Edmonton Catholic School Division


Edmonton Catholic Separate School Division No. 7 or the Edmonton Catholic School Division is the Catholic school board in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Size

The Edmonton Catholic School Division currently operates 96 schools. There are a total of 1 pre-K school, 49 elementary schools, 21 elementary/junior high schools, 2 elementary/junior/senior high schools, 12 junior high schools, 1 junior/senior high school, 9 senior high schools, and 1 senior high asynchronous online learning program.
As of the 2021–22 school year, ECSD has 43,400 students enrolled, with 4,300 staff, of which roughly 62% are certificated and 38% are classified support. The ECSD approved budget for 2021-22 is C$513.2 million.

History

In August 1888, Edmonton Catholic parents applied to organize a separate school district for their children. In October of that same year three sisters from the Faithful Companions of Jesus sailed from France to open a convent and a school in Edmonton. They began teaching at the newly formed St. Joachim Catholic School on 2 November 1888. That first year the sisters taught 23 students. At that time compulsory schooling began at age seven and was complete by the age of 12. From that start in 1888–89, they have grown from one school with 23 students to 96 schools with more than 43,000 students in 2021–22.
For many years the election of the trustees was at-large with half of them elected each year through Plurality block voting. All of the seats became up for election in each election after 1963.

Programs

Early learning

Edmonton Catholic Schools offers a pre-kindergarten program for children aged to called the 100 Voices program which is available at a number of different schools in the district.

Language

The Edmonton Catholic School District offers a number of language programs.

Immersion and bilingual programs

  • French immersion
  • Ukrainian bilingual
  • Spanish bilingual
  • Polish bilingual

    Language and culture programs

  • Filipino
  • Italian
  • Spanish
  • Ukrainian
  • Nehiyaw Pimatisiwin Cree

    Schools

As of the 2021–22 school year, ECSD has 96 schools under its jurisdiction.

In detail