Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0The 2 schools of Black Diamond: 1 elementary school and 1 secondary school
The Foothills School Division is the only board. Of the 2 with published results, 0 land in the top two fifths in Alberta. 587 students attend them (2025/26).
How Black Diamond’s schools do on Alberta’s tests
The Provincial Achievement Tests in Grades 6 and 9: each school against every school in Alberta.
Its School Grade is D: it compares these results with the other towns of the province.
The area’s schools by fifth of the province
Each school’s band is the average of its measures’ fifths. The mark shows an even fifth of the area’s schools.
| Measure | Schools | Middle here | Alberta |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAT: acceptable standard | 2 | 48% | 67% |
| PAT: standard of excellence | 2 | 7% | 13% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is the standard of excellence: 7% here, against 13% in Alberta.
Every school’s results (2)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| C Ian McLaren SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 52% · Excellence 5% | Bottom fifth |
| Oilfields High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | Acceptable 44% · Excellence 9% | Bottom fifth |
Alberta Education and Childcare, PAT multiyear school results (core courses pooled). Alberta’s own notes: breaches in 2021–22, wildfires in 2022–24, the January 2026 sitting cancelled, pilot-curriculum students excused. Open Government Licence – Alberta.
Where the 2 schools in and around Black Diamond are
Every school as a pin, coloured by system; each opens its own page.
Points from the provincial lists; Alberta’s missing ones from OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim (© OpenStreetMap contributors).
Schooling in English and French around Black Diamond
English, French and other languages of instruction, beside the mix in Alberta.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in Alberta.
There is no French-language school among them.
Section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives French-speaking parents the right to French-language schooling for their children, through the French-language boards.
Who runs Black Diamond’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
One system runs them: every one English public.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
How children get a place in Black Diamond
The neighbourhood school
Each board draws attendance areas: a child’s home address gives a designated school in each system. Families register with the board, and a school outside the area takes a child only if it has room.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 2 schools in and around Black Diamond
High schools within reach of Black Diamond
Secondary and all-grade schools within 15 km, by distance.
Families have one high school within 15 km: Oilfields High School, 0.5 km off.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilfields High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | The Foothills School Division | English public | Bottom fifth | 418 | 0.5 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
Towns its size in Alberta
Towns of a similar population, with their schools in or within 3 km; described, not ranked.
| Town | Population | Schools | Students | French | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingsland | 4,700 | 62 | 27,613 | 1 | 0.5 km |
| … | |||||
| Allendale | 2,951 | 49 | 21,213 | 3 | 0.3 km |
| Suder Greens | 2,928 | 13 | 7,171 | 0 | 0.6 km |
| Carrington | 2,920 | 15 | 12,717 | 0 | 1.8 km |
| Fairview | 2,918 | 3 | 600 | 0 | 24 km |
| Black Diamond | 2,910 | 2 | 587 | 0 | 0.5 km |
| Paisley | 2,897 | 15 | 13,491 | 0 | 0.9 km |
| Athabasca | 2,887 | 6 | 1,284 | 0 | 0.5 km |
| McKernan | 2,880 | 44 | 18,010 | 2 | 0.3 km |
| Overlanders | 2,879 | 24 | 8,679 | 0 | 1.4 km |
| … | |||||
| Rimbey | 2,502 | 4 | 823 | 0 | 12 km |
170 out of 180 comparable towns have more schools. 73 towns of the 181 have a French-language school.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Black Diamond
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Diamond | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 km |
| Turner Valley 3.9 km | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 km |
| Foothills County 19 km | 62 | 1 | 27 | 2.4 km |
| Okotoks 19 km | 21 | 1 | 11 | 0.1 km |
Foothills County leads the neighbours with 62 schools.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. A school counts when it sits inside Black Diamond or less than 3 km beyond its edge.
- The kinds of school. Kindergarten to Grade 8 is elementary, Grade 9 to 12 secondary, though the split varies by province and board.
- The year. The province’s school list, 2025/26.
- Boards and systems. A school’s system is its board’s: the language it teaches in, and whether the board is public or Catholic.
- What isn’t here. No ratings by inspectors, no enrolment trend: neither is published school by school.
- Bands, not ranks. Top fifth means a result among the best fifth of Alberta’s schools; the card shows a school’s average fifth.
Questions about schools in Black Diamond
How do I get a place at a school in Black Diamond?
Registration is with the board, which assigns the school for the home address.
Is there a French-language school in Black Diamond?
Not in or within 3 km of Black Diamond; the French-language board can name the nearest.
Sources: Alberta Education and Childcare, school enrolment 2025/26 (Open Government Licence – Alberta) · map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).