The Pembina Hills School Division, (formerly known as Pembina Hills Regional Division No. 7 and Pembina Hills Public Schools) is a

school division {{Use mdy dates, date=July 2023 A school division is a geographic division over which a school board has jurisdiction. Canada In Canada the term is used for the area controlled by a school board and is used interchangeably with school district, i ...

headquartered in

Barrhead Barrhead (, ) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when a series of small textile-produ ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. The division, with 16 schools having a total of about 3,700 students as of 2021, provides

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

to the following

central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordered ...

communities: the towns of Barrhead,

Swan Hills Swan Hills is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is in the eponymous Swan Hills (Alberta), Swan Hills, approximately north of Whitecourt and northwest of Fort Assiniboine. The town is at the junction of Alberta Highway 32, Highway 32 and Alb ...

, and

Westlock Westlock is a town in central Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1913, the town is primarily an agricultural, business, and government administration centre serving communities and rural areas within surrounding Westlock County. Geography Westlock ...

, and the Village of Clyde, as well as the counties of

, and

Woodlands County Woodlands County is a municipal district in north-central Alberta, Canada. Located in Census Division No. 13, its municipal office is located outside but adjacent to the Town of Whitecourt. A second municipal office is located in the Hamle ...

. Sections of

Big Lakes County Big Lakes County, formerly the Municipal District of Big Lakes, is a List of municipal districts in Alberta, municipal district in north-central Alberta, Canada. It is located in Division No. 17, Alberta, Census Division 17, around the Lesser ...

and

Municipal District of Lesser Slave River No. 124 The Municipal District of Lesser Slave River No. 124 is a List of municipal districts in Alberta, municipal district (MD) in north-central Alberta, Canada. Its List of municipal districts in Alberta#Office locations, municipal office is located ...

to the southeast and south are also in this school district.

History

The division was created on January 1, 1995 from the County of Barrhead No. 11 school district, Swan Hills School District No. 5109, and Westlock School Division No. 37, which combined into a single school district. It was established during a wave of

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

amalgamations in Alberta, during the Progressive Conservative government of

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 2 ...

. Pembina Hills School Division was the result of a voluntary merger of Westlock School Division No. 37, the educational component of the County of Barrhead No. 11 and Swan Hills School District No. 5109. Prior to that union, the Barrhead and Westlock areas had previously been part of a regional school division, Pembina School Division No. 37, which was split in 1947 into the Westlock and Barrhead School Divisions. In 1959, the

Municipal District A municipal district is an administrative entity comprising a clearly-defined territory and its population. It may be a city, a town, a village, a small grouping of them, or a rural area. Brazil In Brazil, municipal districts are, in general, su ...

of Barrhead consolidated with the school district to form a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

. The first school district in Swan Hills (Oil Hills School District No. 5109) was not formed until 1959.

Schools

Two schools are for

Hutterites Hutterites (; ), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16 ...

and two are "outreach" schools. * Barrhead Composite High School,

, Grades 7-12 * Barrhead Outreach, Barrhead, Grades 7-12 * Barrhead Elementary School, Barrhead, Kindergarten-Grade 6 (French Immersion) * Busby School,

Busby Busby may refer to: Clothing *Busby (military headdress), a kind of military headdress, made of fur, derived from that traditionally worn by Hussars. Places * Busby, Alberta, a hamlet in Canada *Busby, East Renfrewshire, a village in Scotland * ...

, Kindergarten-Grade 6 * Pembina North Community School,

Dapp A decentralised application (DApp, dApp, Dapp, or dapp) is an application that can operate autonomously, typically through the use of smart contracts, that run on a decentralized computing, blockchain or other distributed ledger system. Like tra ...

, Kindergarten-Grade 9 *

Dunstable School Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fou ...

, rural County of Barrhead near Busby, Kindergarten-Grade 6 * Eleanor Hall School, Clyde, Kindergarten-Grade 9 *

Fort Assiniboine School A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

Fort Assiniboine Fort Assiniboine is a hamlet in northwest Alberta, Canada, within Woodlands County. It is located along the north shore of the Athabasca River at the junction of Highway 33 and Highway 661. It is approximately northwest of Barrhead, sou ...

Kindergarten-Grade 9 * Pibroch Colony School, Pibroch

Hutterite Colony Hutterites (; ), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century and have formed intent ...

near

Grades 1-9 *

Neerlandia Public Christian School Neerlandia is a hamlet in central Alberta, Canada within the County of Barrhead No. 11. Neerlandia is situated at the intersection of Highway 769 and Township Road 615A between Mellowdale and Vega, approximately 20 kilometers north of Barrhead ...

, Neerlandia, Kindergarten-Grade 9 * R.F. Staples Secondary School, Westlock, AB, Grades 7-12 * Sunny Bend Colony School, Sunny Bend

near Westlock, Grades 1-9 *

Swan Hills School Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

, Kindergarten-Grade 12 * Vista Virtual School,

Virtual School An online school (virtual school, e-school, or cyber-school) teaches students entirely or primarily online and offline, online or through the Internet. Online education exists all around the world and is used for all levels of education (K–12 ...

(office in Calgary), Grades 1-12
Westlock Elementary School
Westlock, Kindergarten-Grade 6 (French Immersion) * Westlock Outreach, Westlock, Grades 10-12

References

External links

Pembina Hills Public Schools
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pembina_Hills_School_Division School districts in Alberta Barrhead, Alberta Westlock County 1995 establishments in Alberta Educational institutions established in 1995