The Birtle School started as a day school in 1883. Following its conversion to a boarding school in 1888, it was expanded on number of occasions. Like many of the prairie schools it was plagued with health problems. In 1911, school principal Walter McLaren wrote “This school has an unenviable record for deaths from pneumonia and tuberculosis” A new school was built in 1931. In the 1930s, a school inspector noted that: “The farm should be operated for the school not the school for the farm.” The school closed in 1970. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation)