Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain2 of Cardston’s 3 tested schools score in the lower two fifths in Alberta
Catholic schools are fewer here, 0 of 5, where in Alberta they are 18%. Taken together, Cardston and its 3 km edge hold 2 elementary schools, 1 secondary school and 2 schools for every grade for 1,473 students.
How Cardston’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 C+: 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 | 60% | 67% |
| PAT: standard of excellence | 3 | 12% | 13% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is the acceptable standard: 60% here, against 67% in Alberta.
Every school’s results (3)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Cardston High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Acceptable 71% · Excellence 22% | Middle fifth |
| Cardston Junior High SchoolElementary · Grades 6–8 | Acceptable 60% · Excellence 12% | Fourth fifth |
| Westwind Alternate SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | Acceptable 44% · Excellence 5% | 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.
Who runs Cardston’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
No mix of systems here: every one English public.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
Where the 5 schools in and around Cardston are
Each pin is a school, coloured by the system that runs it, sized by its students where the province publishes them.
2 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 Cardston
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.
Schooling in French isn’t on offer here.
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.
How children get a place in Cardston
The neighbourhood school
Where a family lives sets the school: each board draws a catchment around every one of its schools, and a child living inside it has a place there. Other schools take children from outside when they have room.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 5 schools in and around Cardston
High schools within reach of Cardston
Secondary and all-grade schools within 15 km, by distance.
Within 15 km, families can reach 2 high schools: 2 English public. Cardston High School lies closest, 0.5 km from the centre.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardston High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Westwind School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 473 | 0.5 km |
| East Cardston Colony SchoolAll grades · Grades 1–9 | The Westwind School Division | English public | – | 17 | 6.2 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
Towns its size in Alberta
Places of about the same size and their schools in or within 3 km, largest first.
| Town | Population | Schools | Students | French | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenora | 6,197 | 68 | 29,614 | 3 | 0.4 km |
| … | |||||
| Maple | 3,920 | 10 | 6,264 | 0 | 1.1 km |
| Lamont County | 3,918 | 0 | — | 0 | 34 km |
| Fairview | 3,909 | 64 | 24,041 | 1 | 0.2 km |
| Pincher Creek | 3,890 | 5 | 575 | 0 | 0.2 km |
| Cardston | 3,863 | 5 | 1,473 | 0 | 0.5 km |
| Rosscarrock | 3,862 | 66 | 22,999 | 1 | 0.6 km |
| Jamieson Place | 3,813 | 21 | 10,092 | 0 | 0.7 km |
| Penhold | 3,812 | 3 | 991 | 0 | 0.9 km |
| Clareview Town Centre | 3,800 | 44 | 19,092 | 0 | 0.9 km |
| … | |||||
| Rimbey | 2,502 | 4 | 823 | 0 | 12 km |
Of the 256 others, 220 count more schools. A French-language school is within reach in 108 of the 257.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Cardston
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardston | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 km |
| Cardston County 9 km | 23 | 0 | 1 | 2.9 km |
| Blood 148 17 km | 15 | 0 | 2 | 13 km |
Top among the neighbours: Cardston County, 23 schools.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What isn’t here. What no open list gives: inspection grades, several years of enrolment, and Ontario’s private schools.
- Bands, not ranks. A band is the fifth of Alberta’s schools a result falls in, averaged over the two PAT measures; suppressed groups would make places misleading.
- The year. The province’s 2025/26 list.
- Boards and systems. The board is the public body that runs a school; this province has English and French boards, each public or Catholic.
- Which schools count. Counted: Cardston’s own schools and any within 3 km of its edge.
- The kinds of school. Where a province publishes grades, the card gives them; elementary and secondary follow those grades.
Questions about schools in Cardston
How many schools are there in Cardston?
Every one of them, 5, is inside the town.
Is there a French-language school in Cardston?
Not near Cardston: within 3 km there is none, and the French-language board points to the closest.
How do I get a place at a school in Cardston?
The board’s school locator gives the designated school; registration is with the board or the school.
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).