Independent schools in the Lower Mainland have come out on top in newly released rankings of British Columbia’s secondary schools. 

The Fraser Institute’s Report Card on BC’s Secondary Schools 2020 ranked 252 of the province’s public and independent secondary schools based on academic indicators.

It used student results from annual provincewide exams, grade-to-grade transition rates and graduation rates.

Of the top 25 schools, 21 are independent. 

But 21 public schools appear in the top 50. 

Photo credit: Fraser InstituteThe top 20 schools.The majority of the top 50 schools are in either the Lower Mainland or on Vancouver Island.

Among the first schools to appear in the rankings from outside those two areas is Aberdeen Hall, a private school in Kelowna that is ranked 33rd.

Fellow Kelowna school Immaculata, a Catholic institution, is also ranked 33rd.

Another Kelowna school appears a few places further down – Okanagan Mission Secondary, a public school, which comes in 45th.

Photo credit: File

Grand Forks Secondary, meanwhile, comes in at 25th.

“Parents should use this Report Card every year to see how their child’s school is doing, and if necessary, ask the principal how he or she plans to turn things around,” said Peter Cowley, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.

He added: “We often hear that some schools are doomed to perform poorly because of the communities and students they serve, but that’s just not true — every school can improve and rank higher than the year before.”

For the complete rankings, visit compareschoolrankings.org.