HISTORY
of
TEN-BROECK ELEMENTARY
Ten-Broeck was
first opened as a two-classroom school in 1966. The school
was named after Mrs. Mary Ten-Broeck, who was born Mary
Hutchinson, on May 9, 1900 in Hartney, Manitoba, a town 160
miles from Winnipeg.
Mary, who was nicknamed Mollie by her parents, moved to
Vancouver at age 3 or 4 and received her early education
and teacher training there. She also studied at the
University of Western Washington, specializing in Remedial
Reading. She taught in North Vancouver schools, among them
Ridgeway School, for 16 years.
Mrs. Ten-Broeck then moved to Ruskin, B.C. and did
substitute teaching in Mission in Grades 1-12. She also
taught for a time in St. Mary’s School, an Aboriginal
day school, in Mission. It was while being employed in
Mission that Mrs. Ten-Broeck was introduced to Mr. Grant,
the Superintendent of the Abbotsford School District. Mr.
Grant offered her the position of Primary Supervisor of
Abbotsford. She held this position from 1950-1966, retiring
at age 66.
Ten-Broeck School is built on land that was once a poultry
farm owned by Bill and Harold Hill-Tout. They had several
acres of cleared land on which they grew wheat, which was
then fed to their chickens.