The Highland District settled in the early 1880’s by Caleb Pike and other hardy homesteaders was still very isolated at the turn of the century. The nearest railway station in Langford was accessible by only the roughest of roads and the nearest school was two miles further at Colwood. By 1892 there were fourteen school age children in the District. Under the School Act a school district could not be created unless there were at least fifteen children between the ages of six and sixteen residing in the district. In May of 1893 the Highlands School District was formed and in July of that year 1.75 acres of land above Millstream Road was donated and $800 provided by the provincial Secretary of Education for the “construction of a school and incidental expenses”($606 for construction of the school, outhouse and shed for stabling horses, $25 for surveying and $100 for clearing the plot, $75 for a picket fence and $15 for the purchase of a stove). A local mother was hired for $2 to clean the school and $1 was spent on a water pail and broom and 50 cents for two boxes of chalk. In August the school board engaged Miss. Jennie Fraser as teacher for $50 a month and in September 1893 the Highland Common School opened with twenty-four students in attendance. However enrolment never exceeded the twenty-four students in the 1894-95 school year, and average attendance often dipped below ten pupils. The sparse population and long distance travelled by students over rugged mountain roads and trails contributed to the low attendance and in winter children would often be required to travel by foot or horse through heavy snow.
So by 1900 the school was closed “owing to the failure to maintain the average attendance required by the School Act”. But over the next few years the Highland School District lobbied the Department of Education and by the spring of 1909 there were now sufficient students in the District to reopen the school in September under the tutelage of a Miss Noell who soon came to regret her appointment. After complaining of many days when no pupils arrived for classes, she requested a transfer and when that was not given she resigned in March with no notice. Fortunately a local girl, Alice Corry had just graduated from Victoria Normal School and was engaged to close out the school year at a salary of fifty-five dollars a month. The next few years saw a parade of teachers pass through the little red schoolhouse on the hill. Most were young, single women and few stayed longer than six months. In 1914 James Likeman was hired. He lived for a time in a small building on the property of Frank Gregory at Fizzle Lake on Munn Road and had a two-mile walk to school every day. Because he stayed for several years the school trustees agreed to build a permanent residence for him. The teacherage was erected beside the school, a building barely large enough to accommodate a cot, table, chair, tiny stove and washstand provided for the teacher. But again attendance dropped off and by 1923 with an enrolment of only 6 pupils the school was again closed. The school remained closed for the next 13 years but in 1937 the District gathered together the required ten pupils and petitioned the government for re-opening. With new paint and repairs the Highland School reopened its doors, but by 1941 families were leaving the District and the era of the one room schoolhouse was drawing to a close.
For a time during WW11 the school building was used for billeting
soldiers. In 1951 the school building and property passed into private
hands and in 1952 the Highland School District was folded into the
larger Sooke School District. |
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