Video · Kitchener · Catholic and public schools

Two schools.One block apart.

St. Teresa, a Catholic school in Kitchener, is forecast at 122% of its permanent capacity this school year. Prueter, the public school a block away, was at 58% in 2024–25. And 855 homes are proposed a few blocks south.

I’m running for the public board in Waterloo and Wilmot, so I don’t get a vote on St. Teresa. Here’s my take, with the map, the numbers and the sources.

Read the written version See the map

Brian Best · Posted September 22, 2026 · 2:33 · Instagram · TikTok

The written version

Where does St. Teresa stand?

A viewer asked on my Lexington video. This is my answer in writing, with every number sourced.

On my Lexington video, @imacormack asked where St. Teresa in Kitchener stands. The short answer: it’s projected to be over its permanent capacity.

The Catholic board’s forecast for this school year puts St. Teresa at about 355 students in a building with 291 permanent places. That’s about 122% of its permanent capacity, and that number doesn’t count portables. Last school year the board counted 363 students and five portables there.^[1] On the 2020–21 provincial data that ranked Lexington eighth in Ontario, St. Teresa was at 82%, around the middle of the list.^[2] Its Ministry headcount went from 240 that year to 355 in 2024–25.^[4]

St. Teresa is a Waterloo Catholic District School Board school in Kitchener. I’m running for the public board in Waterloo and Wilmot, so I don’t get a vote on it. I’m walking through it anyway, because the public board has a school one block away, and because the question underneath this one comes up in Waterloo and Wilmot too.

That school is Prueter Public School. The public board’s 2020–2030 plan lists its permanent capacity as 372.^[3] In 2024–25 it had about 215 students, roughly 58% of that.^[4] Both schools opened in the early 1950s. St. Teresa sits on 3.18 acres, a bit under half of Prueter’s 7.12.^[1]^[3] That doesn’t tell us what could be built on either site, but they have different amounts of room to work with.

A few blocks south, the last phase of Victoria Common is proposed: three towers and about 855 homes. The City of Kitchener still has it under review.^[5] In its comments on the application, the Catholic board asked that buyers and renters be told their new home is in a Holding Zone, and that students may be accommodated temporarily in a holding school.^[6]

I’m for building these homes. The province set Kitchener’s target at 35,000 more homes by 2031, and the City now allows up to four homes on many residential lots.^[7]^[8] Building where the streets, pipes and power lines already run makes sense. The City calls it “a more efficient use of existing spaces and infrastructure.”^[8]

But if Queen’s Park wants this growth, and it does, it has to fund the school space that comes with it. Prueter had room on its last count. If St. Teresa is full, some families will look to Prueter, because parents go wherever their child can get a place.

If St. Teresa or Prueter is your school, your trustee candidates are on the Kitchener ballot, and the City of Kitchener lists them for both boards.^[9] Ask them how they’ll make sure school space keeps up with new housing.

The map

One block apart.

St. Teresa faces Edwin Street. Prueter’s grounds run along Boehmer Street. One block of houses sits between them, and two large housing proposals are a few minutes’ walk away.

Two boards, one neighbourhood

The two school buildings are about 150 metres apart wall to wall, and about 200 metres centre to centre, the figure in the video. Both housing proposals are a little over half a kilometre from St. Teresa.

St. Teresa (K) Catholic Elementary School
Waterloo Catholic District School Board · 270 Edwin Street, Kitchener
122% of permanent capacity, 2026–27 forecast^[1]
Prueter Public School
Waterloo Region District School Board · 40 Prueter Avenue, Kitchener
58% of permanent capacity, 2024–25^[4]^[3]
Victoria Common, final phase
20 Victoria Marie Court · outline approximate
855 homes proposed, under review^[5]
5 Hill Street
The City’s point for the application
2,612 homes proposed, in circulation^[5]

About 150 m between the two school buildings wall to wall, and about 200 m centre to centre.^[10]

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).^[10] School grounds are drawn as mapped in OpenStreetMap, which is not the same as each board’s site area (see the land chart below). The Victoria Common outline is an approximation of the site, Block 9, not a legal boundary; the City lists it at 1.16 hectares. Application points from the City of Kitchener, read September 21, 2026.^[5]

Show this map as a table

Place	What it is	From St. Teresa’s building
St. Teresa (K), 270 Edwin St	Catholic board elementary school	—
Prueter PS, 40 Prueter Ave	Public board elementary school	about 150 m
20 Victoria Marie Court	Victoria Common final phase, 855 homes proposed	about 550 m
5 Hill Street	2,612 homes proposed	about 550 m

The numbers

122% at one.
58% at the other.

Each school is measured against its permanent capacity: the building, without portables. The two figures come from different boards and different years, so each carries its own label.

Students against permanent places

St. Teresa is forecast to have 64 more students than permanent places. Prueter’s last count was well under its own.^[1]^[4]^[3]

Permanent places (the building, no portables)
St. Teresa students
Prueter students
Students beyond permanent places

St. Teresa
Catholic board · 2026–27 forecast
122%355 students
Prueter
Public board · 2024–25 actual
58%215 students

St. Teresa: the Catholic board’s 2026 Long-Term Accommodation Plan, forecast for 2026–27. Prueter: the Ministry of Education’s October 31 headcount for 2024–25, rounded to the nearest five, against the capacity in the public board’s 2020–2030 plan, the newest it has published. On that same 2024–25 Ministry count, St. Teresa also had 355 students, so the gap holds within one year.^[4] Neither school’s capacity counts portables.

Show this chart as a table

School	Year	Students	Permanent places	Share
St. Teresa, Catholic board	2026–27 forecast (Catholic board forecast)	355	291	122%
Prueter, Public board	2024–25 actual (Ministry headcount)	215	372	58%

What this does and does not mean. Being past 100% of permanent capacity doesn’t mean students are without a classroom. Last school year, St. Teresa had 363 students on the Catholic board’s own count, and five portables.^[1] The board’s plan also notes that a school under 100% “may still have all classrooms in use or require portables.”

Prueter’s number is from 2024–25. This school year, the public board’s boundary map also assigns part of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School’s area in Waterloo to Prueter, temporarily, so today’s count may be different.^[11]

How they got here

Fourteen years of students.

One source for both schools: the Ministry of Education’s October count, every year from 2011–12 to 2024–25.

Students each year, against that year’s permanent places

St. Teresa went from 187 students in 2015–16 to 355 in 2024–25. Prueter stayed between 215 and 261 the whole time.^[4]

Students, October count
Permanent places that year

St. Teresa students · Catholic board

Prueter students · Public board

Permanent places to 2020–21 come from the provincial facility file, then from each board’s plan.^[2]^[1]^[3] St. Teresa was rated at 383 places in 2014–15 and 291 from 2015–16. The Catholic board’s 2020 plan records “2015—Demolition of surplus space at St. Teresa(K).”^[12] Neither board’s plan says why St. Teresa has grown since. Most of the growth came between 2022–23 and 2024–25, before the Victoria Common final phase was first submitted in November 2024.^[13]

Show this chart as a table

School year	St. Teresa students	St. Teresa places	Prueter students	Prueter places
2011–12	235	420	229	343
2012–13	234	385	248	346
2013–14	225	385	241	360
2014–15	212	383	241	372
2015–16	187	291	239	372
2016–17	200	291	244	372
2017–18	213	291	261	372
2018–19	215	291	250	372
2019–20	235	291	245	372
2020–21	240	291	215	372
2021–22	245	291	240	372
2022–23	260	291	230	372
2023–24	320	291	225	372
2024–25	355	291	215	372

The land

Less than half the room.

Both schools opened in the early 1950s. Their sites are very different sizes. Site area isn’t the same as space you can build on, and no study I’ve found says what either site could hold.

Site area, drawn to scale

St. Teresa’s 3.18-acre site is 45% of Prueter’s 7.12 acres.^[1]^[3]

3.18acresSt. Teresa

7.12acresPrueter

1 acre

St. Teresa (K): Built 1953, with additions in 1955, 1957, 1960 and 1968. Not next to a park; the board holds a licence for parking at the adjacent church.^[1] JK to Grade 8.^[2]
Prueter: Built 1952. JK to Grade 6. The public board’s plan names it for future accessibility improvements.^[3]

Each square’s area is proportional to the site area in that board’s accommodation plan; the outlined square is one acre, for scale.

Show this chart as a table

School	Site, acres	Site, hectares	Built
St. Teresa (K) Catholic Elementary School	3.18	1.29	1953
Prueter Public School	7.12	2.88	1952

The homes

Proposed. Not yet approved.

Two applications under review at the City of Kitchener would add 3,467 homes. On the public board’s boundary map, both sites are in Prueter’s attendance area.^[5]^[11]

Each square is one proposed home

5 Hill Street alone is three times the size of the Victoria Common final phase, which was cut from 1,151 homes to 855 in September 2025.^[5]^[13]

85520 Victoria Marie CourtVictoria Common, final phase. Three towers of 19, 25 and 27 storeys on vacant land.OPA25/001/V/AP · ZBA25/002/V/AP

2,6125 Hill StreetNine residential buildings.OPA25/007/H/TS · ZBA25/015/H/TS

Homes are not students. Neither board’s comments on the Victoria Common application estimate how many students it would bring, and only the public board’s planning department can confirm which school serves a new development. A dot inside a boundary on a map is not a school assignment. The Catholic board publishes its boundaries only as PDF maps, so the same check can’t be made for St. Teresa.^[11] Both applications as listed by the City on September 21, 2026.

Show this chart as a table

Site	City files	Status, September 21, 2026	Homes proposed
20 Victoria Marie Court	OPA25/001/V/AP · ZBA25/002/V/AP	In circulation; “currently under review”	855
5 Hill Street	OPA25/007/H/TS · ZBA25/015/H/TS	In circulation	2,612

The warning in the application. The Catholic board asked that this wording go to every buyer and renter at Victoria Common: “…your new home is located in an area that has been designated as a Holding Zone as we await construction of a new school(s) or additional capacity. Students may be accommodated temporarily in a Holding School(s).” The applicant agreed.^[6]

The public board asked for the standard notice it requests on new developments: students “may be accommodated in temporary facilities and/or bussed to a school outside the area.”^[6]^[14] As of September 21, 2026, Victoria Common wasn’t on the Catholic board’s list of designated Holding Zones. The only one was in Cambridge.^[15]

35,000

More homes in Kitchener by 2031

The target the province set. The City pledged to meet it in 2023.^[7]^[8]

Homes allowed on many lots

Since March 25, 2024, where zoning permits single, semi-detached or street townhouse homes.^[8]

10,900

Unbuilt homes in St. Teresa’s boundary

The Catholic board’s own count, in its 2026 plan. It is not a student estimate.^[1]

Who decides

Build the homes.
Fund the schools.

School boards in Ontario don’t pay for new schools or additions out of their own budgets. They apply to the Ministry of Education, and the province decides which projects get money.

The province also set Kitchener’s housing target. If Queen’s Park wants those homes built, and I do too, it has to fund the school space they need, in both systems.

Otherwise the plan for growth is a notice in a purchase agreement telling families their kids may be sent somewhere else.

My take

Why I’m talking about a school I can’t vote on.

Housing growth and provincial capital funding don’t stop at the Kitchener line. The same question is on the table in Waterloo and Wilmot.

It’s a regional problem

Every neighbourhood taking on new homes needs school space to keep up, and in both systems that space depends on Queen’s Park. In Waterloo, Lexington Public School had 355 students for 113 permanent places in 2024–25. The board approved a 13-classroom addition in 2010, and the province didn’t fund it.^[4]^[3]^[16] I’ve written that one up in full in the Lexington report.

Prueter is already in the picture

The public board’s 2026–27 boundary map lists temporary attendance areas for Elizabeth Ziegler Public School, in Waterloo, at Prueter and at Empire, while Ziegler is renovated, until September 2027.^[11]^[17] Ziegler is in Waterloo and Wilmot.^[3] So space at Prueter matters to families in the area I’m running to represent.

What I’d do on the public board

Publish the plan every year

I’d move that the board update its long-term accommodation plan every year, school by school. The Catholic board publishes one annually. Ours is the 2020–2030 plan.^[15]^[3]

Match schools to the homes coming

I’d ask for a public report on the homes proposed in each school’s area and the space that school has, so families don’t first read about it in a purchase agreement.

Push Queen’s Park

I’d push the board to say publicly what it asks the province for and what comes back. Queen’s Park sets the housing targets. It should fund the school space they need.

A public school trustee can’t fund a school, set a Catholic board boundary or vote on St. Teresa. A trustee can move the motion, ask for the report and push the province.

Transcript

What I said in the video.

Two and a half minutes, lightly edited for punctuation, spelling and grammar.

Read the transcript

So St. Teresa is projected to be over capacity. The Catholic board’s plan for 2026–27 puts it at about 355 students with 291 permanent places. That’s about 122% capacity. And again, we’re not counting portables in that number.

Now, St. Teresa is a Catholic board school. Unfortunately, I’m running in the public board for Waterloo and Wilmot, so I don’t get a vote on this school. But I am going to take you through my take on the situation, because the public school board does have a school not 200 metres away.

Prueter, just nearby, published its permanent capacity as 372 students. The 2025 enrolment figures list about 215 students. That’s roughly 58% capacity for that year.

Now, look at the schools themselves. Both opened in the 1950s. St. Teresa has roughly half as much land as Prueter. That doesn’t tell us exactly what could be added, but they do have different amounts of space to work with.

This lot is the last phase of Victoria Common: 855 proposed homes, and the City of Kitchener still has it under review. Now, I’m very much for new homes getting built, but this is how a mature neighbourhood can change. There’s actually a detail in the application worth looking at. The Catholic board has asked for a holding-zone warning for buyers and renters. That warning says students may need temporary schools while the board waits for more space.

We need homes. We have to build them. The province is going to make us build them. Kitchener has a housing target of about 35,000 additional homes by 2031, and the city is making room for more housing inside neighbourhoods that already exist. It’s opened up eligible residential lots to as many as four homes.

There’s a practical reason to build more homes here. The streets already have water, sewer and electricity services. Adding homes in existing neighbourhoods can make better use of those networks and use less land per household, ultimately saving the taxpayer money.

If Dougie and the rest of Queen’s Park are keen on us to continue this growth, they have to provide the funding for us to handle it. Because while Prueter is currently under capacity, parents will go to whichever school can accommodate their child.

So I have a link to the City of Kitchener’s candidate page with this video. Find your candidates, reach out, and ask them what their take is on this and how they would make sure that school space keeps up with the new housing. Thanks for your time.

“Over capacity” and “122% capacity” mean 122% of permanent capacity, the Catholic board’s 2026–27 forecast. “The 2025 enrolment figures” are the Ministry’s 2024–25 count. “Not 200 metres away”: about 200 centre to centre, about 150 wall to wall. The numbers are sourced above.

Sources and method

Check my work.

Waterloo Catholic District School Board, 2026 Long-Term Accommodation Plan
E03 Waterloo Central table, PDF page 42: St. Teresa (K) at 291 permanent places, 355 students forecast for 2026–27, 122%, and “approximately 10,900 unbuilt residential units” in its boundary. Figure 7, page 32: 363 students, five portables and 125% in 2025–26. Facility table, page 43: built 1953, 3.18-acre site. Capacity “does not include portables”, page 31. Holding Zone policy, page 23.
School Utilization in Ontario, Western University
Ministry School Facility Inventory System records, 2010–11 to 2020–21: each school’s permanent capacity by year, and 2020–21 average daily enrolment (240 at St. Teresa) behind the province-wide list.
Waterloo Region District School Board, 2020–2030 Long-Term Accommodation Plan
Review Area E14A, PDF page 66: Prueter PS at 372 permanent places on a 7.12-acre site, built 1952. Lexington PS at 113 places, page 100. Elizabeth Ziegler PS (code ELZ), page 98. Adopted June 21, 2021; the public board has not published a newer plan.
Ontario Ministry of Education, enrolment by school, 2011–12 to 2024–25
October 31 headcount, rounded to the nearest five from 2019–20. St. Teresa is school 851213, Prueter 460273, Lexington 588326.
City of Kitchener, active planning applications
20 Victoria Marie Court (OPA25/001/V/AP, ZBA25/002/V/AP): “approximately 855 dwelling units” in three towers on land listed as vacant, “currently under review”, site 1.16 ha. 5 Hill Street (OPA25/007/H/TS, ZBA25/015/H/TS): 2,612 units in nine buildings, in circulation. Read September 21, 2026.
Victoria Common: comment-response matrix, June 2026
The Catholic board’s Holding Zone wording and advisory-sign request (printed page 26) and the public board’s standard notice (page 27), each with the applicant’s “We agree.”
City of Kitchener, Population and Employment Forecast and Housing Needs Assessment (draft, August 2025)
PDF page 182: under the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, the province set Kitchener’s 10-year housing target at 35,000 additional units.
City of Kitchener, Enabling Four Units
On March 25, 2024, Council unanimously approved up to four dwelling units on residential lots where zoning permits single detached, semi-detached or street townhouse dwellings. Also records the City’s March 2023 pledge of 35,000 more homes by 2031.
City of Kitchener, 2026 municipal election candidates
Lists Kitchener’s candidates for both school boards: Waterloo Catholic District School Board (English separate) and Waterloo Region District School Board (English public), vote for no more than four each.
OpenStreetMap contributors
Streets, school grounds and building footprints for the map, under the Open Database Licence (ODbL). Distances are measured on this geometry.
Waterloo Region District School Board, 2026–27 elementary attendance boundaries
Both application points fall inside Prueter’s JK–6 boundary. The same map lists “Prueter P.S. (Temporary Attendance Area for ELZ)” in the City of Waterloo, beside one for Empire P.S.
Waterloo Catholic District School Board, 2020 Long-Term Accommodation Plan
Planning Area E03 history, PDF page 40: “2015—Demolition of surplus space at St. Teresa(K).”
Victoria Common, Phase 2 of Block 9: applicant’s cover letter, May 26, 2026
First submitted November 6, 2024. In the September 2025 revision, “the number of units was reduced from 1,151 to 855.”
WRDSB Administrative Procedure 4992, Temporary Student Accommodation for Development Areas, December 2021
Schedule C, PDF page 6: the sample conditions the public board asks for on new developments, including the notice that students “may be accommodated in temporary facilities and/or bussed to a school outside the area.”
Waterloo Catholic District School Board, Accommodations page
Designated Holding Zones as of September 21, 2026: one, Forbes Estate in Cambridge. The page lists a Long-Term Accommodation Plan for every year from 2020 to 2026.
WRDSB letter to the Lexington community, April 30, 2013
The board approved a 13-classroom addition at Lexington in principle on June 21, 2010. In the province’s January 24, 2013 announcement, the addition “did not receive funding.”
WRDSB Major Capital Projects Quarterly Update, June 8, 2026
Business Services Standing Committee, PDF page 21: renovation and construction at Elizabeth Ziegler Public School began in early April 2026 and is expected to be ready for classes in September 2027.

How the numbers were worked out

122% and 58% are students divided by permanent capacity, also called on-the-ground capacity. It counts the building and not portables. 122% is of capacity: St. Teresa is forecast 64 students, about 22%, over.
“355” appears twice: the Catholic board’s forecast for 2026–27, and the Ministry’s count for 2024–25. They happen to match. Each use on this page says which it is.
The 2020–21 provincial comparison divides average daily enrolment by permanent capacity, the same method as the Lexington report. 2020–21 is the last year in that file, so there is no newer provincial rank.
Distances are straight lines measured on the OpenStreetMap geometry: between the nearest walls of the two main school buildings (about 150 m) and between their centres (about 200 m), and from St. Teresa’s building to the edge of the Victoria Common outline and to the City’s point for 5 Hill Street.
The housing applications were read on September 21, 2026. Their status can change; check the City’s site for the latest.

Found a mistake?

If something here is wrong or out of date, email brian@best4schoolboard.com and I will correct it.

Last updated October 10, 2026

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