Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Most schools around Walkerton score below the middle in Ontario: 7 of 11
Best placed: Dawnview Public School and Holy Family Separate School. None of them teaches in French, though 10% of schools in Ontario do. Taken together, Walkerton and its 3 km edge hold 9 elementary schools, 3 secondary schools and 1 alternative or adult school for 4,305 students.
How Walkerton’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 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 | Ontario |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 reading | 8 | 68% | 76% |
| Grade 3 writing | 8 | 60% | 65% |
| Grade 3 math | 8 | 56% | 65% |
| Grade 6 reading | 7 | 79% | 88% |
| Grade 6 writing | 7 | 80% | 86% |
| Grade 6 math | 7 | 36% | 51% |
| Grade 9 math | 3 | 54% | 55% |
| Literacy test (OSSLT), first try | 3 | 79% | 85% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is Grade 6 math: 36% here, against 51% in Ontario. On 0 of 8 measures the area beats the provincial middle; on 7 it trails. At 6 schools more of the measures rose than fell over three years; at 4, more fell.
Every school’s results (11)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Dawnview Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–6 | G3 reading 92% · G3 writing 67% · G3 math 83% · G6 reading 96% · G6 writing 96% · G6 math 28% | Second fifth |
| Holy Family Separate SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 87% · G3 writing 70% · G3 math 70% · G6 reading 100% · G6 writing 82% · G6 math 44% | Second fifth |
| Sacred Heart High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | G9 math 54% · OSSLT 89% | Middle fifth |
| St Teresa of Calcutta Catholic SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 82% · G3 writing 79% · G3 math 69% · G6 reading 80% · G6 writing 90% · G6 math 23% | Middle fifth |
| John Diefenbaker Senior SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | G9 math 54% · OSSLT 79% | Fourth fifth |
| Paisley Central SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 71% · G3 writing 59% · G3 math 53% · G6 reading 53% · G6 writing 80% · G6 math 53% | Fourth fifth |
| Chesley District Community SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 58% · G3 writing 54% · G3 math 58% · G6 reading 79% · G6 writing 76% · G6 math 41% | Fourth fifth |
| Hanover Heights Community SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 65% · G3 writing 60% · G3 math 54% · G6 reading 68% · G6 writing 70% · G6 math 36% | Fourth fifth |
| Mary Immaculate Community SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 50% · G3 writing 33% · G3 math 42% · G6 reading not reported · G6 writing not reported · G6 math not reported | Bottom fifth |
| Walkerton District Community SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | G9 math 35% · OSSLT 73% | Bottom fifth |
| Walkerton District Community SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 33% · G3 writing 24% · G3 math 26% · G6 reading 71% · G6 writing 74% · G6 math 12% | Bottom fifth |
Ontario Ministry of Education, School Information Finder 2024–25 (EQAO results; N/R where groups are too small). Open Government Licence – Ontario.
Schooling in English and French around Walkerton
English, French and other languages of instruction, beside the mix in Ontario.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in Ontario.
Not one 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.
Where the 13 schools in and around Walkerton are
Each pin is a school, coloured by the system that runs it, sized by its students where the province publishes them.
Points from the provincial lists.
Who runs Walkerton’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
Grouped by system: English public 9 and English Catholic 4.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
2 boards, school by school
The boards and their schools here.
The biggest of the 2 is Bluewater DSB: 9 schools.
| Board | System | Schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluewater DSBJohn Diefenbaker Senior, Walkerton District, Walkerton District, Hanover Heights, Chesley District, Dawnview, Paisley Central, John Diefenbaker Senior … | English public | 9 | 2,695 |
| Bruce-Grey CDSBSacred Heart, St Teresa of Calcutta, Holy Family Separate, Mary Immaculate | English Catholic | 4 | 1,610 |
Boards as Ontario’s list names them (its short forms: DSB, CDSB, CS).
How children get a place in Walkerton
The neighbourhood school
Where a family lives sets the school: each board draws a catchment around every one of its schools, and a child living inside it has a place there. Other schools take children from outside when they have room.
Catholic schools
Ontario funds the Catholic system in full; its high schools are open to all, its elementary schools mostly to Catholic families.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 13 schools in and around Walkerton
High schools within reach of Walkerton
The high schools a family here could reach, within 15 km.
Within 15 km, families can reach 3 high schools: 2 English public and 1 English Catholic. Sacred Heart High School is closest, at 2.2 km.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacred Heart High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Bruce-Grey CDSB | English Catholic | Middle fifth | 765 | 2.2 km |
| Walkerton District Community SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Bluewater DSB | English public | Bottom fifth | 430 | 3.3 km |
| John Diefenbaker Senior SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Bluewater DSB | English public | Fourth fifth | 625 | 10 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
Alternative, adult and other schools around Walkerton
Beyond the ordinary schools: alternative programs at Bluewater Alternative Education School. Their cards ↑
The kinds as the provincial lists give them (alternative, adult and continuing education, online, provincial schools).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willowdale West | 17,210 | 53 | 25,060 | 2 | 1.3 km |
| … | |||||
| East London | 10,972 | 56 | 23,005 | 4 | 0.7 km |
| Hintonburg-Mechanicsville | 10,966 | 47 | 15,445 | 14 | 1.5 km |
| Wendover | 10,896 | 11 | 1,255 | 11 | 1.6 km |
| Bendale South | 10,885 | 64 | 26,345 | 3 | 0.8 km |
| Walkerton | 10,811 | 13 | 4,305 | 0 | 2.3 km |
| Westminster | 10,794 | 34 | 15,145 | 2 | 0.6 km |
| Exeter | 10,781 | 8 | 2,015 | 0 | 3.8 km |
| Alexandria | 10,772 | 11 | 1,325 | 6 | 4 km |
| Shelburne | 10,767 | 4 | 2,260 | 0 | 0.5 km |
| … | |||||
| Tweed | 6,504 | 2 | 515 | 0 | 15 km |
Set against 379 others, 287 have more schools in reach. 274 of the 380 have a French-language school.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Walkerton
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
No neighbour of the 2 counts more schools.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Bands, not ranks. Fifths are worked out among every Ontario school with a result on that measure, then averaged per school.
- What isn’t here. Inspection reports with ratings don’t exist here, and the lists give enrolment for one year at most.
- 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.
- The year. Schools as listed for 2024-25.
- The kinds of school. Elementary and secondary come from the grades each school offers; a school offering both counts as all-grade.
- Which schools count. A school counts when it sits inside Walkerton or less than 3 km beyond its edge.
Questions about schools in Walkerton
Is there a French-language school in Walkerton?
Not in or within 3 km of Walkerton; the French-language board can name the nearest.
How many schools are there in Walkerton?
5 are inside the town itself and 8 lie within 3 km of its edge.
Which boards run the schools in Walkerton?
By number of schools: Bluewater DSB (9) and Bruce-Grey CDSB (4).
How do I get a place at a school in Walkerton?
The board’s school locator gives the designated school; registration is with the board or the school.
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).