Kincardine District Senior School

In Kincardine, as in most pioneer communities, one of the matters of primary consideration was the question of education. The children were at first educated at home, and then in 1851 a public school was opened. The rented frame building was on the river flats near the lake. The teacher, Mrs. Jane Nairn, had 66 students. The original school, Kincardine District High School, was erected in 1876 at the cost of $8,900. When the school opened 80 students attended at the cost of $8.00 a year for in town students and $10.00 a year for rural students.

With a new addition in 1901 the school was to be used until 1954. Later the school was moved to a small frame building on the east side of Queen Street opposite Harbor Street. Shortly afterwards it was moved to the opposite side of the street. The next location was in a log building which was later the Gentle's property. Then it moved to Russel Street just west of the Anglican Church.[5]

Kincardine High School in 1876

In 1951 Kincardine High School became Kincardine District High School when a bus system was implementing to bring students in from neighbouring communities.[5]

In 1953 construction started on a new one-storey building to include home economics, industrial arts, a cafeteria and a much better gymnasium facility. The new building opened in 1954 with an enrollment of 244 students and a staff of 10. This new school was 2421.9 m².[5]

Only five years after the opening of the opening of the new school in 1954, two classrooms were added at the north end of the building. By September 1973 seven portable classrooms and a portable library resource area were added to the school. An addition in 1973–74 doubled the size.[5]

After the renovation in 1974 the school was given the new name of Kincardine & District Secondary School.[5]

In 1980 the athletics teams received a new symbol and name. The Kincardine Redmen of the past would now be called the Kincardine Knights.[5]

In 1983 the closing of Ripley Secondary School boosted KDSS's numbers up to 799, which was a new high for the school.[5]

In 1989 KDSS added another addition to the building. The school hasn't had any new additions since 1989. The current school is 7473.4 m² on a site of 5.22ha².[5]

In 2019 KDSS added the grade 7 and 8 wing and after public consultation was renamed 'Kincardine District Senior School'.[2]

On October 29, 2020, the Government of Ontario announced Kincardine will be getting a new high school for grades 7–12.[6]

The Fraser Institute issued the school a 6.6/10 and ranked it at 294th out of 727 Ontario Secondary Schools, and as 4th best in the Bluewater District School Board after Chesley District High School, Peninsula Shores District School, and West Hill Secondary School.[3]

Four main schools feed into KDSS: Huron Heights Public School, Kincardine Township Tiverton Public School, St. Anthony's Catholic School and Ripley Huron Community School (in Ripley, Ontario).[7]

• List of high schools in Ontario

• Official website