Schools in Oakville: High Schools and Elementary Schools

Oakville is in Halton Region. Its English schools are run by the Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board, which also serve Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills.

North Oakville, above Dundas Street, is still filling in. New schools open there every few years, and boundaries move when they do. A new neighbourhood can open before its own school is ready, so some students attend a "holding school" further away for a while. South of the QEW, in areas like Old Oakville and Bronte, schools are older and boundaries change less often.

In Oakville, your home address decides your local school. Each board draws its own boundary, sometimes called a catchment area, around every school. The school closest to you is not always the one you are zoned for.

An address usually has four local schools: an English public one, an English Catholic one, and one from each of the two French-language boards. Each board’s school finder, linked above, tells you which school serves an address.

Boundaries are not fixed. Boards review them when a new school opens, when a school gets too full, or when one closes. A boundary can also cover grades differently. Your child might go to one school for kindergarten to grade 5 and another for grades 6 to 8.

Catholic schools. Catholic elementary schools usually ask for proof that the child or a parent is Catholic. Catholic high schools in Ontario are open to all students. Each Catholic board lists its own rules on its registration page.

French immersion. French immersion is a program inside the English boards, not a separate school system. Only some schools offer it, so the immersion school for an address is often different from the English one. Each board sets its own starting grade and application dates. Check the board’s French immersion page early, because the sign-up window can close months before school starts.

French-language schools. Viamonde and MonAvenir teach fully in French. They are mainly for children with a parent who has French-language education rights, but both boards also have an admissions process for other families.

• Check the exact address. Put the unit’s address into the board’s school finder. Don’t rely on the listing or on distance alone.
• Ask about space. Being inside a boundary usually gets you a spot, but a full school can send new students elsewhere for a time. Call the school or board if timing matters.
• Check the route. A school 800 metres away can still be a long walk if a highway or rail line sits in between. Busing is decided by Halton Student Transportation Services, based on distance and grade.
• Think about resale. Buyers with children often search by school. A condo inside a well-known boundary can draw more interest when you sell, but prices depend on much more than schools.
• Set your school support. When you buy, you can tell MPAC which school system your property taxes support. It does not change how much tax you pay.