Photo: Onasill ~ Bill - 103 Million Views - Thank You · CC BY-SA 2.0In the top two fifths in Ontario: 11 of the 12 schools around Fergus with results
They include Ponsonby Public School, Eramosa Public School and John Black Public School. The Catholic boards run 2 of its 13 schools, below the 34% in Ontario. Taken together, Fergus and its 3 km edge hold 12 elementary schools and 1 secondary school for 4,760 students.
What stands out about Fergus’s schools
Results on the rise
More of the results rose than fell over three years at 8 schools of the 12 with results, Ponsonby Public School, John Black Public School and Salem Public School among them. Results ↓
No French-language school
None of the 13 schools here teaches in French; in Ontario, 10% of schools do. Language ↓
The strongest results
Top of the area: Ponsonby Public School (elementary), its results in the top fifth in Ontario. Results ↓
Every figure here sets the area’s schools beside the rest of its province.
How Fergus’s schools do on Ontario’s tests
EQAO’s Grade 3, 6 and 9 assessments and the literacy test, 2024-25: each school against every school in Ontario.
Its School Grade is A: 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 | Ontario |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 reading | 11 | 89% | 76% |
| Grade 3 writing | 11 | 80% | 65% |
| Grade 3 math | 11 | 79% | 65% |
| Grade 6 reading | 9 | 95% | 88% |
| Grade 6 writing | 9 | 94% | 86% |
| Grade 6 math | 9 | 60% | 51% |
| Grade 9 math | 1 | 63% | 55% |
| Literacy test (OSSLT), first try | 1 | 89% | 85% |
On Grade 3 writing the area runs ahead, 80% against 65% in Ontario. Of 8 measures, 8 sit above the province’s middle and 0 below.
Every school’s results (12)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Ponsonby Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–6 | G3 reading 89% · G3 writing 84% · G3 math 84% · G6 reading 100% · G6 writing 100% · G6 math 76% | Top fifth |
| Eramosa Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–6 | G3 reading 86% · G3 writing 79% · G3 math 100% · G6 reading not reported · G6 writing not reported · G6 math not reported | Top fifth |
| John Black Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 93% · G3 writing 86% · G3 math 86% · G6 reading 94% · G6 writing 94% · G6 math 58% | Top fifth |
| Salem Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–6 | G3 reading 82% · G3 writing 84% · G3 math 79% · G6 reading 97% · G6 writing 92% · G6 math 79% | Top fifth |
| Alma Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–6 | G3 reading 93% · G3 writing 80% · G3 math 93% · G6 reading 93% · G6 writing 93% · G6 math 60% | Second fifth |
| St Mary - Elora Catholic Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 91% · G3 writing 77% · G3 math 74% · G6 reading 95% · G6 writing 95% · G6 math 62% | Second fifth |
| St Joseph - Fergus Catholic Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 82% · G3 writing 68% · G3 math 75% · G6 reading 100% · G6 writing 100% · G6 math 88% | Second fifth |
| Elora Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 86% · G3 writing 89% · G3 math 66% · G6 reading 98% · G6 writing 98% · G6 math 52% | Second fifth |
| J Douglas Hogarth Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 92% · G3 writing 76% · G3 math 73% · G6 reading 91% · G6 writing 90% · G6 math 58% | Second fifth |
| Centre Wellington District High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | G9 math 63% · OSSLT 89% | Second fifth |
| Victoria Terrace Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–6 | G3 reading 100% · G3 writing 84% · G3 math 95% · G6 reading 88% · G6 writing 85% · G6 math 50% | Second fifth |
| James McQueen Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–6 | G3 reading 56% · G3 writing 22% · G3 math 50% | Bottom fifth |
Ontario Ministry of Education, School Information Finder 2024–25 (EQAO results; N/R where groups are too small). Open Government Licence – Ontario.
Who runs Fergus’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
Split by system, that is English public 11 and English Catholic 2.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
Where the 13 schools in and around Fergus are
Every school as a pin, coloured by system; each opens its own page.
Points from the provincial lists.
Schooling in English and French around Fergus
The language each school teaches in, against every school in Ontario.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in Ontario.
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.
2 boards, school by school
Each board’s schools in the area, largest first.
Upper Grand DSB runs the most, 11 of them, among 2 boards.
| Board | System | Schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Grand DSBCentre Wellington District, J Douglas Hogarth, Elora, John Black, Salem, James McQueen, Victoria Terrace, Ponsonby … | English public | 11 | 3,795 |
| Wellington CDSBSt Joseph - Fergus Catholic, St Mary - Elora Catholic | English Catholic | 2 | 965 |
Boards as Ontario’s list names them (its short forms: DSB, CDSB, CS).
How children get a place in Fergus
Catholic schools
Catholic schools here are public, paid for by the province. Elementary places usually go to Catholic families; Catholic high schools take any student.
The neighbourhood school
Each school serves a defined area. A place elsewhere is possible when that school has room.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 13 schools in and around Fergus
High schools within reach of Fergus
Every secondary school within 15 km of the town, nearest first.
One secondary school is within 15 km: Centre Wellington District High School, 3 km away.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centre Wellington District High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Upper Grand DSB | English public | Second fifth | 1,190 | 3 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
Towns its size in Ontario
Places of about the same size and their schools in or within 3 km, largest first.
| Town | Population | Schools | Students | French | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roseborough | 54,539 | 81 | 40,865 | 7 | 0.6 km |
| … | |||||
| LaSalle | 36,452 | 24 | 15,560 | 3 | 1.4 km |
| Central Erin Mills | 36,393 | 77 | 38,375 | 2 | 0.3 km |
| Stratford | 36,097 | 13 | 5,320 | 0 | 2 km |
| Leamington | 34,653 | 12 | 4,490 | 1 | 1.8 km |
| Fergus | 34,565 | 13 | 4,760 | 0 | 3.1 km |
| Thorold | 33,844 | 42 | 15,445 | 3 | 2.3 km |
| West Humber-Clairville | 33,690 | 87 | 39,405 | 2 | 0.9 km |
| Applewood | 33,229 | 68 | 30,600 | 1 | 1.3 km |
| Orangeville | 33,070 | 15 | 6,785 | 1 | 0.6 km |
| … | |||||
| Oakwood Village | 20,830 | 93 | 34,050 | 6 | 1.2 km |
More schools are within reach in 127 of the 144 other towns. A school in French is nearby in 113 towns of 145.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. The page takes in schools within Fergus and up to 3 km past its boundary, so a school just over the line is still here.
- The kinds of school. Schools are grouped by what they teach: elementary, secondary, every grade, and the alternative, adult and online programs.
- What isn’t here. What no open list gives: inspection grades, several years of enrolment, and Ontario’s private schools.
- Bands, not ranks. A school with no reported result has no band; one with several averages its fifths.
- The year. The provincial list for 2024-25.
- Boards and systems. English and French, public and Catholic: the board decides the system, and the address decides the school.
Questions about schools in Fergus
How many schools are there in Fergus?
11 are inside the town itself and 2 lie within 3 km of its edge.
Is there a French-language school in Fergus?
No, none within 3 km of Fergus; ask the French-language board for the nearest.
How do I get a place at a school in Fergus?
The board’s school locator gives the designated school; registration is with the board or the school.
Which boards run the schools in Fergus?
Upper Grand DSB (11) and Wellington CDSB (2), with each one’s schools in brackets.
Sources: Ontario Ministry of Education, School Information Finder 2024–25 and school contact list (Open Government Licence – Ontario) · 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).