Waterloo High School (WRDSB)

Homes For Sale Near Waterloo Collegiate Institute

Waterloo Collegiate Institute (WCI) is a public high school (Grades 9 to 12) at 300 Hazel Street in Waterloo, close to Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College’s Waterloo campus. It is known for its Strings and Extended French magnet programs and a wide choice of Advanced Placement courses. Below are current listings near the school, plus the neighbourhoods zoned for it.

By George Dmitrovic, Realtor with Keller Williams Innovation Realty. Updated October 2026. Jump to the WCI guide

WCI at a Glance

School board

Waterloo Region District School Board (public)

Grades

9 to 12

Location

300 Hazel Street, Waterloo, near Laurier and Conestoga’s Waterloo campus

Programs

Magnet programs: ELD/ESL, Extended French, Strings; Pre-AP and AP; SHSMs including Arts and Culture

Zoned neighbourhoods

Parts of central and north-central Waterloo; confirm any address with the WRDSB

School facts

Opened 1960; the Vikings; Grade 9 welcome rally each fall led by student leaders

Waterloo Collegiate Institute (WCI) is a Grade 9 to 12 public high school run by the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB), at 300 Hazel Street in central Waterloo near Wilfrid Laurier University. It draws students from parts of central and north-central Waterloo, plus students from further away who join its magnet programs. Families look at homes near WCI for its Strings program, Extended French and a long list of AP courses.

About WCI

WCI has served Waterloo since 1960 and marked its 65th anniversary in 2025 and 2026, with an alumni open house in May 2026. Its teams and students are the Vikings.

Strings magnet program: Junior and Senior Strings Orchestras with a long record of awards at regional and international competitions. Students whose home high school is WCI, KCI, Forest Heights, Laurel Heights, Elmira District or Waterloo-Oxford can apply, with a letter from a private strings teacher.
Extended French: WCI is one of five WRDSB high schools with Extended French. It does not offer French Immersion, which the board runs at KCI and Galt CI.
ELD/ESL magnet: English language programs for students who are learning English.
Advanced Placement: AP Physics 1 in Grade 11, and AP Biology, Chemistry, Physics 2, English, French and Calculus in Grade 12, with a Pre-AP program in Grade 11. AP exams are written in May and cost $140 each.
Specialist High Skills Majors: the board’s SHSM listing shows WCI in Arts and Culture, Environment, Health and Wellness, Non-Profit and Transportation. Confirm the current list with the school.

Students from outside WCI’s magnet boundaries can apply to a magnet program but must commit to at least two years. One change from older guides: the Geotechnology magnet program, last promoted in 2019, no longer appears on WCI’s or the board’s current program pages.

How WCI Rates

In the Fraser Institute’s latest Report Card on Ontario’s Secondary Schools (the 2025 report, using 2023-2024 results), WCI is rated 6.2 out of 10. Among Waterloo’s public high schools, Laurel Heights SS scored 8.7 and Bluevale CI 7.0. Nearby, KCI scored 7.4 and the Catholic St. David CSS 8.0.

The rating is based mainly on provincial test results across the whole school. It does not capture strengths like WCI’s strings orchestras or AP courses, so treat it as one measure among many and visit the school if you can.

Which Neighbourhoods Feed Into WCI?

The WRDSB does not publish a neighbourhood list for WCI, and its attendance area follows streets, not neighbourhood names. What the board’s schools do say:

MacGregor Senior Public School takes Grade 7 and 8 students from Westmount, Empire, Sandowne, Keatsway, Elizabeth Ziegler, Cedarbrae, Winston Churchill and N.A. MacEachern, and most of its graduates go on to KCI or WCI.
Empire Public School lists WCI or KCI as its students’ next high school.
That pattern covers parts of Uptown Waterloo, MacGregor-Albert and nearby areas, but some homes in those areas are zoned for KCI instead.

To check an address, use the WRDSB School Eligibility tool and the 2026/2027 boundary lookup map on the board’s school boundary and location maps page. Out-of-boundary requests are considered only where the school has space, and the board does not provide busing for them. The WRDSB’s current boundary reviews (West Waterloo and New Breslau) cover elementary schools only and do not include WCI, but boundaries can change, so confirm before you make an offer.

Homes Near WCI

Prices vary a lot across central Waterloo. In the MLS district that includes Uptown Waterloo and the North Ward (114 Uptown Waterloo/North Ward), the median sale price for a detached home was $610,000 over the 12 months to September 2026, based on George’s analysis of ITSO MLS sales. Townhouses had a median of $540,000 and condo apartments $465,000.

In the district that includes the University area (417 Beechwood/University), the detached median was $918,000, townhouses $457,000 and condo apartments $380,000. In the district that includes west Uptown and Westmount (415 Uptown Waterloo/Westmount), the detached median was $869,000 and condo apartments $470,000. Homes near the school range from older detached houses to townhouses and condos. See the full neighbourhood price table or browse homes by school district.

Is WCI a Good Fit for Your Family?

WCI suits families who want a central Waterloo high school with real depth in a few areas: a well-known strings program, Extended French and one of the broader AP line-ups in the region. It is also close to Uptown and to Wilfrid Laurier University.

The trade-offs are worth knowing. Its Fraser rating is below Laurel Heights, Bluevale and KCI. There is no French Immersion, so Immersion students go to KCI. The Geotech program some older guides mention is no longer listed. And because the board does not describe its zone by neighbourhood, homes a few streets apart can be zoned for different high schools, so checking the address matters here.

To compare schools, see my guide to high schools in Kitchener-Waterloo, or look at homes near Wilfrid Laurier University. If you’d like help finding a home in the WCI zone, book a free call and we’ll talk it through.

Originally written by Will Kummer for WRX Property Group and fully updated by George Dmitrovic in October 2026.

Neighbourhoods Zoned for WCI

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WCI FAQs

Answers to the questions families ask most about WCI and buying a home nearby.

Where is Waterloo Collegiate Institute?

WCI is at 300 Hazel Street in central Waterloo, close to Wilfrid Laurier University, with Conestoga College’s Waterloo campus on University Avenue East also nearby. It is a Grade 9 to 12 school run by the Waterloo Region District School Board. The school day runs from 8:15 am to 2:25 pm, and the building is a short trip from Uptown Waterloo.

Which neighbourhoods are zoned for WCI?

The board does not publish a neighbourhood list. WCI serves parts of central and north-central Waterloo, and most graduates of MacGregor Senior Public School, whose feeders include Elizabeth Ziegler, Empire, Cedarbrae, Winston Churchill and N.A. MacEachern, go on to WCI or KCI. Because boundaries follow streets, check the exact address with the WRDSB School Eligibility tool before you buy.

How does WCI do academically?

WCI is rated 6.2 out of 10 in the Fraser Institute’s latest secondary report card, the 2025 report using 2023-2024 results. That is below Laurel Heights at 8.7 and Bluevale at 7.0 among Waterloo public high schools. The rating rests mainly on provincial test results, so weigh it alongside the AP courses, the strings program and a visit.

What magnet programs does WCI offer?

WCI’s current magnet programs are ELD/ESL for English language learners, Extended French and Strings. Students who live inside WCI’s magnet boundaries and are already in a matching Grade 8 program do not need to apply. Students from outside the boundary must apply and commit to at least two years in the program. Older guides listed a fourth program, Geotechnology.

What is the Geotech program?

Geotechnology was a WCI magnet program that appeared in the school’s magnet night posts up to 2019. It is not on WCI’s current magnet program page or the board’s list of specialized programs, so do not count on it. Students interested in that field can look at WCI’s Environment SHSM instead, but confirm the current offering with the school.

Does WCI offer Advanced Placement?

Yes. WCI offers AP Physics 1 in Grade 11, and AP Biology, Chemistry, Physics 2, English, French and Calculus in Grade 12, after a Pre-AP program in Grade 11. Students sign up during course selection in January or February. AP exams are written in the first two weeks of May and cost $140 each, with results released in early July.

How does WCI help new Grade 9 students?

WCI welcomes its Grade 9 Vikings with a school-spirit day each fall. In September 2026 that was the Red, White and Blue Grade 9 Rally, with a guest speaker and activities run by student leaders, followed by a junior afterglow. Before they arrive, Grade 8 students can use the school’s Future Grade Nines pages on courses, clubs and specialized programs.

Which Catholic high school serves the same area?

It depends on the address, because Catholic boundaries are drawn separately. Many Waterloo addresses are in the St. David Catholic Secondary School zone, rated 8.0 in the latest Fraser report, while the area around Our Lady of Lourdes on Roslin Avenue feeds Resurrection Catholic Secondary School, rated 6.9. Check any address with the school locator from Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region.