Independent elementary schools in British Columbia continue to outperform the province’s public schools. The Report Card on British Columbia’s Elementary Schools, 2018 ranks 946 public and independent elementary schools based on 10 academic indicators derived from the province-wide Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) results.

“The report card provides parents with information they can’t easily get anywhere else about how their child’s school is performing over time and compared to other schools across the province,” said Peter Cowley, director of school performance studies at the Fraser Institute.

Of those 22 public schools ranked in the top 102 spots, nine are located in West Vancouver including the top-ranked Cedardale and West Bay Elementary. Other schools in the top 10 elementary schools include Crofton House, Vancouver College, West Point Grey and York House of Vancouver, Southridge of Surrey, and Holy Cross and Our Lady of Mercy in Burnaby. Some other secondary schools in the top 10 include Little Flower and St. George’s in Vancouver, Relevant in Surrey, Collingwood in West Vancouver, Southpointe in Delta and Timothy Christian in Chilliwack.

Contrary to common misconceptions, according to previous research, families with children enrolled in most independent schools in B.C. have an average (after tax) income only 1.9 per cent higher than parents with children in public schools.

“Simply put, differences in parental income do not appear to explain the differences in the overall ratings of independent and public schools,” Cowley said.

The report card also spotlights schools that are improving or falling behind.

This year, 16 of the 20 fastest-improving schools are public schools. Parkview Elementary in Sicamous—the fastest-improving school province-wide—has improved its overall rating from 2.8 to 6.6 between 2013 and 2017. Woodland Park Elementary in Surrey improved its overall rating from 5.2 to 7.0 over the same four-year period.

“All too often we hear excuses that public schools can’t improve student performance because of the communities and the students they serve, but the evidence suggests otherwise,” Cowley said.

For the complete results on all ranked schools, please visit www.compareschoolrankings.org.