New names announced for schools in Kitchener and Cambridge

Names were announced for two of the three schools which were slated to be changed for their connection to controversial figures, during a meeting of the Waterloo Region District School Board on Wednesday night.

In Kitchener, the school formerly known as AR Kaufman will now be known as Hillside Public School while in Cambridge, the school formerly known as Ryerson Public School will now be called Blue Heron Public School.

A report prepared by staff ahead of Wednesday’s meeting notes that Hillside was on a shortlist with Elm and Avens and was the most popular choice in a survey.

It also says that the school is on a hill and “flows nicely and honours the intent of the renaming policy.”

The board voted to change the name after it came to light that A.R. Kaufman, who owned a rubber plant in the area, was a proponent of using birth control as a measure to prevent poor people from reproducing.

Meanwhile, the Blue Heron name was a finalist alongside Mapleview, Marshland Public School and Willow River.

“The Great Blue Heron is a bird species native to the Grand River watershed and one that is still thriving today, particularly in the section of the river that runs through Cambridge,” a staff report on the change noted.

“The bird was once featured on the Welcome to Cambridge signs along the 401 and elsewhere at entry points to the city.”

The decision to move on from the Ryerson name came as a result of Egerton Ryerson’s involvement in the establishment of the Indian residential school system.

In March of 2022, Laurel Heights Secondary School was chosen as the name to replace Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School in Waterloo.

That change was also made as a result of the former prime minister’s involvement in establishing the residential school system.