Manitoba Municipal Heritage Site No. 18

Maple Leaf School
555 Thornhill Avenue
Morden

Maple Leaf School
Designation Date: September 13, 1988
Designation Authority: Morden (Town)
Present Owner: Western School Division No. 47

The low-profile Maple Leaf School, with its decorative brick bands, slight crenellations and large windows creating light-filled classrooms, is an excellent example of the bungalow-style schools developed in Manitoba after World War I. These squat, horizontal structures, which departed from previous two- and three-storey designs, were economical and capable of quick emergency evacuation. They also had aesthetic appeal, in part because their scale was welcoming and more compatible with the residential neighbourhoods in which they were located. The Morden school, with its basic Art Deco styling, retains its original function on a site that has been continuously occupied by schools since 1894.