Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainResults around Olds lean low: 3 of 3 schools in the lower two fifths in Alberta
The Catholic boards run 0 of its 7 schools, below the 18% in Alberta. The 3 km around Olds counts 4 elementary schools, 2 secondary schools and 1 school for every grade, 1,722 students between them.
How Olds’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 | 59% | 67% |
| PAT: standard of excellence | 3 | 10% | 13% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is the standard of excellence: 10% here, against 13% in Alberta.
Every school’s results (3)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| École Deer Meadow SchoolElementary · Grades 5–8 | Acceptable 68% · Excellence 10% | Fourth fifth |
| École Olds High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Acceptable 59% · Excellence 11% | Fourth fifth |
| Reed Ranch SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 41% · 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.
Who runs Olds’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
Only one system is present here: every one English public.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
Where the 7 schools in and around Olds 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 Olds
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.
Not one teaches in French.
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 Olds
The neighbourhood school
Where a family lives settles it: the board’s map ties every address to one school, and a seat anywhere else waits on spare room.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 7 schools in and around Olds
High schools within reach of Olds
Every secondary school within 15 km of the town, nearest first.
Counting out to 15 km, there are 4: 4 English public. Nearest: Horizon Alternate Program, 0.4 km off.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizon Alternate ProgramAll grades · Grades 2–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | – | 14 | 0.4 km |
| Olds Career High SchoolSecondary · Grades 10–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | – | 22 | 0.6 km |
| École Olds High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | Fourth fifth | 611 | 2.2 km |
| Olds Koinonia Christian SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | Second fifth | 394 | 6.6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edgemont | 15,359 | 47 | 23,280 | 1 | 1.2 km |
| … | |||||
| Springbank Hill | 9,913 | 32 | 15,066 | 0 | 0.7 km |
| Glastonbury | 9,745 | 29 | 14,742 | 0 | 1.1 km |
| Shawnessy | 9,696 | 36 | 19,540 | 0 | 0.6 km |
| Silverado | 9,663 | 29 | 17,234 | 0 | 0.9 km |
| Olds | 9,653 | 7 | 1,722 | 0 | 0.4 km |
| Coaldale | 9,644 | 7 | 1,978 | 0 | 0.3 km |
| Aspen Woods | 9,606 | 32 | 15,742 | 0 | 1.2 km |
| Silver Berry | 9,439 | 31 | 14,846 | 0 | 1.1 km |
| Downtown Commercial Core | 9,286 | 64 | 28,305 | 1 | 0.7 km |
| … | |||||
| Sandstone Valley | 5,816 | 27 | 15,614 | 0 | 1.8 km |
Set against 195 others, 173 have more schools in reach. A French-language school is within reach in 81 of the 196.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Olds
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olds | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 km |
| Didsbury 15 km | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 km |
| Bowden 16 km | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 km |
| Mountain View County 18 km | 16 | 0 | 1 | 6.9 km |
16 schools make Mountain View County the best supplied neighbour.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The year. The provincial list for 2025/26.
- Boards and systems. Each board covers a territory in one language and one system, public or Catholic; boards of different systems overlap.
- Bands, not ranks. Each result is placed in a fifth of Alberta’s schools on the same measure; a school’s band averages its fifths. Alberta suppresses small groups, so no school is ranked to the place.
- What isn’t here. Enrolment is a single year, where published at all, and no inspectorate rates schools.
- Which schools count. The page takes in schools within Olds and up to 3 km past its boundary, so a school just over the line is still here.
- The kinds of school. The kind of school is what its province lists: elementary, secondary or both.
Questions about schools in Olds
How do I get a place at a school in Olds?
Enrolment goes through the board; schools outside your area take students when they have room.
Is there a French-language school in Olds?
No, none within 3 km of Olds; ask the French-language board for the nearest.
How many schools are there in Olds?
The town holds all 7; none is outside it.
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).