Isbister School is one of the oldest public schools in Winnipeg, a rare survivor of a 1948 purge of public-school structures.

A series of reports were published by the City of Winnipeg in 1948 condemning 14 older schools and labeling them “outmoded”. Isbister School avoided demolition, alongside Somerset School (1901) and Pinkham School (1902-3), though Isbister was the oldest of the three.

Constructed in 1898-99, the three-storey school held ten classrooms and an auditorium and was built to relieve enrolment pressure. Many architectural features were new to Winnipeg’s public schools; pressed metal ceilings, delicate wood trim, and stained-glass windows.

Further modernizing the school was the central heating and cooling system. Behind the school’s modern features was future Provincial Architect Samuel Hooper, known for restrained Queen Anne Revival Style designs.

Spared the wrecking ball in 1948, Isbister School faced a decline in attendance as the neighbourhood grew increasingly commercial. By 1964, the school had closed, but the vacancy was short-lived. In 1967, the Adult Education Center moved in and remain to this day. A modern glass addition was added to the rear of the school in 2004, but the bulk of the facade maintains its original Queen Anne Style appearance.