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We are now closed for the season. The museum will reopen June 1, 2024.

AGM: Friday, October 27, 2-4 pm

Museum Hall

Schools

There were two schoolhouses on the islands, one on Bush Island, and one on Bells Island. These were one-room schoolhouses that could get a child educated up to Grade 9. If someone wanted to receive any higher than Grade 9, they would have to go to one of the schools on the mainland.

Before there were bridges connecting the islands, getting to and from school was difficult if you did not live on the island where you attended school. In the fall and spring, students would be rowed to school, either by a parent, or an older sibling. In the winter, the water around the islands would freeze and the children would walk across the ice to the island with their school on it. Neither of these schools are still operational and local children now attend schools on the mainland in Petite Riviere, Hebbville and Bridgewater.

Bell’s Island School

The Bell’s Island School was a one-room schoolhouse. It has changed over the years, going from having two doors, to just one. It is no longer a school anymore, as the building has been bought and is used as a summer cottage for people. The sign for the school remains intact though.

The Bell’s Island school with two doors (above) and after the second door was removed (below)

The Bell’s Island school outhouse. This is actually two outhouses in one building.

The teacher’s desk from Bell’s Island school on display at the Museum. It was used from 1924 and all the teachers who taught at the school signed their names and years they taught on the desk.

School desks from the Bell’s Island School on display at the Marine Museum.

The Bush Island School House and class.