Elementary and Secondary Overview

District school boards administer publicly funded elementary and secondary schools. Working within the framework of Alberta’s Education Act and its regulations, district school boards adapt provincial education policy to local situations. Trustees, as elected members of the board, represent the local community and provide a link between electors and the education system.

Alberta Learning governs both the Public School Board and the Separate (Catholic) School Board, which are run as separate entities.

Children aged 6 to 16 must attend school. Most opt to remain in school to earn their grade 12 diploma. The high school program is based on the credit system; students earn 1 credit for every 25 hours of instruction. To graduate with a diploma, each student must have 100 credits in Compulsory and Optional courses. Most courses are worth between 3 and 5 credits. To broaden their high school program, students are required to have 10 credits from either Career and Technical studies, Physical Education, Fine Arts, or a second language. Also, they are required to have 10 credits from more in-depth studies (i.e., English, Biology, Physics, etc.).

Alberta is a part of the Western Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Basic Education Kindergarten to Grade 12. This is a project that involves The Northwest Territories, Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Nunavut. They are working on developing common curriculum formats for math, computer guided learning, languages, and cultures.

The Fraser Institute

Website: http://alberta.compareschoolrankings.org

 The Fraser Institute’s ratings and rankings of Alberta schools including Public, Catholic and Independent schools help parents see how the schools in their city or town are doing academically. The Fraser Report is updated annually. Some schools may not be in the report as to different circumstances including being a new school and not having enough information.

Cold Lake Public School Board

Northern Lights School Division No. 69 is a public school division with 29 schools and three division offices located in north-eastern Alberta. It serves almost 5,800 students with diverse program options and a focus on literacy, fine arts, second languages and career preparation.

Schools are located in the City of Cold Lake, Town of Bonnyville, villages of Glendon and Plamondon, Kikino Metis Settlement and the hamlets of Lac La Biche, Caslan, Ardmore, Iron River and Wandering River. 

Registration - New to the Community

If you are new to Northern Lights Public Schools (no other children currently enrolled in one of their schools), please register using School Engage.

High School Students that are new to Northern Lights Public Schools should register online but must also make arrangements to meet with the school's guidance counsellor or principal to do their course selection and complete the registration process.

You will need to provide citizenship documentation as part of the process (birth certificate, passport, citizenship papers), so please have a photo or scan of your documents ready to upload to your online registration. 

Contact Information

Northern Lights School District No.69

Centre for Education

6005 – 50th Avenue 

Website: www.nlsd.ab.ca

Bonnyville, AB T9N2L4 

Phone: 780-826-3145/1-888-826-3145

Lakeland Catholic Schools

Lakeland Catholic School Board offers you the choice of a fully funded Catholic education. Lakeland Catholic School has been providing Catholic education to the area for over 30 years. They currently operate 7 schools with approximately 7000 students. 

 Lakeland Catholic received the prestigious Premier’s Award for Excellence and Innovation for their Moral intelligence/Anti-Bullying Program. 

New to the Community

Registration can be done at your local school or online: Registration. A copy of the birth certificate, baptismal certificate, and/or other official documents should be supplied by new registrants for the confirmation of names, birthdates, resident status, etc.

Assessment and Education Taxes

Taxes declared in support of the Catholic Separate School District in your municipality benefit your children. To ensure your property taxes are supporting your Catholic separate school, you must declare your school support as “separate” on your annual property assessment notice and tax bill. If a declaration of school support is not filed by a property owner, the property assessment and tax bills show the school support going to the public school district.

Contact Information

Lakeland Catholic School District #150

Central Office

4810 – 46th Street 

Website 

Bonnyville, AB 

Phone: 780-826-3764

Private Schools in Alberta

Private schools also provide elementary and secondary education. There are 2 types of private schools in Alberta; Registered and Accredited. Accredited schools that are operated by a non-profit society or corporation may receive government funding. These schools must employ certified teachers and follow the curriculum laid out by Alberta Learning. Also, students attending accredited schools are able to earn credits towards their grade 12 provincial graduation diploma.

Registered schools are not funded by the province and are not required to follow the same regulations as accredited schools. Students attending registered schools are not able to earn credits towards their grade 12 provincial graduation diploma.

All private schools are evaluated regularly by the Education Minister and must meet all provincial health, safety and building standards.

Independent/Private Schools in Cold Lake

Ecole Voyageur (Grades K-12)

4719- 69^th Avenue 

Website

Cold Lake, AB 

Phone: 780-594-0444

 Voyageur School is a French school. Their goal is to promote linguistic, cultural and religious heritage of the French language. Grade levels are offered from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12. 

Association of Independent Schools and Colleges in Alberta

Website: www.aisca.ab.ca/

 

This association maintains a list of independent schools, early childhood service operators, and adult education schools in the Province of Alberta that are members of AISCA.