Dartmouth, Nova Scotia School System

To Search the public schools your child will attend you can enter the address of the property you are considering and find out what schools would be for that address. To do a street address search click here. Address Lookup.

The Halifax/Dartmouth school system has many differences depending on what area you decide to purchase in. There are many similarities also.
One important factor about our school system is the date of eligibility for grade primary. A child must turn 5 years old no later than December 31st.
There is no kindergarten. Children begin school at 5 years old in grade primary. They remain in school until they have completed grade 12.
In some provinces in Canada and outside the school systems are divided by religion. There is often a Catholic and a Protestant School Board. This is not the case here. There is one english school board and one Francophone School Board. The majority of children are part of the english school board called the Halifax Regional School Board.
There is french immersion within the english school system from grade 7 to grade 12 in most areas. This is called "Late Immersion". French immersion before grade 7, or "Early Immersion"as it is called, can be found in only a small number of select elementary schools. In order to enroll in "Early Immersion" your child must have attended an Early Immersion program or equivalent prior. A child cannot start Early Immersion part way through. For example if your child was in english in Calgary for grades primary and one he/she cannot begin Early Immersion in grade three.

There are too many Dartmouth elementary and junior high schools to list. Eventually all children end up at one of 4 high schools in the area. Dartmouth High School is located in downtown Dartmouth close to the bridges. Prince Andrew High School is located in the Woodlawn area of Dartmouth. Cole Harbour High School and Auburn High School are located very close to each other in the Forest Hills area of Cole Harbour, on the edge of Dartmouth. In January of 2008 the school board announced plans to eventually close either Cole Harbour High or Auburn High School. The tentative plan was to build a new high school in Eastern Passage which would remove many students from these high schools. It is believed that only one high school would be required if a new high school was built in Eastern Passage. This decision is not final as of yet and a set date as of January 2009, was not established.

Dartmouth has two totally french schools located close to Keystone Village and Montebello Subdivisions. Between the two schools children can attend french school from grade primary to grade 12. These French schools are operated under a seperate school board from the english schools. For more information on the French schools go to our Francophone schools page.

Below is a summary of the schools that children enrolled in English would attend for major subdivisions. ( Note: French Immersion students may go to a different school. Some of the subdivisions cover large amounts of land so there are exceptions to the schools listed. This is meant to be a general guide only)

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