Photo: Waynercook · Public domain5 school boards share Red Deer
Most belong to The Red Deer School Division (25); The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division, The Chinook's Edge School Division and The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region run the remainder. Of its 21 tested schools, 5 sit in the top two fifths in Alberta and 6 in the bottom two. The 3 km around Red Deer counts 29 elementary schools, 8 secondary schools and 12 schools for every grade, 19,670 students between them.
What stands out about Red Deer’s schools
One big school
With 1,794 students, Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School is the area’s biggest. Every school ↓
The strongest results
The area’s best results are at Destiny Christian School Society (all grades), in the top fifth in Alberta. Results ↓
Each finding compares the town’s schools with every school in its province.
The 5 boards that run schools here
Every board or service centre with a school in the area, and its schools.
| Board | System | Schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Red Deer School DivisionLindsay Thurber Comprehensive, Hunting Hills, Gateway Christian, Eastview, Central, Westpark, Ecole Barrie Wilson, Glendale Sciences and Technology … | English public | 25 | 11,265 |
| The Red Deer Catholic Separate School DivisionEcole Secondaire Notre Dame, St. Joseph, St. John Paul II Catholic Outreach, Ecole Camille J Lerouge, St. Patricks, St. Lorenzo Ruiz, St. Thomas Aquinas, Father Henri Voisin … | English Catholic | 13 | 7,449 |
| The Chinook's Edge School DivisionPoplar Ridge, Penhold Career | English public | 2 | 190 |
| The Greater North Central Francophone Education RegionLa Prairie | French public | 1 | 161 |
| The Northern Gateway School DivisionRich Valley | English public | 1 | 101 |
Boards and districts as the provincial lists name them.
How Red Deer’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 | 21 | 68% | 67% |
| PAT: standard of excellence | 21 | 14% | 13% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is the standard of excellence: 14% here, against 13% in Alberta.
Every school’s results (21)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Destiny Christian School SocietyAll grades · Grades K–9 | Acceptable 83% · Excellence 30% | Top fifth |
| Gateway Christian SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | Acceptable 81% · Excellence 30% | Top fifth |
| Koinonia Christian School (Red Deer)All grades · Grades K–12 | Acceptable 87% · Excellence 29% | Top fifth |
| Rich Valley SchoolElementary · Grades K–7 | Acceptable 83% · Excellence 37% | Top fifth |
| Escuela Vista GrandeElementary · Grades K–8 | Acceptable 75% · Excellence 16% | Second fifth |
| Glendale Sciences and Technology SchoolElementary · Grades K–8 | Acceptable 63% · Excellence 19% | Middle fifth |
| Hunting Hills High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Acceptable 67% · Excellence 17% | Middle fifth |
| Poplar Ridge SchoolElementary · Grades K–6 | Acceptable 75% · Excellence 12% | Middle fifth |
| St. Patricks Community SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | Acceptable 75% · Excellence 15% | Middle fifth |
| St. Thomas Aquinas SchoolAll grades · Grades 6–9 | Acceptable 74% · Excellence 14% | Middle fifth |
| Westpark Middle SchoolElementary · Grades 6–8 | Acceptable 66% · Excellence 16% | Middle fifth |
| École La PrairieAll grades · Grades K–12 | Acceptable 74% · Excellence 11% | Middle fifth |
| Eastview Middle SchoolElementary · Grades 6–8 | Acceptable 68% · Excellence 15% | Middle fifth |
| Ecole Camille J Lerouge SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | Acceptable 69% · Excellence 13% | Middle fifth |
| St. Lorenzo Ruiz Middle SchoolAll grades · Grades 6–9 | Acceptable 64% · Excellence 11% | Middle fifth |
| Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Acceptable 61% · Excellence 13% | Fourth fifth |
| Central Middle SchoolElementary · Grades 6–8 | Acceptable 58% · Excellence 9% | Fourth fifth |
| South Side Christian SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | Acceptable 63% · Excellence 4% | Fourth fifth |
| Normandeau SchoolElementary · Grades K–8 | Acceptable 42% · Excellence 7% | Bottom fifth |
| G H Dawe Community SchoolElementary · Grades K–8 | Acceptable 39% · Excellence 5% | Bottom fifth |
| Outreach School CentreSecondary · Grades 8–12 | Acceptable 9% · 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 49 schools in and around Red Deer are
A pin for every school, its colour the system it belongs to.
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 Red Deer
English, French and other languages of instruction, beside the mix 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 La Prairie.
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 Red Deer’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
Counted by who runs them: English public 28, English Catholic 13, French-language 1 and independent or other 7.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
How children get a place in Red Deer
The neighbourhood school
Registration happens with the board, not the school; the board names the school for the address.
Independent schools
Independent schools set their own admissions and fees; the province funds part of their costs where they meet its conditions.
Catholic schools
Separate boards admit by their own policies, most giving priority to Catholic families.
French-language schools
French-language boards admit the children of rights-holders under section 23 of the Charter (a parent whose first language is French, or who was schooled in French in Canada), and may admit others through an admissions committee.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 49 schools in and around Red Deer
High schools within reach of Red Deer
Every secondary school within 15 km of the town, nearest first.
Counting out to 15 km, there are 20: 9 English public, 7 English Catholic, 3 independent and 1 French public. 0.7 km away, Ecole Camille J Lerouge School is the nearest.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ecole Camille J Lerouge SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 645 | 0.7 km |
| Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | Fourth fifth | 1,794 | 0.8 km |
| Outreach School CentreSecondary · Grades 8–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | Bottom fifth | 304 | 0.8 km |
| St. John Paul II Catholic Outreach SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | – | 939 | 1.1 km |
| Gateway Christian SchoolAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | Top fifth | 760 | 1.1 km |
| St. Thomas Aquinas SchoolAll grades · Grades 6–9 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 452 | 1.3 km |
| Parkland School Special EducationAll grades · Grades 1–10 | – | Independent | – | 18 | 1.5 km |
| École La PrairieAll grades · Grades K–12 | The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region | French public | Middle fifth | 161 | 2.1 km |
| Koinonia Christian School (Red Deer)All grades · Grades K–12 | – | Independent | Top fifth | 100 | 2.5 km |
| North Cottage High SchoolSecondary · Grades 12–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | – | 220 | 2.5 km |
All 20 secondary schools
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quest, AssessmentAll grades · Grades 6–10 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | – | 3 | 2.8 km |
| Hunting Hills High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 1,519 | 3.1 km |
| St. Joseph High SchoolSecondary · Grades 10–12 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | – | 999 | 3.1 km |
| St. Patricks Community SchoolAll grades · Grades K–9 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 596 | 3.3 km |
| Ecole Secondaire Notre Dame High SchoolSecondary · Grades 10–12 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | – | 1,389 | 3.3 km |
| Quest, Stabilization and SecureSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Red Deer School Division | English public | – | 4 | 4.5 km |
| Destiny Christian School SocietyAll grades · Grades K–9 | – | Independent | Top fifth | 195 | 5.1 km |
| St. Lorenzo Ruiz Middle SchoolAll grades · Grades 6–9 | The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 581 | 5.1 km |
| Penhold Career High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | – | 33 | 6.5 km |
| Penhold Crossing Secondary SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Chinook's Edge School Division | English public | Middle fifth | 259 | 15 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
Canadian towns its size
Places of about the same size and their schools in or within 3 km, largest first.
| Town | Population | Schools | Students | French | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherbrooke | 184,135 | 64 | — | 59 | 0.7 km |
| … | |||||
| Delta | 124,670 | 113 | — | 2 | 6.6 km |
| Brantford | 123,521 | 50 | 20,085 | 1 | 1.2 km |
| Pickering | 118,378 | 87 | 41,425 | 6 | 1.5 km |
| Thunder Bay | 117,671 | 44 | 15,300 | 4 | 3 km |
| Red Deer | 115,409 | 49 | 19,670 | 1 | 0.7 km |
| Bowmanville | 114,180 | 60 | 32,365 | 1 | 0.8 km |
| Niagara Falls | 113,983 | 48 | 18,410 | 3 | 0.4 km |
| Lethbridge | 113,671 | 52 | 17,504 | 1 | 2 km |
| Chatham | 112,716 | 45 | 14,950 | 6 | 0.9 km |
| … | |||||
| Grande Prairie | 71,160 | 34 | 15,037 | 1 | 0.6 km |
In 30 of the 59 others the count is higher. Schooling in French is on hand in 57 of the 60.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Red Deer
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Deer | 49 | 1 | 20 | 0.7 km |
| Red Deer County 12 km | 57 | 1 | 17 | 3.8 km |
| Blackfalds 13 km | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 km |
| Penhold 16 km | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 km |
Red Deer County leads the neighbours with 57 schools.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The year. The open list of 2025/26.
- Boards and systems. A school’s system is its board’s: the language it teaches in, and whether the board is public or Catholic.
- What isn’t here. Enrolment is a single year, where published at all, and no inspectorate rates schools.
- Bands, not ranks. Top fifth means a result among the best fifth of Alberta’s schools; the card shows a school’s average fifth.
- Which schools count. Inside Red Deer’s boundary, or no more than 3 km outside it: that is which schools are counted.
- 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.
Questions about schools in Red Deer
How do I get a place at a school in Red Deer?
Registration is with the board, which assigns the school for the home address.
Which boards run the schools in Red Deer?
By number of schools: The Red Deer School Division (25), The Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division (13), The Chinook's Edge School Division (2), The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region (1) and The Northern Gateway School Division (1).
How many schools are there in Red Deer?
Inside the town there are 46; another 3 sit within 3 km.
Is there a French-language school in Red Deer?
Yes: École La Prairie, the French-language schools here.
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).