Waterloo Catholic District School Board
| Waterloo Catholic District School Board | |
|---|---|
 | |
| District information | |
| Budget | 205.8 |
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-tme 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.
See also
- List of Ontario school boards
- List of Waterloo Region, Ontario schools
- Catholic Education in Canada
- Public Education in Canada