Photo: jasonwoodhead23 · CC BY 2.0Fort McMurray’s schools come under 6 different boards
The Fort McMurray School Division has 16 of them, and The Fort McMurray Roman Catholic Separate School Division, Ssdec and The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region share the others. Of the 29 with results, 17 sit in the lower two fifths in Alberta. The 3 km around Fort McMurray counts 21 elementary schools, 6 secondary schools and 6 schools for every grade, 15,139 students between them.
What stands out about Fort McMurray’s schools
More Catholic schools
Catholic schools are 11 of 33 here, above the 18% in Alberta, under The Fort McMurray Roman Catholic Separate School Division. Who runs them ↓
One big school
With 1,766 students, École McTavish Public High School is the area’s biggest. Every school ↓
Big elementary schools
Elementary schools here average 391 students, against 274 in Alberta; St. Martha Catholic School and Dr Karl A Clark Elementary are the largest. Every school ↓
The comparisons are with the province’s schools, never across provinces.
The 6 boards that run schools here
The boards and their schools here.
| Board | System | Schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fort McMurray School DivisionMcTavish Public, Westwood Community, Dr Karl A Clark, Fort McMurray, Christina Gordon, Walter & Gladys Hill, Ecole Dickinsfield, Dave McNeilly … | English public | 16 | 8,234 |
| The Fort McMurray Roman Catholic Separate School DivisionHoly Trinity, Father Patrick Mercredi, St. Martha, St. Kateri, Our Lady of the Rivers, St. Paul's, Elsie Yanik, Sister Mary Phillps … | English Catholic | 11 | 6,442 |
| SsdecJoseph Burr Tyrrell, P.W. Kaeser | English public | 2 | – |
| The Greater North Central Francophone Education RegionBoréale | French public | 1 | 168 |
| The Parkland School DivisionAthabasca Delta | English public | 1 | 134 |
| The Northland School DivisionBill Woodward | English public | 1 | 109 |
Boards and districts as the provincial lists name them.
How Fort McMurray’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 | 29 | 62% | 67% |
| PAT: standard of excellence | 29 | 10% | 13% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is the standard of excellence: 10% here, against 13% in Alberta.
Every school’s results (29)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| École BoréaleAll grades · Grades K–12 | Acceptable 77% · Excellence 26% | Second fifth |
| St. Kateri SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 74% · Excellence 22% | Second fifth |
| Walter & Gladys Hill Public SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 77% · Excellence 15% | Second fifth |
| Fort McMurray Islamic SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | Acceptable 63% · Excellence 21% | Middle fifth |
| Fr M Beauregard Education Community CentreElementary · Grades K–8 | Acceptable 71% · Excellence 11% | Middle fifth |
| Our Lady of the Rivers Catholic SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 72% · Excellence 15% | Middle fifth |
| St. Gabriel SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 75% · Excellence 14% | Middle fifth |
| Westwood Community High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | Acceptable 64% · Excellence 22% | Middle fifth |
| Elsie Yanik Catholic SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 70% · Excellence 12% | Middle fifth |
| Fort McMurray Christian SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | Acceptable 69% · Excellence 13% | Middle fifth |
| Sister Mary Phillps Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 67% · Excellence 14% | Middle fifth |
| École McTavish Public High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | Acceptable 66% · Excellence 12% | Middle fifth |
| Good Shepherd Community SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 64% · Excellence 6% | Fourth fifth |
| Holy Trinity High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | Acceptable 70% · Excellence 10% | Fourth fifth |
| St. Martha Catholic SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 62% · Excellence 11% | Fourth fifth |
| Beacon Hill SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 55% · Excellence 8% | Fourth fifth |
| Christina Gordon Public SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 53% · Excellence 10% | Fourth fifth |
| Dave McNeilly Public SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 57% · Excellence 9% | Fourth fifth |
| Ecole Dickinsfield SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 56% · Excellence 7% | Fourth fifth |
| Father Patrick Mercredi Community SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | Acceptable 57% · Excellence 10% | Fourth fifth |
| St. Paul's Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 56% · Excellence 8% | Fourth fifth |
| Timberlea Public SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 52% · Excellence 6% | Fourth fifth |
| Westview SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 53% · Excellence 7% | Fourth fifth |
| Dr Karl A Clark ElementaryElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 41% · Excellence 9% | Bottom fifth |
| Thickwood Heights SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 59% · Excellence 4% | Bottom fifth |
| Athabasca Delta Community SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | Acceptable 6% · Excellence 0% | Bottom fifth |
| Bill Woodward SchoolAll grades · Grades 6–12 | Acceptable 24% · Excellence 1% | Bottom fifth |
| Fort McMurray Composite High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | Acceptable 44% · Excellence 4% | Bottom fifth |
| Greely Road SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 38% · Excellence 0% | 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 33 schools in and around Fort McMurray are
Each pin is a school, coloured by the system that runs it, sized by its students where the province publishes them.
Points from the provincial lists; Alberta’s missing ones from OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim (© OpenStreetMap contributors).
Schooling in English and French around Fort McMurray
The language each school teaches in, against every school in Alberta.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in Alberta.
The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region runs the public French-language schools; all 1 are École Boréale.
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 Fort McMurray’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
System by system: English public 20, English Catholic 11, French-language 1 and independent or other 1.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
How children get a place in Fort McMurray
Independent schools
Independent schools choose their students and charge fees, with part of their costs paid by the province when they qualify.
Catholic schools
A separate (Catholic) board runs its own schools with public money and its own admission rules.
French-language schools
Section 23 rights-holders, francophone parents or those schooled in French in Canada, have a place; others apply to the board’s committee.
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 33 schools in and around Fort McMurray
High schools within reach of Fort McMurray
Every secondary school within 15 km of the town, nearest first.
9 secondary schools are within 15 km: 6 English public, 2 English Catholic and 1 French public. Frank Spragins High School is closest, at 1.9 km.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Spragins High SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Fort McMurray School Division | English public | – | 238 | 1.9 km |
| Fort McMurray Christian SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | The Fort McMurray School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 348 | 1.9 km |
| Holy Trinity High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | The Fort McMurray Roman Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Fourth fifth | 1,311 | 1.9 km |
| Father Patrick Mercredi Community SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | The Fort McMurray Roman Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Fourth fifth | 1,198 | 2 km |
| École McTavish Public High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | The Fort McMurray School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 1,766 | 2.1 km |
| Westwood Community High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | The Fort McMurray School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 1,059 | 2.7 km |
| École BoréaleAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region | French public | Second fifth | 168 | 5 km |
| Fort McMurray Composite High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | The Fort McMurray School Division | English public | Bottom fifth | 601 | 6.2 km |
| Fort McMurray Islamic SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | The Fort McMurray School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 388 | 9.7 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
Towns its size in Alberta
Similar-sized towns and their schools within 3 km, by population.
| Town | Population | Schools | Students | French | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Deer | 115,409 | 49 | 19,670 | 1 | 0.7 km |
| Lethbridge | 113,671 | 52 | 17,504 | 1 | 2 km |
| Strathcona County | 107,345 | 85 | 40,852 | 2 | 0.8 km |
| Airdrie | 92,544 | 27 | 18,713 | 1 | 0.9 km |
| Fort McMurray | 81,611 | 33 | 15,139 | 1 | 1.8 km |
| St. Albert | 74,621 | 41 | 19,661 | 2 | 0.9 km |
| Grande Prairie | 71,160 | 34 | 15,037 | 1 | 0.6 km |
| Medicine Hat | 68,714 | 37 | 11,190 | 1 | 1 km |
| Rocky View County | 50,260 | 136 | 74,236 | 2 | 2.9 km |
| … | |||||
| Cochrane | 39,397 | 16 | 7,714 | 1 | 1.1 km |
More schools are within reach in 7 of the 11 other towns. Of the 12, 10 offer a French-language school.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The kinds of school. An all-grade school teaches from kindergarten through high school; elementary and secondary schools split those years.
- Which schools count. Inside Fort McMurray’s boundary, or no more than 3 km outside it: that is which schools are counted.
- Boards and systems. Each board covers a territory in one language and one system, public or Catholic; boards of different systems overlap.
- The year. As the province lists them in 2025/26.
- What isn’t here. Provinces don’t grade schools by inspection; class sizes and enrolment over time aren’t in the open lists.
- 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 Fort McMurray
Which boards run the schools in Fort McMurray?
The Fort McMurray School Division (16), The Fort McMurray Roman Catholic Separate School Division (11), Ssdec (2), The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region (1) and The Parkland School Division (1), with each one’s schools in brackets.
How do I get a place at a school in Fort McMurray?
Registration is with the board, which assigns the school for the home address.
Is there a French-language school in Fort McMurray?
Yes, there are French-language schools: École Boréale.
How many schools are there in Fort McMurray?
The town holds 31 of them; 2 more are within 3 km of its outline.
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).