Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School (Waterloo)

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Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School
Audere est credere
Dare to believe
Address
650 Laurelwood Drive
Waterloo, Ontario, N2V 2V1, Canada
Website
http://sjam.wrdsb.on.ca/
Information
School board Waterloo Region District School Board
Principal Julie Telfer
School type Public
Grades 9-12
Team name Highlanders
Founded 2004
Enrollment 1,350 (2005-06)

Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School is a high school operated by the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It opened in September 2004 and provides both academic and vocational programs to about 1,350 students (2005-06).

The school is located on Laurelwood Drive in the rapidly growing northwest end of the city of Waterloo. It is named after Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, and is commonly referred to as SJAM ("ess-jam"), and sometimes as J-Mac. SJAM's athletic teams are called the Highlanders. The school motto is "audere est credere," translated as "dare to believe," which is the name of the school song.

SJAM is the regional site of the WRDSB's Fast Forward program, designed for students who have typically struggled academically. About 20 per cent of SJAM students are in Fast Forward.

Construction of the $27 million, 200,000 square-foot school was plagued by delays. It opened two months before construction was complete, with students initially limited to partial days of classes. The name was selected in 2003 by school board trustees. When they asked for suggestions, the most frequently submitted name was Oscar Peterson, but because he was still alive, Peterson wasn't eligible to have a school named after him (The Record, April 24, 2003).

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Coordinates: 43°28′18″N, 80°35′39″W

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