Photo: Nathan Schneider, aka Schnits at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.03 schools serve Penhold, 2 elementary schools and 1 secondary school
All of them belong to The Chinook's Edge School Division. On results, 0 of 2 tested schools are in the upper two fifths in Alberta. Their rolls add up to 991 students (2025/26).
How Penhold’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 | 2 | 66% | 67% |
| PAT: standard of excellence | 2 | 12% | 13% |
On the standard of excellence the area trails, 12% against 13% in Alberta.
Every school’s results (2)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Penhold Crossing Secondary SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Acceptable 66% · Excellence 12% | Middle fifth |
| Penhold Waskasoo Middle SchoolElementary · Grades 4–8 | Acceptable 66% · Excellence 12% | Middle 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 3 schools in and around Penhold are
A pin for every school, its colour the system it belongs to.
Points from the provincial lists; Alberta’s missing ones from OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim (© OpenStreetMap contributors).
Schooling in English and French around Penhold
English, French and other languages of instruction, beside the mix in Alberta.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in Alberta.
No school here 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.
Who runs Penhold’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.
How children get a place in Penhold
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 3 schools in and around Penhold
High schools within reach of Penhold
Secondary and all-grade schools within 15 km, by distance.
Within 15 km, families can reach 9 high schools: 5 English public, 2 English Catholic, 1 independent and 1 French public. Nearest: Penhold Crossing Secondary School, 0.9 km off.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penhold Crossing Secondary SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 259 | 0.9 km |
| Penhold Career High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | – | 33 | 9.4 km |
| Destiny Christian School SocietyAll grades · Grades K–9 | – | Independent | Top fifth | 195 | 11 km |
| Innisfail Career High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | – | 14 | 13 km |
| Innisfail High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | Fourth fifth | 374 | 14 km |
| St. Marguerite BourgeoysAll grades · Grades K–9 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 303 | 14 km |
| École La PrairieAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region | French public | Middle fifth | 161 | 14 km |
| Ecole Secondaire Notre Dame High SchoolSecondary · Grades 10–12 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | – | 1,389 | 14 km |
| Hunting Hills High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 1,519 | 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta Avenue | 6,097 | 60 | 29,376 | 3 | 1 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 |
| Pleasantview | 3,746 | 55 | 24,245 | 3 | 0.9 km |
| Eau Claire | 3,733 | 55 | 27,143 | 1 | 0.4 km |
| Magrath Heights | 3,728 | 20 | 11,669 | 0 | 0.9 km |
| … | |||||
| Rimbey | 2,502 | 4 | 823 | 0 | 12 km |
227 of 249 similar towns count more schools. In 105 of the 250, at least one school teaches in French.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Penhold
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penhold | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 km |
| Red Deer County 4.5 km | 57 | 1 | 17 | 3.8 km |
| Innisfail 14 km | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0.6 km |
| Red Deer 16 km | 49 | 1 | 20 | 0.7 km |
Red Deer County has the most schools nearby, 57.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Boards and systems. Each board covers a territory in one language and one system, public or Catholic; boards of different systems overlap.
- The year. The province’s 2025/26 list.
- What isn’t here. No province rates its schools by inspection, and enrolment covers one year (Ontario and Alberta only), so there is no trend.
- Bands, not ranks. Alberta publishes the share at each PAT standard and suppresses small groups, so the page gives fifths, not ranks.
- The kinds of school. The levels follow each school’s published grades: elementary below Grade 7 or 9, secondary above, all-grade when it runs the whole way.
- Which schools count. A 3 km band around Penhold’s outline is included, as it is for every town on the site.
Questions about schools in Penhold
How do I get a place at a school in Penhold?
Enrolment goes through the board; schools outside your area take students when they have room.
Is there a French-language school in Penhold?
None within 3 km of Penhold. The French-language board serves it from schools further off.
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).