Kronau’s Saar School beside the Heritage Museum. Photo by Jenelle Lippai.
Saar School, in operation from 1935 to 2007, provided a meaningful classroom environment for the local children to learn and make memories in. When it officially closed its doors in 2008, a sense of loss swept through the community.
According to Kronau’s Heritage Museum website,Saar School was named after the area in Russia where majority of the town’s first newcomers came from. The structure sits next to the Kronau Museum, holding decades worth of nostalgia for many residents, past and present. Though only situated 28 kilometres away from Saskatchewan’s well-known capital city, Regina, the access to everyday establishments within town limits are important to Kronau residents.
Despite its small size, Saar School prioritized the relationship between those living in the community and the relationship between students and faculty attending the facility. Rene Pelletier, one of the former principals, mentioned that the small number of students who attended Saar School allowed for more of an opportunity to build a tighter connection. Though activities such as extracurriculars were limited, there were still plenty of significant moments for the children to experience together
A previous student of Saar School, Rhonda Lamb, recalls what attending the schoolhouse was like. “There was actually a second building,” she said, “it was smaller than this one. So the school that’s there now, that’s a two room schoolhouse and there was also a one room schoolhouse. What they did was Grade one and two were in one room, Grade three and four went to the other building. Then Grade five and six were back in the second room of the first building.”
Lamb continued to reminisce on the small number of children throughout each grade and the type of undivided involvement it allowed the students to have with one another. “I think I only had 12 children in my grade,” said Lamb. “But then, they would have two grades combined. So as a kid, it was actually pretty neat because you weren’t just learning Grade three stuff. You were actually already hearing the Grade four classwork at the same time.”
While sharing the fond memories Lamb had from the perspective of a student, there was also a sense of acknowledgment towards the caring teaching staff. “Because the classes were so small, the teachers, even if they didn’t physically always live in the community, were still like a part of the community,” said Lamb.
Now, as a board member of the Kronau Museum, Lamb has an entirely new point of view on the topic. Lamb noted the impact from the loss of the school was huge but is appreciative towards the ongoing involvement that she is still able to have with it.
“For our museum,” Lamb said, “we had a really good, strong working relationship with that school. The classes would come over for all kinds of things. One year they did Remembrance Day and there was an elderly fellow who had moved to Regina but was from the community and was a World War II veteran. We actually held a remembrance service upstairs in the church building. One of our volunteers brought him out and all the kids read the things they had written about Remembrance Day. They gave it to him to take back to the nursing home.”
Lamb said many families had decided to move from Kronau after learning Saar School was closing down. “Families with young kids were actually leaving because they were having to commute far too much between them working, and then taking the kids here and there. It was a nightmare for a lot of parents. So, they ended up just moving away from the community altogether.”
Although Saar School’s apparent importance brought forth many challenges for Kronau after its closure, it also made a visible impact on the other businesses surrounding it. “There still is a little gas station store,” Lamb continued, “but it was a much more vibrant place in the community at the time. They had a little coffee area there where people could come and sit. They had flowers in front. Well, they ended up selling as well. It’s not as big a part of the community as it used to be.”
These days, the Kronau Heritage Museum website, run by the museum’s volunteer committee members, allows visitors to gain knowledge on the continuing evolution of the schoolhouse. There is gradual work being done to restore things such as the school’s stucco and electrical panels, with a focus on maintaining this historical structure for years to come.
