Waterloo Catholic District School Board

Waterloo Catholic District School Board
Location
35 Weber St. W., Unit A Kitchener, Ontario
Cambridge, Kitchener, North Dumfries, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot, Woolwich
Canada
District information
Chair of the board Manuel da Silva
Director of education Michael Schmitt
Schools 47 Elementary Schools
5 Secondary Schools
Budget CA$205.8 million
District ID B67148
Students and staff
Students 30,000
Other information
Elected trustees Joyce Anderson
Wayne Buchholtz
Manuel da Silva
Robert Hetu
Janek Jagiellowicz
Greg Reitzel
Anthony Piscitelli
Wendy Price
Peter Reitmeier
Website www.wcdsb.ca

Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) is a school board serving the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in Kitchener. It is the eighth largest Catholic school system in Ontario.[1] The mission statement of the Board is "With the gift of the Catholic faith: Learning, growing and transforming the world together, as faithful disciples of the Risen Lord."

The Board's 30,000 elementary, secondary and adult/continuing education students are served by more than 3,000 full-time staff (including teachers, educational assistants, support staff, custodial staff, youth care workers, administrators and chaiplains.) Of the residents in the area served by the Board, 29% are Catholic; and 26% of area students attend a Catholic school.[1]

Brief history

What was to become the Waterloo Catholic District School Board began in 1836 in the shape of two one-room schoolhouses. By 1907 the local area had 6 Catholic Schools (including a Catholic girls' convent school.) The original schools were centered in the areas of Berlin (now Kitchener), and Preston (now Cambridge.)[2]

With the passage of the British North America Act in 1867, which guaranteed Roman Catholics in Ontario the right to their own Catholic schools, it was only a matter of time until Catholic schools extended into all of Waterloo County. For many years, the teaching staffs came from among the Religious – particularly Religious Sisters. Today the laity carries out the teaching and support roles.

By 1968, there were independent Catholic School Boards operating in Kitchener, Waterloo, Galt, Preston, Hespeler, Bridgeport, New Hamburg, Maryhill, St. Agatha, Linwood, Elmira and St. Clements. These independent Boards all ceased to exist on January 1, 1969, when the Ontario Legislature amalgamated them into one Board – the Waterloo County Separate School Board.[2]

In 1997, the Waterloo County Separate School Board became the Waterloo District Catholic School Board.

In 2008, the WCDSB staged a production of 42nd Street. This production casts students from all five high schools in the board. This production is a followup after the success of their 2005 production of Les Misérables.

The Board is run independently of the Waterloo Region District School Board, which operates the public schools in Waterloo Region.

Secondary schools

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Online Board Profile
  2. 1 2 A Brief History of Waterloo Region's Catholic Schools
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