Miscouche Convent School

Belle Alliance, later known as Miscouche, in Lot 17, west of Summerside, Prince Edward Island was first settled in 1817. The Miscouche Convent built in 1864 by Father Joseph Quevillon was one of the first convents in an Acadian parish in the Atlantic region. The Convent was later turned over to the Bishop of Charlottetown, Bishop Peter McIntyre, who sent for three sisters from the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal who began teaching classes on 14 September 1864 with an enrollment of 50 girls. Students in the area had been receiving French instruction since the 1830's. An amendment to the School Act in 1854 required teachers to provide English instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic. The Convent School was not restricted to Acadians and took in some resident pupils. It relied solely on public support and tuition fees. By 1904, the school was opened to the public and in 1922, students of the boys' school were transferred to the Convent School. In 1937 the Miscouche Convent school was still under the direction of the sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame as were the convent schools in Tignish and Rustico. It appears that the school later was know as Miscouche School No. 66 under the direction of the provincial Department of Education.