The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) has chosen a new name for the former Sir John A Macdonald Secondary School.
It will now be called Laurel Heights Secondary School.
The renaming process began last June after the school board decided it should no longer be named after Macdonald due to his role in founding Canada's residential school system.
Name recommendations were opened to the public in January and the school board received more than 120 suggestions.
Trustees approved the new name at a committee of the whole meeting on Monday night. It still needs formal approval, which is expected to happen at a WRDSB meeting next week.
The school's principal said the school community was part of the process as it unfolded.
"The spirit upon which people engaged with an equity lens has been really profoundly deep and inspiring to watch," said Principal Vida Collis. "When we give kids a voice, they let themselves be heard."
Several students who spoke to CTV on Tuesday said they were happy to shed the former name.
"I'm proud of our school for taking a stand against something that wasn't exactly right," said one.
Others were just happy their least favourite name on the shortlist wasn't chosen.
"As long as it's not 'Sugar Maple' I don't really care," said another.
The school will need new signage and team uniforms. An exact timeline for the rollout of the new name wasn’t discussed at Monday’s WRDSB meeting.
