Westdale Secondary School is a public high school founded in 1931 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is a school in the city of Hamilton and is located in Westdale Village, a suburb in the west-end of the city. It is administered by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. Westdale is also the most populated public high school in Hamilton, Ontario.
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History
Westdale was founded as a collegiate school—housing three collegiates under one roof—and was, at a time, the largest school of its kind in the British Commonwealth. The original building was referred to as "Westdale Composite School", or "Westdale Tripartite School", because it housed three separate schools. The collegiate, technical and commercial schools were housed on the left, middle, and right side of the school, with the cafeteria on the fourth floor (the cafeteria has since moved to the first floor). The architects Prack and Prack designed the building with arched doorways and pseudo-buttresses of the "school gothic" architectural style. Constructed by J.M. Pigott Construction Company at an initial cost of $1,306,521 (including 4.7 hectares of land), the school has undergone four major renovations, which occurred in 1959, 1974, 1975 and 2018 (currently underway). Westdale Secondary school has also become an IB school as of 2008.
Charity activities
Westdale regularly participates in and plays host to numerous fundraisers and awareness rallies. Each year the students organise such events as Keep the Beat, Coffee House, and the 30 Hour Famine. In 2005, Westdale students were part of the effort to keep the Victoria Cross of Frederick George Topham in Canada.
Extra curriculars
Sports
Westdale has a variety of sports teams and clubs; football, basketball, soccer and volleyball which are all hosted at the school.
Music
Westdale has many music groups, including the Jr. Band, Sr. Band, Marching Band, Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Jr. Jazz, Sr. Jazz, and the Choir. The music department at Westdale competes regularly in local and international music festivals and competitions. In recent years, the music department has consistently won a variety of awards in the Golden Horseshoe Music Festival, which is hosted from Redeemer University College in Hamilton, Ontario.
Specialist High Skills Major
The Specialist High Skills Major Program (SHSM) is a ministry-approved program which allows students to focus
their skills in specific areas of interest as they earn their Ontario Secondary Diploma. Westdale Secondary School students have the option to complete their Specialist High Skills Major in either the Arts & Culture, Construction, Health & Wellness and Information and Communications Technology.
The Sequitur
The Sequitur is Westdale's student-run school newspaper, and is one of two school newspapers in Hamilton. There are monthly publications of The Sequitur, where there are paper and digital copies available.
Notable alumni
Maija Blaubergs (1947–2010), feminist scholar, educational psychologist, lawyer
Len Blum, a Hollywood writer and husband of Heather Munroe-Blum
David Braley, (1941–2020), CFL, previous owner of the B.C. Lions and owned Orlick Industries in Hamilton.
Nick Cordero, (1978–2020), Canadian actor
Jeremy Fisher, (1976– ), is a professional singer.
Diego Fuentes, (1970-), is an actor.
Daniel Goldberg, producer of films such as Space Jam and Road Trip.
Eleanor Harvey, (1995-), foil fencer
Harry Howell, (1932–2019), Hockey Hall-of-Famer, longtime star for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League.
Russ Jackson, (1936– ), CFL Hall-of-Fame football player.
Frank Kerr (1956–2008) (more commonly known as Frankie Venom) was the lead singer of Teenage Head
Caissie Levy, is a Broadway actress who played a lead in Ghost the Musical, Penny in Hairspray, Sheila in Hair and will star in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables.
Eugene Levy, (1946– ), is a Canadian Emmy- and Grammy Award-winning actor, television director, producer, musician and writer.
Edwin B. Minden is a Canadian judge who sits on the Superior Court of Justice.