Schools in Campbellford & Trent Hills: A Parent's Guide

When Keith and Lisa, local brokers with Willows Realty Group, show homes to families moving to Campbellford, the school question comes up in the first fifteen minutes. In a town this size, the school your children attend is woven into daily life, from walking routes to the friendships made at the park after school. This guide names the streets and boards so you can check your own address before you book a showing.

What Are the Schools in Campbellford?

There are four schools in Campbellford itself, plus two public elementary schools in neighbouring Hastings and Warkworth. The English public schools belong to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, which covers a huge area of eastern Ontario, while St. Mary's Catholic School reports to the separate Catholic board. Because the board assigns students by catchment area, the exact school your address feeds into depends on which street you buy on. That is why the advice is always: name your street, then look up the school.

Kent Public School

Kent Public School at 150 Kent Street is one of Campbellford's two public elementary schools, covering kindergarten through Grade 8 under the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. It sits close to the north-end homes families are buying, which is why its name comes up constantly when buyers ask about feeder schools in Campbellford.

Hillcrest Public School

Hillcrest Public School at 55 Elmore Street is the town's other public elementary school, also kindergarten through Grade 8 under the same board. Its calling card is the Extended French program for Grades 5 to 8, which keeps a French option inside Campbellford. Families who want French literacy without full immersion find Hillcrest's program a comfortable middle ground, and it is the school feature we get asked about most.

Campbellford District High School

Campbellford District High School at 45 Bridge Street North serves Grades 9 to 12 and is the only secondary school in town, so students from across Campbellford, Hastings, and Warkworth come together here. The Ontario Ministry of Education's profile lists its programs and contact details, and it is worth reading before you decide. Being the community's one high school, it draws its spirit from the whole municipality, and students can walk to Bridge Street after class.

St. Mary's Catholic School

St. Mary's Catholic School at 35 Centre Street is Campbellford's Catholic elementary option under the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board. It is common for neighbours on the same street to split between Kent or Hillcrest on one side and St. Mary's on the other. One note for planning ahead: there is no Catholic secondary school in Campbellford itself, so families who want the Catholic system through high school often commute to a board school in a neighbouring community, or switch to the public high school at Grade 9.

Schools in Hastings and Warkworth

Trent Hills is a municipality of three towns, and the other two have strong public elementary schools of their own. Hastings Public School at 25 Albert Street West serves kindergarten through Grade 8 in Hastings, and Percy Centennial Public School at 129 Church Street does the same for Warkworth, both under the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. High school students from both towns bus into Campbellford District High School, so the town's secondary school genuinely serves the whole municipality. For buyers comparing the three towns, this is the geography that matters most: an elementary school close to home in every community, and one shared high school a short bus ride away.

What's Within Walking Distance of 155 Cromwell St.?

The home we are listing at 155 Cromwell St. sits within walking distance of the hospital, the schools, and downtown Campbellford, while still feeling like a quiet residential street. In practical terms, a family can walk kids to school and be home before work starts, or an older child can walk the same route independently. Campbellford scores about 63 out of 100 on Walk Score, the "Somewhat Walkable" range, and the streets around Cromwell and Kent show that best. If you want the street-by-street detail, our Cromwell Street buyer's guide walks the whole route.

How the School Day Works in Trent Hills

The school run in Trent Hills is gentle by city standards. Most families walk or make a short drive, and school buses cover the students who live farther out, especially the routes from Hastings and Warkworth into Campbellford District High School. For working parents, the rhythm matters too: Campbellford sits about 30 minutes from Highway 401 at Brighton and roughly 45 minutes from Peterborough, Belleville, or Cobourg, which is why so many buyers here are remote workers or commuters.

Because the schools are small relative to city boards, teachers and principals tend to know families by name, and the elementary schools sit right beside the parks and trails families use after hours. On a typical September afternoon, the same kids who sat next to each other in class are together at the playground or the splash pad before dinner. If that connected version of school life sounds right, our guide to whether Campbellford is a good place to raise a family connects the schools to the parks that fill the rest of the day.

Why Families Choose Campbellford for the School Years

The numbers help explain why. According to 2021 federal census data, the Municipality of Trent Hills grew by about 7.4% between 2016 and 2021 to roughly 13,800 residents, growth that shows in school enrolment and local recreation. Trent Hills is quietly growing, and the families arriving are choosing it deliberately, often for the schools, the waterway, and the space to raise kids.

Beyond the classrooms, the town is an official Trent-Severn Trail Town. Ferris Provincial Park, the Ranney Gorge Suspension Bridge, and the locks at Ranney Falls are minutes from town, and downtown Campbellford holds the title of the largest commercial area between Belleville and Peterborough. All of that sits inside the same municipality where the bus route runs, a combination very few communities can offer. For the bigger picture, our guide to what makes Campbellford special is the place to start.

Before You Buy, Ask These School Questions

A short checklist to run on any Campbellford or Trent Hills address you are serious about:

• Which school does this address feed into? Look the street up in the board's find-a-school tool, or ask us, since the catchments decide the walk-to-school question.
• Walk, bus, or drive? Confirm the walking route and whether the bus covers your street before you assume a five-minute drop-off.
• Does the French program matter to you? If yes, Hillcrest's Extended French for Grades 5 to 8 and its catchment rules should be part of the address math.
• What about before and after school? The schools and their partner providers have limited spaces, so families with two working parents check childcare capacity early.

You do not have to figure this out alone. Keith and Lisa live and work this market, and they will pull the school facts for any street you are considering before you book a showing. Start through the contact page, and bring your list of candidate streets.

The Bottom Line on Schools in Campbellford

Campbellford and the wider Trent Hills area give families a complete, walkable school system: two public elementary schools and a Catholic option in town, public elementary schools in Hastings and Warkworth, and one shared high school. The school run is short, the streets are quiet, and the growth numbers show other families making the same choice. If seeing it in person helps, browse the 155 Cromwell St. photo gallery, walk the neighbourhood, and picture the September morning walk to school before you decide.

For more local reading, the full archive lives on our Trent Hills blog, and the Campbellford neighbourhood guide covers the parks, commute times, and community highlights that pair with the schools.