Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 24 prior to 1999[3]) is the public school board for the Region of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It operates 105 elementary schools, 16 secondary schools, and other facilities, serving more than 64,000 students[4] in the Region of Waterloo. It has approximately 6,800 staff and a budget of $675 million. It is the largest public sector employer in the Region and the second-largest employer overall. In 2024, the Director of Education is jeewan chanicka.[5]
| Waterloo Region District School Board WRDSB | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Canada | |
| District information | |
| Director of education | jeewan chanicka |
| Schools |
|
| Budget | CA$675 million |
| District ID | B66176[1] |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 64,712[2] |
| Staff | 6,808 |
| Other information | |
| Elected trustees |
|
| Website | www |
The board serves Waterloo Region, which consists of the cities of Kitchener, Cambridge, and Waterloo, and the townships of Wellesley, Woolwich, Wilmot, and North Dumfries. Within the townships, WRDSB operates schools in the communities of Ayr, Baden, Breslau, Conestogo, Elmira, Floradale, Linwood, New Dundee, New Hamburg, St. Jacobs, and Wellesley.
Trustees are elected every four years by the public school ratepayers in their area. Four trustees are elected in Kitchener, three trustees are elected in each of Waterloo/Wilmot and Cambridge/North Dumfries and one trustee represents Elmira/Woolwich. Although trustees are elected in specific areas, once they are elected they must represent the entire region. Annually, two students are elected by their peers to represent the student voice on the school board. They have a voice at the table but no binding vote. Every year in December, the trustees elect a chair and vice-chair for the coming year. Board policy dictates that no one may serve in either role for more than two consecutive years.[6] In 2016, the trustees published a new Strategic Plan consisting of three priorities to provide "first-class public education to Waterloo Region".[4]
In January 2018, the Board announced that it was considering the building of up to 12 new schools and the expansion of 11 existing facilities over the subsequent years, due to an increasing population. An additional 7,100 new students were expected by 2027.[7] At the same time, the Board was considering a study of the feasibility and benefits that might be provided by year-round schooling, but did not agree to proceed with a pilot programme.[8] Their newest school, Oak Creek Public School, opened in September 2022.
The Waterloo Catholic District School Board operates the Catholic schools which educates approximately one of every three students in the Region.[9]
Safe and secure schools policy
editThe School Board was criticized for its role in maintaining a confidential file on Ronald Wayne Archer (Ron Archer), a teacher convicted in 2000 of four charges of sexual assault on his student. The file documented allegations that Archer sexually assaulted children beginning in the 1970s. In 2006, the Ontario College of Teachers revoked Archer's certificates of qualification and registration.[10] Members of the public believed that had the file been disclosed, subsequent abuse would have been prevented. In 2001, the Board created new policies to prevent abuse in future.[11]
A Safe and Secure Schools policy was developed including a Code of Conduct that outlines expected behaviour standards of all members of the school community: students, parents, guardians, volunteers, staff and visitors.[12]
In 2017 It's OK to be white posters were taped to the doors of two collegiate institutes. A spokesman for the school board said "Our schools are safe spaces. We want to see them be safe for all of our children, so to see this kind of thing emerge is a worry."[13]
List of Elementary Schools
edit| Name | City/Town |
|---|---|
| Abraham Erb PS | Waterloo |
| Alpine PS | Kitchener |
| Avenue Road PS | Cambridge |
| Ayr PS | Ayr |
| Baden PS | Baden |
| Blair Road PS | Cambridge |
| Blue Heron PS | Cambridge |
| Breslau PS | Breslau |
| Bridgeport PS | Kitchener |
| Brigadoon PS | Kitchener |
| Cedar Creek PS | Ayr |
| Cedarbrae PS | Waterloo |
| Centennial PS | Cambridge |
| Centennial PS | Waterloo |
| Central PS | Cambridge |
| Chalmers Street PS | Cambridge |
| Chicopee Hills PS | Kitchener |
| Clemens Mill PS | Cambridge |
| Conestogo PS | Conestogo |
| Coronation PS | Cambridge |
| Country Hills PS | Kitchener |
| Courtland Avenue PS | Kitchener |
| Crestview PS | Kitchener |
| Doon PS | Kitchener |
| Driftwood Park PS | Kitchener |
| Edna Staebler PS | Waterloo |
| Elgin Street PS | Cambridge |
| Elizabeth Ziegler PS | Waterloo |
| Empire PS | Waterloo |
| Floradale PS | Elmira |
| Forest Glen PS | New Hamburg |
| Forest Hill PS | Kitchener |
| Franklin PS | Kitchener |
| Glencairn PS | Kitchener |
| Grand View PS | Cambridge |
| Grandview PS | New Hamburg |
| Groh PS | Kitchener |
| Hespeler PS | Cambridge |
| Highland PS | Cambridge |
| Hillcrest PS | Cambridge |
| Hillside PS | Kitchener |
| Howard Robertson PS | Kitchener |
| J F Carmichael PS | Kitchener |
| J W Gerth PS | Kitchener |
| Janet Metcalfe PS | Kitchener |
| Jean Steckle PS | Kitchener |
| John Darling PS | Kitchener |
| John Mahood PS | Elmira |
| Keatsway PS | Waterloo |
| King Edward PS | Kitchener |
| Lackner Woods PS | Kitchener |
| Laurelwood PS | Waterloo |
| Laurentian PS | Kitchener |
| Lester B Pearson PS | Waterloo |
| Lexington PS | Waterloo |
| Lincoln Heights PS | Waterloo |
| Linwood PS | Linwood |
| MacGregor PS | Waterloo |
| Mackenzie King PS | Kitchener |
| Manchester PS | Cambridge |
| Margaret Avenue PS | Kitchener |
| Mary Johnston PS | Waterloo |
| Meadowlane PS | Kitchener |
| Millen Woods PS | Waterloo |
| Moffat Creek PS | Cambridge |
| N A MacEachern PS | Waterloo |
| New Dundee PS | New Dundee |
| Northlake Woods PS | Waterloo |
| Oak Creek PS | Kitchener |
| Park Manor PS | Elmira |
| Parkway PS | Cambridge |
| Pioneer Park PS | Kitchener |
| Preston PS | Cambridge |
| Prueter PS | Kitchener |
| Queen Elizabeth PS | Kitchener |
| Queensmount PS | Kitchener |
| Riverside PS | Elmira |
| Rockway PS | Kitchener |
| Saginaw PS | Cambridge |
| Sandhills PS | Kitchener |
| Sandowne PS | Waterloo |
| Sheppard PS | Kitchener |
| Silverheights PS | Cambridge |
| Sir Adam Beck PS | Baden |
| Smithson PS | Kitchener |
| Southridge PS | Kitchener |
| St. Andrew's PS | Cambridge |
| St. Jacobs PS | St. Jacobs |
| Stanley Park PS | Kitchener |
| Stewart Avenue PS | Cambridge |
| Suddaby PS | Kitchener |
| Sunnyside PS | Kitchener |
| Tait Street PS | Cambridge |
| Trillium PS | Kitchener |
| Vista Hills PS | Waterloo |
| W.T. Townshend PS | Kitchener |
| Wellesley PS | Wellesley |
| Westheights PS | Kitchener |
| Westmount PS | Kitchener |
| Westvale PS | Waterloo |
| William G Davis PS | Cambridge |
| Williamsburg PS | Kitchener |
| Wilson Avenue PS | Kitchener |
| Winston Churchill PS | Waterloo |
| Woodland Park PS | Cambridge |
List of Secondary Schools
edit| School | City/Town | Year Founded | Enrollment (as of 2021-2022)[14] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluevale Collegiate Institute | Waterloo | 1972 | 1220 |
| Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute | Kitchener | 1969 | 1715 |
| Eastwood Collegiate Institute | Kitchener | 1956 | 1235 |
| Elmira District Secondary School | Elmira | 1939 | 1340 |
| Forest Heights Collegiate Institute | Kitchener | 1964 | 1380 |
| Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School | Cambridge | 1852 | 955 |
| Glenview Park Secondary School | Cambridge | 1957 | 1000 |
| Grand River Collegiate Institute | Kitchener | 1966 | 1390 |
| Huron Heights Secondary School | Kitchener | 2006 | 1500 |
| Jacob Hespeler Secondary School | Cambridge | 1105 | |
| Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School | Kitchener | 1855 | 1645 |
| Laurel Heights Secondary School | Waterloo | 2004 | 1740 |
| Preston High School | Cambridge | 1934 | 1095 |
| Southwood Secondary School | Cambridge | 1962 | 655 |
| Waterloo Collegiate Institute | Waterloo | 1960 | 1365 |
| Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School | Baden | 1955 | 1380 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Find a School Board". Ontario Ministry of Education. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
- ^ "By The Numbers". Waterloo Region District School Board. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ^ "Ontario Regulation 107/08". e-Laws. Government of Ontario. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
- ^ a b "About Us". Waterloo Region District School Board. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ "Corporate Services". Waterloo District School Board. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
- ^ "Roles and Responsibilities". Waterloo District School Board. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ Outhit, Jeff (January 22, 2018). "Waterloo Region public board plans 12 more schools for 7,100 more students". Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ Rutledge, Lisa (January 17, 2018). "Waterloo Region public board eyes year-round schools, just not yet". Cambridge Times. Metroland Media Group. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ Outhit, Jeff (January 3, 2018). "Catholic schools get their groove back as enrolment surges". Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ "Governing Ourselves - Professionally Speaking - June 2006". professionallyspeaking.oct.ca. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- ^ "Board staff working towards new policies". New Hamburg Independent. May 9, 2001. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012.
- ^ "Safe and Secure Schools". Waterloo Region District School Board. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
- ^ "'It's okay to be white' signs posted outside schools". CTV News Kitchener. November 7, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ Ontario School Information Finder https://www.app.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/sift/secondary.asp. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
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