and a covered play area in 1965.
Originally, the school included all the grades, but in the 1940s, the students in the senior grades were sent to Aldergrove Elementary, and Patricia included only grades 1-4. Later students went to Shortreed and Parkside for grades 5-7.
Mrs. Leona Fritzke, who taught at Patricia for 17 years until it closed, remembers some of the highlights of the school programs. From 1966-8, Patricia and South Otter combined their Sports Days, but later went on their own. Mrs. Fritzke remembers when the school was given a large fish by the Iversons (a family who lived just east of the school). They wrapped the fish, cooked it, and the whole school dined on salmon. In 1982, Anne MacDonald, a librarian who visited once a week, organized the Patricia Elementary cookbook. The whole school went swimming at Spencer’s Pool and Rippin’s Pool, nearby properties that were offered for community use. The school Christmas concerts were popular events held in the Patricia Hall next to the school and attended by the community. Other field trips that the entire school enjoyed included a trip on the Royal Hudson train in 1983, a trip to Carolyn Mines in 1980, and trips to White Rock and Derby.
Other teachers who worked at Patricia included Betty Lou Chell, Nancy McLeod (Pardoe), and Merv Grigg.
Patricia School was closed in 1983 and is now a dwelling.
Memories of Patricia Elementary School
Patricia Elementary School, by Betty Lou Chell
In 1951-52, I was teaching at Patricia School, located on the busy Bellingham Highway (264). It was a one-room school which meant that if the children were outside at recess or lunch time, I had to be there too to keep a very watchful eye on them and the road. This was long before the days of paid supervision, and one was expected to be on duty from 8:30am to 3:30pm. I was concerned about the road, and being a brash young teacher and possibly unaware of correct protocol, I decided that something had to be done. The most direct route seemed to be to contact Harold Stafford, the Superintendent, and Vern Mercer, the Secretary Treasurer of the District. I phoned each of them every day for a week. They became so fed up with my calls that they decided to pay a visit.
The circumstances couldn’t have been better if I had orchestrated them. When they arrived, there was such a flow of traffic coming up from the border that they had to wait five minutes before being able to turn into the school yard. The next week a fence was built. If one wanted to have something like that done today, there would be committees struck, feasibility studies ordered, budgets consulted, and maybe a fence within five years.
Patricia School, regarding Ailie Caldwell
Ailie Caldwell taught at Patricia from 1954 until 1956. After she found commuting to Vancouver every weekend too wearing and the costs of renting at the Blue Star Motel too expensive, Ailie and her three children received permission from the School Board to place an 18-foot travel trailer near the windows on the south side of Patricia School. Their trailer was close enough to run an extension cord for electricity, and the school outhouse andhand pump served the family’s other needs.
The three girls attended local schools until Ailie had to move to Alberta to be close to her dying mother. When they returned in 1962, the girls attended Aldergrove Secondary.
Ailie taught at Willoughby and Aldergrove Elementary, completed her Master’s degree at Western Washington, taught Kindergarten, worked at Trinity Western, was on the steering committee for the creation of the Langley Fundamental School, and taught at Langley Central until she retired in 1981.
