The Fraser Institute think tank has declared Parkview Elementary in Sicamous as the fastest-improving elementary school in the province in their annual elementary school report card.
The school’s principal Carla Schneider said while she doesn’t believe it is appropriate to rank schools, she is very pleased with the success Parkview students are experiencing.
“We’re certainly on a five-year trajectory where we have improved in reading, writing and numeracy,” Schneider said.
The Fraser Institute derived their 2018 report card which ranked 946 B.C. Elementary Schools from 10 academic indicators based on the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) tests which are given to Grade 4 and 7 students.
Schneider said FSA test scores are just one measurement of student achievement, but Parkview is on a five-year improvement trend for both their Grade 4 and Grade 7 students’ test scores.
Schneider said Parkview Elementary has received lots of support from the school district in the form of programs that have helped students with the core skills of reading and mathematics.
Related: Alternative to closure considered for Parkview Elementary
Parkview’s literacy intervention teacher Janelle Danyluk works with Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students who are not yet at reading level.
“She’s phenomenal,” Schneider said.
Literacy help is also provided by a group of volunteers who give one-on-one reading assistance to Grade 2 students.
Schneider also praised the work of Heather Milton, the school’s part-time numeracy support teacher. According to Schneider, this is the fifth year Parkview has had a numeracy support teacher who both co-teaches math lessons with other teachers and works with students in small groups. She said students are doing very well at math problem solving, but more work will be done on basic multiplication, addition, subtraction and division facts.
Along with the programs that help with students’ academic growth, Schneider said Parkview is working on an initiative to help students self-regulate their behaviour. The school’s staff have adopted a standard set of terms to help students understand and regulate their emotions, allowing them to focus on learning.
“We really want to educate the whole body and mind of the student,” Schneider said.
Elsewhere in the Shuswap, King’s Christian School in Salmon Arm is the highest-rated school in the Shuswap. According to the school report card, Bastion Elementary is the top-ranked public school in the North Okanagan-Shuswap school district area. Salmon Arm West was rated the lowest of the district-area schools.