Pipestone Flyer
September 1963 was a major year for high school aged students in Leduc. It would be the first time that high school students would be in their own school.
The first Leduc school taught by William Douglas, in 1893, was a one-room affair with students ranging from Grade One to Grade Eight. By 1900 Ms. Kate Timney taught in a brand new two-story building and was joined in 1903 by Mr. D.C. McEachern, Leduc’s first principal, and grades had increased to include grade twelve.
A disastrous fire in 1910 totally destroyed the school but by 1912 the community had replaced the wooden structure with a beautiful two-story brick building and called it the King George School after King George V. The school would serve Leduc students until 1956. In 1956 a brand new school was opened for students from grades seven to twelve and King George’s school principal Mr. Chittick transferred to the new school. The King George School building remained until 1965 when unfortunately the up keep of the structure became too great of a burden on the school district’s budget and was torn down. Today the site of the King George School is part of the playing fields of Leduc Junior High School.
By the beginning of the 1960’s it became obvious that the “new” school was bursting at the seams and another school was need. So for the third time in his career Mr. Chittick saw himself as principal of a new school and became the Leduc Composite School’s first principal in the fall of 1963.
As Leduc’s educational needs increased so did the need to control costs at the administrative level. Over time various school districts amalgamated and in 1995 the Leduc City school system joined with County of Leduc and the Devon School District to form the Black Gold Regional School Division. It is doubtful that as Bill Douglas was using his crutches to reach the one-room log cabin school that he could imagine, a hundred and twenty years later, high school students would be attending a school of over seven hundred students and that plans were in the works for a second high school.
Today many of the students attending Leduc Comp are third generation students following their parents and grandparents in obtaining their education. For those wishing to partake in the fifty anniversary celebrations on Saturday, October 5th, 2013 you can join the school tours starting at 1pm, and take part in a special presentation at 4:30 in the MacLab. If you would like to join fellow alumni at a barbeque dinner and social beginning at 6pm then call 780-986-2248 for additional information and tickets.