History

Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School is a high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 operated by the Waterloo Region District School Board

Waterloo Region District School Board

Waterloo Region District School Board is the public school board for the Region of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It operates 103 elementary schools, 16 secondary schools, and other facilities, serving 60,000 students in the Region of Waterloo. It has approximately 5500 staff and a budget of $675...

 (WRDSB) in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo

Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario

The Regional Municipality of Waterloo is a regional municipality located in Southern Ontario, Canada. It consists of the cities of Kitchener, Cambridge, and Waterloo, and the townships of Wellesley, Woolwich, Wilmot, and North Dumfries. It is often referred to as the Region of Waterloo or just...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It opened in September 2004 and provides both academic and vocational

Vocational education

Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...

 programs to about 1,823 students (2008-09).

The school is located on Laurelwood Drive in the rapidly growing northwest end of the city of Waterloo

Waterloo, Ontario

Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....

. It is named after Sir John A. Macdonald

John A. Macdonald

Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...

, Canada's first prime minister, and is commonly referred to as SJAM ("ess-jam"). The school motto is "audere est credere," translated as "dare to believe," which is the name of the school song. SJAM is the largest high school in the City of Waterloo.

Sports

SJAM's athletic teams are called the Highlanders. Both the Junior and Senior football teams were champions in 07-08 as well as juniors winning in 2009 and seniors in 2011. SJAM also has a reputation for excellence in rugby, with the Bantam, Junior and Senior teams traveling internationally to compete.

Academics

SJAM is the Waterloo site of the WRDSB's Fast Forward program, designed for students who have typically struggled academically. About 17 per cent (245) of SJAM students are in Fast Forward Program. Since 2008, SJAM was the number one school in Waterloo Region in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), which is administered to all Grade 10 students in the Province of Ontario.

Community Involvement

SJAM is known as a giving school in the community. Some events and charities supported by the school include

• Relay for Life
  Relay For Life
  Relay For Life is the main volunteer-driven cancer fundraising event of the American Cancer Society. Originating in the United States, the Relay For Life event has spread to 21 countries. Relay events are held in local communities, campus universities, military bases, and in cyberspace...
  
  
• Free 2010, for Free the Children
  Free The Children
  Free The Children is an international charity and youth movement founded in 1995 by children's rights advocate Craig Kielburger. The organization is largely youth-funded, based on the concept of "children helping children." It specializes in sustainable development in countries of Kenya, Ecuador,...
  
  
• The Terry Fox Run
  Terry Fox Run
  The Terry Fox Run is an annual non-competitive charity event held in numerous regions around the world in commemoration of Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox, and his Marathon of Hope, and to raise money for cancer research....
  
  
• The Food Bank of Waterloo Region

Other accomplishments include the raising of $12,008.83 for the 2010 Haiti earthquake

2010 Haiti earthquake

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...

 relief through the Red Cross.

Construction and Setbacks

Construction of the $27 million, 206000 square feet (19,138 m²) school was plagued by construction 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

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...

, but because he was still alive, Peterson wasn't eligible to have a school named after him(The Record

The Record (Waterloo Region)

The Waterloo Region Record is the daily newspaper covering Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, as well as the surrounding area...

, April 24, 2003).