Hamilton School Guide

Waterdown Schools: Rankings, Catchments, and What Families Need to Know

By Chris Ouzas, Broker, Michael Ouzas Real Estate Team, Royal LePage Signature Realty. Last updated July 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Allan A. Greenleaf is the strongest ranked school in Waterdown, at 7.9 out of 10 in the Fraser Institute's Report Card on Ontario's Elementary Schools 2025. St. Thomas the Apostle, the Catholic elementary, scored 7.4.
• Waterdown District High School describes itself as the only secondary school in Flamborough. It scored 6.0 in the Fraser Institute's Report Card on Ontario's Secondary Schools 2025.
• The capacity pressure is real and documented. HWDSB's own Waterdown Boundary Review Final Report shows Allan A. Greenleaf at 141 per cent of on-the-ground capacity in 2025, with eight portables on site.
• A new 504-space elementary school is scheduled to open in the 2027-2028 school year, and boundaries were redrawn to suit it. Run any address through HWDSB's Find My School and HWCDSB's School Locator before you buy.

Waterdown is a community where schools are often the main reason families move in. It sits north of the escarpment in the old Township of Flamborough, it has grown faster than almost anywhere else in the city, and school capacity has lagged behind that growth.

Because Waterdown is inside the City of Hamilton, its public schools belong to the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and its Catholic schools to the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board. Not Halton, despite the Burlington geography next door. Below is every school we can verify against board, ministry, and Fraser Institute sources.

Allan A. Greenleaf Elementary School (JK-8)

Greenleaf, on Parkside Drive, is the standout on paper: 7.9 out of 10 and 392nd in Ontario in the Fraser Institute's Report Card on Ontario's Elementary Schools 2025, which rates schools on 2023-24 EQAO results, with a five year average of 7.2. It is also the school carrying the largest overflow in the area. HWDSB's Waterdown Boundary Review Final Report puts its September 2025 enrolment at 775 against an on-the-ground capacity of 548, a utilization of 141 per cent, brought down to 106 per cent only by the eight portables on site.

Mary Hopkins Elementary School (JK-4 English, Grades 1-4 French Immersion)

Mary Hopkins, on Mill Street North in the village core, is no longer a full JK-8 school. The board's boundary review report lists it as JK to Grade 4 English and Grades 1 to 4 French Immersion, the result of the 2023-2024 accommodation strategy that moved its older grades to Guy B. Brown and Flamborough Centre, and it keeps English track Grade 5 in 2026-2027. Because the Fraser Institute rates elementary schools on Grade 3 and Grade 6 results, Mary Hopkins no longer appears in the Report Card, so we have no current rating to quote. Its September 2025 enrolment was 446 against a capacity of 401.

Guy B. Brown Elementary School (JK-8 English, Grades 1-8 French Immersion)

Guy B. Brown, on Braeheid Avenue, is the area's French Immersion centre, with 689 students in September 2025 against an on-the-ground capacity of 632. It scored 4.2 out of 10 in the 2025 Fraser elementary Report Card, ranking 2,556th, with a five year average of 4.9. That is a below average result. Families choose this school for the Immersion pathway, which continues through Grade 8 under the approved plan. HWDSB draws Immersion boundaries separately from English ones.

Flamborough Centre Elementary School (JK-8)

Flamborough Centre, on Centre Road north of the village, serves a more rural catchment. It scored 6.0 out of 10 in the 2025 Fraser elementary Report Card, ranking 1,567th, with no five year average published because it has fewer than five years of comparable data. The board's report shows 346 students in September 2025 against an on-the-ground capacity of 243, which reads as 142 per cent until you count the six-room portapak attached to the building, after which it is 86 per cent.

St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Elementary School (JK-8)

St. Thomas the Apostle, on Skinner Road, is one of two Catholic elementary schools in Waterdown, alongside Guardian Angels on Centre Road. It scored 7.4 out of 10 in the 2025 Fraser elementary Report Card, ranking 643rd, with a five year average of 6.9. The Ontario Ministry of Education profile lists about 700 students for 2024-2025 on preliminary figures. HWCDSB's own 2025-2026 boundary map confirms the JK-8 range and names St. Mary Catholic Secondary School as its secondary feeder.

Secondary Schools Serving Waterdown (Grades 9-12)

Waterdown District High School, on Parkside Drive, dates to 1853 and describes itself as the only secondary school located in the Flamborough area. The ministry profile lists about 1,140 students in Grades 9 to 12 for 2024-2025 on preliminary figures. It scored 6.0 out of 10 in the Fraser Institute's Report Card on Ontario's Secondary Schools 2025, ranking 390th of the 747 schools in that report, with a stronger five year average of 6.4.

On the Catholic side, HWCDSB's published boundary map for St. Thomas the Apostle names St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton as the secondary feeder. St. Mary scored 7.2 out of 10 and ranked 178th in the 2025 Fraser secondary Report Card. The trade off is the commute down the escarpment.

Catchments and What They Mean for Prices

Waterdown does not trade on a single famous catchment line. It trades on the general reputation of the area's schools, and that reputation is largely earned. Buyers underestimate how much the map moves. HWDSB has redrawn this community twice in three years: the 2023-2024 accommodation strategy that shifted grades between four schools, then a full boundary review approved by trustees on February 2, 2026. That review sets the boundary for a new 504-space elementary school in the Mountainview Heights development in southeast Waterdown, opening in the 2027-2028 school year.

So a house assigned to one school today may feed a different one in 2027, and two families buying the same house can get different answers depending on their children's grades. Boundary streets are not listed here because the board's published map is the only version that counts, and it has changed twice recently. The crowding is not a rumour. The board's report has Greenleaf at 141 per cent and Flamborough Centre at 142 per cent of on-the-ground capacity in 2025, and projects most area schools back inside the 90 to 110 per cent range by 2030 once the new school opens.

How to Verify a Catchment Before You Buy

For public schools, use HWDSB's Find My School page at hwdsb.on.ca/find-school, which hosts the board's School Locator tool. Enter the exact street address and it returns the designated schools for that home. The same page lists which schools are inside an active boundary review and how the out of catchment process works, both of which matter here. For Catholic schools, go to the School Locator and Boundaries page under School Life at hwcdsb.ca, which runs the board's School Finder by address and posts a downloadable boundary map for every school for 2025/2026. HWCDSB notes there that the School Finder does not confirm transportation eligibility, a separate call to Hamilton-Wentworth Student Transportation Services. In a community that has redrawn its boundaries twice since 2023, "top schools" in a listing refers to the area in general, not to the specific address.

Frequently asked questions

Can Chris check the schools for a specific house?

Yes. Send him the address and he will run it through both boards' locators and tell you what comes back, including the French Immersion picture.

Does Chris only work this area?

No. Chris works all of Hamilton, Burlington, and Oakville, and his son Michael covers Toronto at michaelouzas.com.

How do I get in touch?

Pick a time on the booking page and Chris will call you. It is free, and there is no pressure.

In short

Waterdown earns its reputation with families: a 7.9 rated public elementary, a 7.4 rated Catholic elementary, and a high school that outperforms most of the HWDSB system. The catch is that the community grew faster than the buildings, and the board's own reports say so in plain figures. A new 504-space school opens in 2027, and the boundaries have already been redrawn to match. Until then, the only school answer that means anything is the one the board's lookup tool gives you for the exact address. Verify the address before you buy.