Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School (Waterloo, Ontario)

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 1,563 students as of the 2010-11 school year.HistoryThe 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 affectionately 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 secondary school in the City of Waterloo.The ArtsThe school is known for its jazz program, the largest in the region 2011-12. Its music groups almost always receive gold at K-W Kiwanis. The drama department also fares well at the annual SEARS festivals. In the 2012-13 school year, they advanced to regionals. In 2014, they hosted the festival for Waterloo schools.SportsSJAM'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 and 2012. SJAM also has a reputation for excellence in rugby, with the Bantam, Junior and Senior teams winning WCSSAA over 10 times combined. It is the only sport at the school to have a grade 9 team (bantam). Track and field has been very successful at OFSAA with student Anna Larsson taking gold and silver in pole vault, as well as John Fish taking bronze in the 400m. Girls' field hockey has been to OFSAA 4 straight years. With 3 silver medals from 2010-2012 and a gold in 2013.