Photo: Madereugeneandrew · CC BY-SA 4.0Results around Blackfalds lean low: 2 of 3 schools in the lower two fifths in Alberta
Elementary schools here average 386 students, against 274 in Alberta. In or within 3 km of Blackfalds: 4 elementary schools and 1 school for every grade, with 1,551 students.
How Blackfalds’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 B−: 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 | 3 | 62% | 67% |
| PAT: standard of excellence | 3 | 13% | 13% |
On the acceptable standard the area trails, 62% against 67% in Alberta.
Every school’s results (3)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| St. Gregory The Great Catholic SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 69% · Excellence 13% | Middle fifth |
| Iron Ridge Junior CampusElementary · Grades 7–8 | Acceptable 62% · Excellence 15% | Fourth fifth |
| Iron Ridge Intermediate CampusElementary · Grades 4–6 | Acceptable 61% · Excellence 7% | Fourth 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.
The 5 schools in and around Blackfalds
Where the 5 schools in and around Blackfalds are
A pin for every school, its colour the system it belongs to.
1 more have no point in the source and are listed below the map.
Points from the provincial lists; Alberta’s missing ones from OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim (© OpenStreetMap contributors).
Schooling in English and French around Blackfalds
Each school by its language of instruction, with the share in Alberta marked.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in Alberta.
For schooling in French, families look further afield.
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 Blackfalds’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
Grouped by system: English public 4 and English Catholic 1.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
2 boards, school by school
Every board or service centre with a school in the area, and its schools.
The Wolf Creek School Division runs the most, 4 of them, among 2 boards.
| Board | System | Schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Wolf Creek School DivisionIron Ridge Elementary Campus, Iron Ridge Intermediate Campus, Iron Ridge Junior Campus, Bentley Colony | English public | 4 | 1,082 |
| The Red Deer Catholic Separate School DivisionSt. Gregory The Great | English Catholic | 1 | 469 |
Boards and districts as the provincial lists name them.
How children get a place in Blackfalds
The neighbourhood school
Attendance zones do the sorting here. Inside the zone a child is in; outside it, the answer turns on how full the school is.
Catholic schools
Catholic separate schools are publicly funded here; each separate board decides whom it admits, Catholic families first.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
High schools within reach of Blackfalds
Secondary and all-grade schools within 15 km, by distance.
Within 15 km, families can reach 23 high schools: 9 English public, 7 English Catholic, 6 independent and 1 French public. Bentley Colony School lies closest, 2 km from the centre.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bentley Colony SchoolAll grades · Grades 4–9 | The Wolf Creek School Division | English public | – | 7 | 2 km |
| St. Lorenzo Ruiz Middle SchoolAll grades · Grades 6–9 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 581 | 8.8 km |
| Lacombe Outreach SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | The Wolf Creek School Division | English public | Bottom fifth | 243 | 9.1 km |
| Father Lacombe Catholic SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | The St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Fourth fifth | 275 | 9.5 km |
| Central Alberta Christian High SchoolSecondary · Grades 10–12 | – | Independent | – | 144 | 9.8 km |
| Ecole Secondaire Lacombe Composite High SchoolSecondary · Grades 10–12 | The Wolf Creek School Division | English public | – | 779 | 9.9 km |
| Quest, Stabilization and SecureSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | – | 4 | 10 km |
| Lacombe Christian SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | – | Independent | Top fifth | 466 | 10 km |
| Ecole Lacombe Junior High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–9 | The Wolf Creek School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 516 | 10 km |
| St. Joseph High SchoolSecondary · Grades 10–12 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | – | 999 | 11 km |
All 23 secondary schools
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Adventist Christian eSchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | – | Independent | – | 265 | 11 km |
| St. Patricks Community SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 596 | 12 km |
| Parkland School Special EducationAll grades · Grades 1–10 | – | Independent | – | 18 | 12 km |
| College Heights Christian SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | – | Independent | Fourth fifth | 330 | 12 km |
| Koinonia Christian School (Red Deer)All grades · Grades K–12 | – | Independent | Top fifth | 100 | 12 km |
| Gateway Christian SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | Top fifth | 760 | 12 km |
| North Cottage High SchoolSecondary · Grades 12–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | – | 220 | 12 km |
| Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | Fourth fifth | 1,794 | 12 km |
| Ecole Camille J Lerouge SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 645 | 13 km |
| Outreach School CentreSecondary · Grades 8–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | Bottom fifth | 304 | 13 km |
| St. John Paul II Catholic Outreach SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | – | 939 | 14 km |
| St. Thomas Aquinas SchoolAll grades · Grades 6–9 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 452 | 14 km |
| École La PrairieAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region | French public | Middle fifth | 161 | 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wîhkwêntôwin | 19,050 | 65 | 28,543 | 6 | 0.2 km |
| … | |||||
| Varsity | 12,605 | 72 | 32,635 | 2 | 0.3 km |
| Bridlewood | 12,547 | 26 | 14,372 | 0 | 0.8 km |
| Chaparral | 12,522 | 30 | 17,770 | 0 | 2.1 km |
| Royal Oak | 12,343 | 30 | 14,426 | 1 | 0.3 km |
| Blackfalds | 12,258 | 5 | 1,551 | 0 | 2 km |
| Wetaskiwin County No. 10 | 12,117 | 20 | 3,807 | 0 | 4.7 km |
| The Hamptons | 12,008 | 16 | 8,431 | 0 | 0.3 km |
| McKenzie Lake | 11,966 | 33 | 18,654 | 0 | 0.7 km |
| Clearwater County | 11,856 | 12 | 2,741 | 0 | 13 km |
| … | |||||
| Ermineskin | 7,483 | 40 | 19,498 | 0 | 1.5 km |
More schools than here: 136 of the 141 others. 54 towns of the 142 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 Blackfalds
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackfalds | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 km |
| Lacombe County 7.3 km | 21 | 0 | 6 | 2.8 km |
| Lacombe 11 km | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0.3 km |
| Red Deer 13 km | 49 | 1 | 20 | 0.7 km |
| Bentley 19 km | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 km |
49 schools make Red Deer the best supplied neighbour.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What isn’t here. Ontario’s private schools aren’t in the open list; no province publishes inspection grades.
- Bands, not ranks. Bands compare within Alberta only: never a place in a league table.
- Boards and systems. Boards come in one language each, and where the province funds Catholic schools, as public or Catholic; independent schools stand outside them.
- The year. The province’s 2025/26 list.
- The kinds of school. The kind of school is what its province lists: elementary, secondary or both.
- Which schools count. Inside Blackfalds’s boundary, or no more than 3 km outside it: that is which schools are counted.
Questions about schools in Blackfalds
How many schools are there in Blackfalds?
Every one of them, 5, is inside the town.
Is there a French-language school in Blackfalds?
No, none within 3 km of Blackfalds; ask the French-language board for the nearest.
Which boards run the schools in Blackfalds?
The Wolf Creek School Division (4) and The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division (1), with each one’s schools in brackets.
How do I get a place at a school in Blackfalds?
Registration is with the board, which assigns the school for the home address.
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).