The first public school in Cardinal, built around 1843, was a two-storey frame building originally standing at the corner of First and Henry Street. This school was later moved to the corner of New and James Street. Although it is unclear when the school closed, the building was used by the Canada Starch Company as a storehouse before becoming a duplex in 1891, as it remains in 2016. During the mid-1800s, there were two additional one-room log schoolhouses operating in Cardinal, one at the west end of the village and one about a mile east of the village. The exact years of their operation are unknown.