CAVENDISH ROAD SCHOOL (ACADIAN)

St. Ignatius Provincial School records for 1844 show that no school existed in Mayﬁeld. In the records of all Public Schools in Prince Edward Island open from April 1, 1845 to January 1, 1846, we ﬁnd the name of Ciriac Buote, Teacher, Cavendish Road School (Acadian).

In the 1850 report of John Arbuckle, Inspector, Sylvan Arseneaux is listed as teacher with a student enrollment of 30. It is stated the Cavendish Road School was closed at the time of both visits by the Inspector.

In the 1855 report of John M. Stark, Inspector, it is interesting to note that of the seven French Acadian schools in Queens County which were visited, two were closed owing to the teacher taking holidays at a time not speciﬁed by law. Cavendish Road was listed as one of these schools.

Cavendish Road was renamed St. Ignatius (Acadian) during the 1860 — 61 school year. According to John Arbuckle, Inspector, this school had 43 pupils registered but only 32 were in attendance. The register was inspected and found accurate. John Arbuckle also stated:

"The teacher with the consent of parents gave a few days vacation as most of the children could not attend at this busy season."

The St. Ignatius School which was in operation during the 1845 - 46 school year was situated on land owned by John Peters and now in the possession of Byron Houston. The date for the closure of this school is not available; however, it is thought this ﬁrst school closed its doors to students between 1895 and 1900. At this time, a new school was built across the road on land formerly the property of Xavier Doiron.

This second school which was built around the turn of the century was in operation until 1952.. At that time the ratepayers of the district saw the need for a new and more modern facility. During the 1951 - 52 school year, the district was successful in purchasing land from Lloyd Houston and Alphonse Doiron for the purpose of enlarging the play— ground. In the 1931 Annual Report, Inspector Marin Gallant had reported that the playground at St. Ignatius was far too small. Hence, twenty years later the ratepayers of this district were successful in acquiring land to enlarge the playground.

The third St. Ignatius School built in 1952 was constructed on the land purchased from Lloyd Houston. The old school remained on the property for a year and later was sold to Dr. J. P. Millar of Charlottetown. The building was moved to Cavendish and converted into an attractive summer home.

35