Waterford District High School | |
Address: | 227 Main Street South[1] |
City: | Waterford |
Province: | Ontario |
Postcode: | N0E 1Y0 |
Country: | Canada |
Coordinates: | 42.9283°N -80.2879°W |
Schooltype: | Public high school |
Motto: | Abeunt Studia in Mores |
Motto Translation: | Studies build character |
Religious Affiliation: | Secular |
Founded: | August 1892[2] |
Schoolboard: | Grand Erie District School Board |
Number: | 950785 |
Administrator: | Martin Verspagen |
Principal: | John Della-Fortuna |
Grades Label: | Grades |
Grades: | 9–12 |
Enrollment: | 380 |
Enrollment As Of: | September 2018 |
Language: | English |
Colours: | White, heliotrope and scarlet |
Mascot: | Wolf |
Team Name: | Wolves |
Waterford District High School, also known as WDHS, is a public high school in Waterford, Ontario, Canada. It is the northernmost secondary school in Norfolk County.
The first school board meeting for the new high school in Waterford was held on February 15, 1892. The board purchased 1.8 acres of land on the northeast corner of Main and Brown streets at a cost of $150 per acre. The building was constructed for about $7,000 and the enrollment in the first year was approximately 100 students. In 1936 the structure burned down, but was rebuilt and reopened in 1937.[3]
WDHS has a variety of sports teams including football, rugby, soccer, field lacrosse, basketball, volleyball, golf, badminton, tennis, track and field, hockey, and cheerleading. The team mascot is a wolf.[4]
Each year, at the Norfolk County Fair, the students of Waterford District High School compete with other local high schools in events like tug-o-war, cheerleading, and road racing. Each school fills a separate area of the grandstands and is judged on spirit and decorations.
Grade 9 day at Waterford District High School is a long-standing tradition. The grade 9 students are paired with senior studentsto complete activities. Following a crackdown on hazing by the school's administration, the day's events are considered to be a safe opportunity for students from grade 9 and grade 12 to get to know one another.
There is also a barbecue lunch for the students run by the school's student council.
There is an active drama, and music department at Waterford District High School that puts on yearly plays and musicals such as Catch Me If You Can and The Music Man.[5]
The school underwent renovations from 2010 to 2012. Modernized areas included science laboratories, a larger Edukids day care for staff members and unwed student mothers, new gymnasium floors, and an addition of new offices for the school board. The school now has an elevator.
Fundraising was done for a new electronic scoreboard for the football field, replacing the old manual score board. Conforming with Canadian high school football standards, the scoreboard shows the time and score of both teams along with the down, the yardage of the line of scrimmage, the yards to go until a first down, the team with the possession (usually signified with the outline of a football in lights next to the possessing team's score), and the quarter.