One Village, Six Schools

Over time, schools became the beating heart of the villages in the Province of Quebec.

Students at the “upper parish” school, circa 1935.

In 1829, the Act to Encourage Elementary Education was passed in Lower Canada. Little by little, trustee schools[1] sprang up across the province. In Grondines, barely two years after the law was passed, no less than five schools were opened, in addition to the village school. This meant that all the children in the village had access to education.

List of students at the sixth Grondines school, 1831.

The Schoolhouses

Schools brought life to the village clusters that sprang up on either side of the parish. Almost all the districts[2] of Grondines had a schoolhouse. Children from the 4th Line attended the 3rd Line schoolhouse, while those in the village of Saint-Joseph attended school in the “upper parish,” west of the village.

Students at the Frappe-Sacre school, 1953

In addition to the village school, there were schoolhouses in Frappe-Sacre[3] in the western part of the parish, on the 2nd Line West, in Grand 2 and on the 3rd Line. Most of the schoolhouses closed in 1966[4], in the midst of the Quiet Revolution. Only the one in Grondines-Est still stands today.

Life as a Schoolmistress

La p’tite école du rang (1978) (The Little Schoolhouse), Thérèse Sauvageau.

Schoolmistresses had numerous tasks. In addition to seeing to the education of children of all levels, they had to maintain the building and heat the wood stove before the students arrived in the morning. Some of them even lived in the school during the week.

Given their role in society, they were expected to behave impeccably, as even the slightest misbehaviour could lead to a denunciation. Something as simple as an innocent night out dancing could get them in trouble…

A School Like No Other

Built in 1913 following plans drawn up by the Department of Public Instruction, the Grondines school is a source of pride in the community. If the playground still echoes with children’s laughter today, it’s because the local community made it a point to care for the school. Since 2009, the Fondation de l’École Saint-Charles-de-Grondines has been holding a variety of activities to raise the funds needed to maintain the school, despite its small number of pupils. After all, it takes a village to raise a child.

Grondines School, 1913.