Ontario 2023 school rankings released

One of the main things people look for when choosing a location to live is the quality of education – particularly in regard to public schools in the neighbourhood.

To that end, the Fraser Institute puts out an unbiased school ranking annually based on eight academic indicators derived from provincewide test results.

This ranking and report card on Ontario schools is done for both elementary and secondary public, Catholic, and independent schools. These rankings offer parents information and allows them to compare their school to others across the province.

For secondary schools, there was only one which scored a perfect 10 out of 10: Khalsa Community School in Brampton. Obviously Khalsa was ranked number-1 out of 689 secondary schools with Colonel By from Ottawa following right behind with a 9.5 score.

Only 11 schools out of the 689 received scores of 9 or better. Meanwhile, the median score was 6.

Here is a screen shot of the bottom five schools – all of which received a zero.

In Muskoka, the results were not quite that high. Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes SS led the way with a respectable 6.6 to rank at 273; followed by Huntsville High School followed at 5.8 and 409; Gravenhurst High School at 5.6 and 443; St. Dominic’s at 5.3 and 480; and for comparison, Almaguin Highlands at 2.9 and 645.

On the elementary side of things, 13 schools tied for first place (out of 2975) with perfect 10 scores. The median was also 6 for the elementary school. Here is a screenshot from the rankings page of the top 13.

Meanwhile, five schools tied for dead last with a 0 score.

In Muskoka, here are the rankings of the elementary schools with the school, town, score (out of 10) and ranking. A couple north of Muskoka schools were thrown in for good measure.

Macaulay PS (Bracebridge) – 6.8 – 1013/2975

Glen Orchard (Muskoka Lakes) – 6.7 – 1094/2975

Monck (Bracebridge) – 6.6 – 1176/2975

Muskoka Falls (Bracebridge) – 6.1 – 1511/2975

Spruce Glen PS (Huntsville) – 5.7 – 1750/2975

Huntsville Public School – 5.5 – 1871/2975

Riverside PS (Huntsville) – 5.3 – 1989/2975

Bracebridge PS – 5.2 – 2031/2975

Monsignor Michael O’Leary School (Bracebridge)  – 5 – 2140/2975

VK Greer (Port Sydney/Utterson) – 5.1 – 2092/2975

Irwin Memorial PS (Dwight) – 4.9 – 2189/2975

Saint Mary’s Catholic School (Huntsville) – 4.5 – 2361/2975

Gravenhurst PS – 4.1 – 2503/2975

Pine Glen PS (Huntsville) – 4 – 2537/2975

Land of Lakes Elementary School (Burk’s Falls) – 3.3 – 2706/2975

Evergreen Heights Educational Centre (Emsdale) – 2.3 – 2875/2975

Muskoka Beechgrove PS (Gravenhurst) – 2.2 – 2885/2975

According to the Fraser Institute’s press release, “contrary to common misconceptions, the data suggest every school is capable of improvement regardless of type, location, and student characteristics.”

For the complete results on all ranked schools and to compare the performance of different schools, visit www.compareschoolrankings.org.