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Bentley schools do well in Fraser Institute report

The principal of Bentley Schools, Lane Moore, was pleased to learn his schools have done well in the Fraser report.

By Treena Mielke

The principal of Bentley Schools, Lane Moore, was pleased to learn his schools have done well in the Fraser Institute’s current report.

“All I have to say is Bentley school rocks,” said Moore, in an email to teachers. “Great job, everyone.”

Bentley elementary school’s rating of 8.0 for the 2014/15-year ranked the school 92nd out of 812 schools in the province. It also gave them the top ranking of elementary schools in Wolf Creek, according to the Fraser Institute report.

Crestomere school received a 7.8, Alix (Mirror and Alix Central) came in at 6.7, Rimbey elementary followed at 5.7, Terrace Ridge in Lacombe came in at 5.5, Ponoka elementary had a ranking of 4.1 and Eckville elementary had a ranking of 3.4.

Moore said the percentage of Grade 6 students not meeting provincial standards in Bentley elementary school has decreased, which he believes has contributed to the overall ranking.

“We also have more interventions in place and our staff has put in a lot of hard work.”

In September of last year, Bentley’s school population had dropped slightly to 332, but 55 students registered in the pre kindergarten program, far exceeding the estimated number of 41.

The school has a hockey academy, which is popular with the students, and also offers fine arts, foods, woodworking, golf, guitar, dance and musical theatre.

A few years ago the school adopted a self directed learning approach to teaching students.

Information from the Fraser Institute showed the rating for Bentley high school for 2011/12 in a favorable light, ranking them 71 out of 279 school with a 7.1 mark, followed by Rimbey with a 6.3, Lacombe, with a 6.0, Ponoka with a 5.7 and Eckville with a 5.5.

However, the rating for the last five years shows Rimbey high school leading the division with a 6.8, followed by Lacombe with a 6.3 rating. Eckville high school has a 6.1 grade, Bentley has been given a 6, and Ponoka trails with a 5.7.

Rimbey high school principal Tim Lekas and Rimbey elementary principal Jodi Bramfield said the Fraser Institute report is not used as a measure of success at their schools.

“We have other measures that we use to evaluate the effectiveness of our school and its programs,” said Lekas.

The report card on Alberta’s elementary schools 2016 ranks 812 public, separate, francophone, private and charter schools based on seven academic indicators derived from province wide test results.

“Our report card is the only objective, reliable tool that parents have to compare the academic performance of their child’s school over time and to that of other schools in their community,” said Peter Cowley, Fraser Institute director of school performance studies.

According to the report six of the ten fastest improving schools are in Edmonton.

For detailed results of all 812 schools, go to www.compareschoolrankings.org