THUNDER BAY - The overall ratings of public schools with the Lakehead Board are on the rise, while the majority of Catholic schools have slipped in the rankings.
The Fraser Institute released its annual report card on elementary schools in Ontario for the 2017/2018 academic year.
More than 3,000 schools across the province are ranked based on academic performance in province-wide testing of Grade 3 and 6 students on math, reading, and writing skills.
Of the 21 Lakehead Public Schools, 12 saw an increase in a rating out of 10, with 14 schools sitting above a 5.0 rating and seven below.
The highest ranked school in the Public Board was McKellar Park School, which was ranked 446 out of 3,046 schools and had a rating of 7.7 out of 10, up from 6.5 in 2017.
The second highest-ranking school was Ogden Community Public School, which sits at 495 in the province and has a rating of 7.6, up from 6.3. Agnew H. Johnston Public School was ranked 796 in the province and was rated 7.1, up from 6.2 the previous year.
Sitting at the bottom of the rankings in 2018 is St. James Public School, which is listed at 2,904 in Ontario and rated a 2.8. Whitefish Valley Public School and Algonquin Avenue Public School were tied for the second lowest with a rank of 2,886 and a rating of 2.9.
The public school that saw the sharpest decline was Crestview Public School, which fell from a rating of 8.1 in 2017 to 5.8 in 2018.
The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board has 11 of 15 schools rated above 5.0, however, 12 out of 15 schools saw ratings fall this year.
The highest ranked school was St. Paul School, ranked at 388 out of 3,046 schools in Ontario and rated 7.8, up from 4.1 in 2017. The second-highest ranked school was St. Ann School, which was ranked at 559 and rated a 7.5, a slight increase from 7.2 the previous year, while Holy Cross School was ranked 740 and rated a 7.2, down from 7.6.
At the bottom of the list, St. Jude School was the lowest ranked in the Catholic Board, sitting at 2,594 and a rating of 4.2, while St. Vincent School was rated a 4.3 and is ranked 2,560 in the province, and St. Elizabeth School was ranked 2,400 and rated 4.7.
“The Report Card is a valuable tool for parents and educators because it allows them to easily identify successful schools across the province—serving similar students and communities—that can serve as an example to follow,” said Peter Cowley, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute’s School Performance Studies in a release issued on Sunday.
“All too often, principals and teachers try to excuse a school’s poor overall performance by blaming the characteristics of its students or the communities they serve, but the Report Card shows that any school, no matter where it’s located or what challenges its students face, can succeed.”
A complete list of local schools is included below. The number in parentheses represents the school’s provincial rank, while the number beside is the school’s rating out of 10.
- St. Paul (388) 7.8
- McKellar Park Central (446) 7.7
- Ogden Community (495) 7.6
- St. Ann (559) 7.5
- Holy Cross (740) 7.2
- Agnew H. Johnston (796) 7.1
- Valley Central (1,024) 6.8
- Edgewater Park (1,096) 6.7
- Nor’wester View (1,096) 6.7
- Corpus Christi (1,246) 6.5
- Woodcrest (1,246) 6.5
- Ecole Gron Morgan (1,322) 6.4
- St. Francis (1,470) 6.2
- Holy Family (1,470) 6.2
- C.D. Howe (1,616) 6.0
- Gorham and Ware (1,616) 6.0
- St. Pius X (1,686) 5.9
- St. Bernard (1,769) 5.8
- St. Thomas Aquinas (1,769) 5.8
- Vance Chapman (1,769) 5.8
- Crestview (1,769) 5.8
- St. Martin (1,921) 5.6
- St. Margaret (2,052) 5.4
- Five Mile (2,157) 5.2
- Franco Superieur (2,157) 5.2
- Our Lady of Charity (2,400) 4.7
- St. Elizabeth (2,400) 4.7
- Kakabeka Falls District (2,491) 4.5
- Claude E. Garton (2,560) 4.3
- St. Vincent (2,560) 4.3
- St. Jude (2,594) 4.2
- Kingsway Park (2,788) 3.5
- Sherbrooke (2,788) 3.5
- Whitefish Valley (2,866) 2.9
- Algonquin Avenue (2,866) 2.9
- St. James (2,904) 2.8
