Local Schools Ranked With Rest in BC

Mar 14, 2019 | 1:05 PM

Two private schools are tops in Vernon, while Armstrong Elementary has moved up 300 spots, according to the annual elementary school rankings by the Fraser Institute.

Click here for the complete list.

The Institute bases its survey on 10 academic indicators from the province wide Foundation Skills Assessment results.

“The report card offers parents information they can’t easily get anywhere else, about how their child’s school performs over time and compares to other schools in BC,” says Angela MacLeod, a senior policy analyst at the Fraser Institute.

MacLeod says contrary to common misconceptions, the data suggest every school is capable of improvement regardless of type, location and student characteristics.

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“For example, Armstrong Elementary in the city of Armstrong is the province’s fastest-improving school, climbing from a score of 1.9 (out of 10) in 2014 to 6.1 in 2018. And Armstrong’s Grade 4 students showed significant improvement in reading, writing and math,” says MacLeod.

In the Vernon area, The private St. James Catholic School is 114th out of the 955 schools ranked, and Vernon Christian (private) is 122nd.

Kidston in Coldstream is the top public school at 181, while Lavington is at the bottom of the local schools in 833rd.

Coldstream is 285, Hillview 376, BX 413, Okanagan Landing 541, Harwood 633, Silver Star 675, Mission Hill 726, JW Inglis in Lumby is 771, Alexis Park 789, Ellison 802, and Lavington 833.

Cedardale in West Vancouver is ranked number one in BC.

King’s Christian, a private school in Salmon Arm, leads the North Okanagan Shuswap School District in 237th, while Armstrong Elementary leads public schools in 426th, up from 738th last year.

Critics such as the BC Teachers Federation don’t put much stock into the rankings, saying they favour private schools, and are only based on narrow criteria using the FSA tests.

by Corey Fischer