Photo: Koppertone · CC BY-SA 3.0Whitecourt leans Catholic: 4 of its 9 schools, where in Alberta it is 18%
The Catholic schools belong to The Living Waters Catholic Separate School Division. The 4 with results split, 2 in the upper two fifths in Alberta and 2 in the lower. Counting a 3 km margin, Whitecourt has 5 elementary schools and 4 secondary schools, for 2,525 students.
Who runs Whitecourt’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
By system, they split: English public 5 and English Catholic 4.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
How Whitecourt’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 | 4 | 68% | 67% |
| PAT: standard of excellence | 4 | 11% | 13% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is the standard of excellence: 11% here, against 13% in Alberta.
Every school’s results (4)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| École St. Joseph SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | Acceptable 82% · Excellence 14% | Second fifth |
| École St. Mary SchoolElementary · Grades 4–6 | Acceptable 73% · Excellence 19% | Second fifth |
| Hilltop High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Acceptable 63% · Excellence 8% | Fourth fifth |
| Percy Baxter Middle SchoolElementary · Grades 6–8 | Acceptable 47% · 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 9 schools in and around Whitecourt 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 Whitecourt
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.
All teach in the province’s majority language; none 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.
The 2 boards that run schools here
The boards and their schools here.
The biggest of the 2 is The Northern Gateway School Division: 5 schools.
| Board | System | Schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Northern Gateway School DivisionHilltop, Percy Baxter, Whitecourt Central, Pat Hardy Primary, Gateway Academy Whitecourt | English public | 5 | 1,622 |
| The Living Waters Catholic Separate School DivisionSt. Joseph, St. Anne, St. Mary, Across the Waters Outreach | English Catholic | 4 | 903 |
Boards and districts as the provincial lists name them.
How children get a place in Whitecourt
The neighbourhood school
Each school serves a defined area. A place elsewhere is possible when that school has room.
Catholic schools
Here the Catholic schools form a funded separate system; non-Catholic families may apply where a board allows it.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 9 schools in and around Whitecourt
High schools within reach of Whitecourt
The high schools a family here could reach, within 15 km.
Counting out to 15 km, there are 4: 2 English Catholic and 2 English public. For the shortest journey, Across the Waters Outreach: 1.2 km.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Across the Waters OutreachSecondary · Grades 8–12 | The Living Waters Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | – | 32 | 1.2 km |
| Gateway Academy WhitecourtSecondary · Grades 10–12 | The Northern Gateway School Division | English public | – | 99 | 1.6 km |
| Hilltop High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | The Northern Gateway School Division | English public | Fourth fifth | 540 | 1.6 km |
| École St. Joseph SchoolSecondary · Grades 7–12 | The Living Waters Catholic Separate School Division | English Catholic | Second fifth | 330 | 2.3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerside | 16,760 | 18 | 10,845 | 0 | 0.2 km |
| … | |||||
| Lacombe County | 11,072 | 21 | 5,960 | 0 | 2.8 km |
| Lethbridge County | 10,988 | 61 | 20,706 | 1 | 3.5 km |
| Yellowhead County | 10,966 | 19 | 4,751 | 0 | 17 km |
| Morinville | 10,763 | 7 | 4,814 | 0 | 0.3 km |
| Whitecourt | 10,708 | 9 | 2,525 | 0 | 1.2 km |
| Ponoka County | 10,670 | 12 | 2,866 | 0 | 2.7 km |
| Hidden Valley | 10,614 | 27 | 19,070 | 0 | 0.1 km |
| Rundle | 10,549 | 70 | 32,069 | 0 | 0.2 km |
| Temple | 10,545 | 49 | 26,574 | 1 | 0.1 km |
| … | |||||
| Crescent Heights | 6,411 | 69 | 34,910 | 1 | 0.5 km |
More schools are within reach in 143 of the 173 other towns. Teaching in French: 72 of the 174 have it.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Whitecourt
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitecourt | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1.2 km |
| Woodlands County 9.4 km | 10 | 0 | 4 | 7.4 km |
Woodlands County leads the neighbours with 10 schools.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Bands, not ranks. A band is the fifth of Alberta’s schools a result falls in, averaged over the two PAT measures; suppressed groups would make places misleading.
- What isn’t here. What no open list gives: inspection grades, several years of enrolment, and Ontario’s private schools.
- The year. Listed for 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.
- Which schools count. Counted: Whitecourt’s own schools and any within 3 km of its edge.
- The kinds of school. Where a province publishes grades, the card gives them; elementary and secondary follow those grades.
Questions about schools in Whitecourt
How many schools are there in Whitecourt?
All 9 are inside the town itself.
Is there a French-language school in Whitecourt?
There is none in or near Whitecourt (within 3 km); the French-language board covers the area from elsewhere.
How do I get a place at a school in Whitecourt?
Registration is with the board, which assigns the school for the home address.
Which boards run the schools in Whitecourt?
By number of schools: The Northern Gateway School Division (5) and The Living Waters Catholic Separate School Division (4).
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).