Lake Kathlyn Elementary School

Scope and Content: Series includes 165 photos of Lake Kathlyn Elementary School, its staff, and students, primarily during the 1960s and 1970s. Subjects include children playing outside, making arts and crafts, playing musical instruments, and dressed in historic costumes; class photographs from 1967 to 1977; and 42 …

Physical Description: 165 colour and b&w photographs, 2 floppy discs, 0.2 cm textual records

History / Biographical: Lake Kathlyn Elementary was established in 1960 to accommodate the growing population of Smithers. It taught Kindergarten to Grade Seven to children from as far west as Witset. The school was built on land purchased from Floyd Laughlin and initially had two classrooms teaching Grades 1-5. Grades 6 and 7 were added in 1962. The school expanded throughout the ‘60s to include additional rooms, a covered play area, and a gymnasium. Lake Kathlyn Elementary School was absorbed into Smithers’ boundaries in 1979. On April 12, 2016, the School District 54 Board of Trustees voted to close the Elementary School at the end of June because of the loss of funding initially given for diminished enrollment.

Scope and Content: Series includes 165 photos of Lake Kathlyn Elementary School, its staff, and students, primarily during the 1960s and 1970s. Subjects include children playing outside, making arts and crafts, playing musical instruments, and dressed in historic costumes; class photographs from 1967 to 1977; and 42 unidentified headshots of students and staff members. Other items include a typed page on the history of Lake Kathlyn School, and 3 photos, 2 floppy discs and a short write-up about a Witsuwit’en blanket feast held at Lake Kathlyn School on November 30th 2001.

Notes: The 42 headshots have not been scanned or given P numbers or database entries as there is no information known about the subjects. They may still be made available to researchers who are interested in them.