St. Francis ranked 47th in Fraser Institute survey of Ontario schools

THUNDER BAY -- St. Francis School is among the top 50 in the province, according to the latest rankings of elementary schools by the Fraser Institute.

The conservative think tank gave the Redwood Avenue school a 9.1 out of 10, placing it 47^th province-wide out of 2,900 schools surveyed, in a report released on Sunday morning.

It was the only Thunder Bay school to place inside the top 400.

Corpus Christi and St. Ann schools, both of whom are under the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board banner, tied for second locally at 7.7, good for 406^th in Ontario.

Holy Cross and St. Paul schools were tied for 460^th with 7.6 scores, while St. Margaret tied for 519^th at 7.5.

Ogden Community Public School was the top Lakehead Public Schools facility to crack the list, coming in at No. 639 after achieving a 7.3 score, seventh-best in the city.

St. Bernard, St. Thomas Aquinas and Holy Cross schools rounded out the top 10, the first two tied with Odgen Community Public School at 7.3, the latter checking in with a 7.2.

The controversial rankings are based on nine academic indicators from Ontario-wide testing conducted in reading, writing and mathematics.

The report shows an improvement across the board in math both the Grade 3 and Grade 6 levels at St. Francis School, as well writing. Reading improved in Grade 6, compared to 2014, and remained the same at the Grade 3 level.

McKellar Park, at the other end of the spectrum, was ranked among Ontario’s worst, scoring just a 1.1/10, leaving it in 2,860^th spot.

The complete local rankings follow (rating/Ontario ranking):

1. St. Francis Elementary School (9.1/10, 47)
2. Corpus Christi Elementary School (7.7/406)
3. St. Ann Elementary School (7.7/406)
4. Holy Family Elementary School (7.6/460)
5. St. Paul School (7.6/460)
6. St. Margaret Elementary School (7.5/519)
7. Odgen Community School (7.3/639)
8. St. Bernard Elementary School (7.3/639)
9. St. Thomas Aquinas School (7.4/639)
10. Holy Cross School (7.2/713)
11. Woodcrest Public School (6.7/1,056)
12. C.D. Howe Public School (6.6/1,123)
13. St. Elizabeth School (6.5/1,202)
14. St. Martin School (6.5/1,202)
15. St. Pius X School (6.4/1,283)
16. Vance Chapman Public School (6.3/1,355)
17. Agnew H. Johnston Public School (6.1/1,517)
18. Nor’Wester View (6.0/1,578)
19. St. Jude School (6.0/1,578)
20. St. Vincent School (5.9/1,647)
21. Westmount Public School (5.9/1,647)
22. Gorham and Ware Public School (5.8/1,719)
23. Ecole Gron Morgan (5.6/1,818)
24. Ecole Franco Superieur (5.4/1,935)
25. Algonquin Avenue Public School (4.9/2,212)
26. Our Lady of Charity School (4.5/2,360)
27. Five Mile Public School (4.3/2.430)
28. Claude E. Garton Public School (4.2/2,465)
29. Sherbrooke Public School (4.2/2,465)
30. Edgewater Park Public School (4.1/2,502)
31. Valley Central Public School (3.7/2,610)
32. St. James Public School (2.8/2,757)
33. McKellar Park Central Public School (1.1/2,860)