Edmonton Catholic School Division

Edmonton Catholic Separate School Division No. 7 or the Edmonton Catholic School Division (ECSD) 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 (not counting the Kisiko Awasis Kiskinhamawin in Mountain Cree Camp as the school is managed outside the ECSD main budget), 12 junior high schools, 1 junior/senior high school, 9 senior high schools (counting a 4-campus school as 1), and 1 senior high asynchronous online learning program (standalone, rather than logged in to follow along with a teacher lecturing a class in one of the physical schools).

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.

Early learning
Edmonton Catholic Schools offers a pre-kindergarten program for children aged $3 1⁄2$ to $4 1⁄2$ 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.