Photo: Tracklan2 · CC0Most schools around Picture Butte score below the middle in Alberta: 2 of 3
Taken together, Picture Butte and its 3 km edge hold 1 elementary school, 1 secondary school and 1 school for every grade for 452 students.
How Picture Butte’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 | 68% | 67% |
| PAT: standard of excellence | 3 | 4% | 13% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is the standard of excellence: 4% here, against 13% in Alberta.
Every school’s results (3)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| St. Catherine's SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | Acceptable 72% · Excellence 15% | Middle fifth |
| Dorothy Dalgliesh SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 68% · Excellence 4% | Fourth fifth |
| Picture Butte High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | Acceptable 39% · Excellence 4% | 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 3 schools in and around Picture Butte 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 Picture Butte
English, French and other languages of instruction, beside the mix in Alberta.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in Alberta.
A French-language school would mean a trip out of the area.
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 Picture Butte’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
The split by system: English public 2 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.
Of 2 boards, the largest here is The Palliser School Division, with 2.
| Board | System | Schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Palliser School DivisionPicture Butte, Dorothy Dalgliesh | English public | 2 | 271 |
| The Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate School DivisionSt. Catherine's | English Catholic | 1 | 181 |
Boards and districts as the provincial lists name them.
How children get a place in Picture Butte
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.
Catholic schools
The province funds Catholic separate schools beside the public ones. Each separate board sets its own admission rules, usually giving Catholic families first place.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 3 schools in and around Picture Butte
High schools within reach of Picture Butte
Every secondary school within 15 km of the town, nearest first.
2 secondary schools are within 15 km: 1 English public and 1 English Catholic. For the shortest journey, Picture Butte High School: 0.3 km.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picture Butte High SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | The Palliser School Division | English public | Bottom fifth | 156 | 0.3 km |
| St. Catherine's SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | The Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 181 | 0.5 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
Schools in the towns around Picture Butte
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picture Butte | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.4 km |
| Lethbridge County 3.8 km | 61 | 1 | 19 | 3.5 km |
| Coalhurst 18 km | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 km |
The neighbour with most schools is Lethbridge County (61).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The year. 2025/26, the latest open list.
- 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.
- 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. The fifths are of schools, not students: a small school counts as much as a large one.
- Which schools count. A 3 km band around Picture Butte’s outline is included, as it is for every town on the site.
- The kinds of school. Middle and junior high schools count as secondary when they start at Grade 7 or later, elementary otherwise.
Questions about schools in Picture Butte
How do I get a place at a school in Picture Butte?
Contact the board: it names the school for your address and takes the registration.
Which boards run the schools in Picture Butte?
By number of schools: The Palliser School Division (2) and The Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate School Division (1).
Is there a French-language school in Picture Butte?
Not in or within 3 km of Picture Butte; the French-language board can name the nearest.
How many schools are there in Picture Butte?
All 3 are inside the town itself.
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).