St. Ann’s Academy tops school rankings list for Kamloops

Jun 19, 2018 | 12:08 PM

KAMLOOPS — Once again, private schools lead the way in the Fraser Institute’s annual rankings of secondary schools in B.C.

In Kamloops, that means another strong showing for St. Ann’s Academy, which ranked 24th out of 253 schools with a score of 8 out of 10 (the average score province-wide was 6).

In fact, 19 of the top 20 schools were private schools. 

The rankings are based on seven academic indicators using student results from province-wide exams, grade-to-grade transition rates and graduation rates.

South Kamloops Secondary School was one of B.C.’s 10 fastest-improving secondary schools in B.C. with a score of 7. It ranked 65th with Valleyview right behind at 77.

The remaining four schools were Kamloops School of the Arts (155), NorKam (219), Sa-Hali Secondary (232) and Westsyde (233).

“I think the best way to describe Kamloops district schools is there’s room for improvement,” says Peter Cowley director of school performance studies. 

He says that means there were strong performances from St. Ann’s Academy, and great improvements from South Kamloops Secondary and Valleyview Secondary (which achieved a score of 6.8, up from 6 last year).

On the other hand, Cowley says other schools have shown declines, the most drastic of which was at Sa-Hali Secondary which dropped from 196th place to 232nd.

“This Report Card proves that improvement is possible in every corner of the province, in every type of school serving every type of student,” Cowley added.

CFJC Today reached out to the Kamloops Thompson Teachers’ Association and the Kamloops/Thompson School District for reaction to this story but have yet to hear back.

You can view the full rankings by clicking here.