2020: These are the Best Schools in Alberta According to Fraser Institute

Credit: Strathcona High School

The Fraser Institute, an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization, has released its annual rankings of Alberta high schools and elementary schools based on academic indicators derived from provincewide test results, grade-to-grade transition and graduation rates.

To generate this year’s report card, Fraser Institute ranked 863 elementary schools and 253 secondary schools using the data from 2018-19 school year.

Top Secondary Schools in Alberta are:

(Click on school name for more details about the school)

	School	City	Score 2018 – 19	Rank 2018 – 19
1	Old Scona	Edmonton	10	1/253
2	Renert School	Calgary	10	1/253
3	Rundle College	Calgary	10	1/253
4	Webber	Calgary	10	1/253
5	West Island College	Calgary	9.8	5/253
6	Millwoods Christian	Edmonton	9.7	6/253
7	Edmonton Islamic	Edmonton	9.5	7/253
8	Foundations for the Future (FFCA)	Calgary	9.4	8/253
9	J H Picard	Edmonton	9.4	8/253
10	Archbishop MacDonald	Edmonton	9.3	10/253
11	Bearspaw Christian	Calgary	9.1	11/253
12	Clear Water	Calgary	9.1	11/253
13	Master’s College	Calgary	9	13/253
14	Olds Koinonia	Olds	9	13/253
15	Calgary Academy Collegiate	Calgary	8.8	15/253
16	Strathcona-Tweedsmuir	Okotoks	8.8	15/253
17	Western Canada	Calgary	8.8	15/253
18	Westmount	Calgary	8.8	15/253
19	Ernest Manning	Calgary	8.7	19/253
20	Hay Lakes	Hay Lakes	8.6	20/253
21	Mother Margaret Mary	Edmonton	8.5	21/253
22	St. Gabriel the Archangel	Chestermere	8.5	21/253
23	Rundle College Academy	Calgary	8.4	23/253
24	Sir Winston Churchill	Calgary	8.4	23/253
25	Strathcona	Edmonton	8.4	23/253
26	Tempo	Edmonton	8.4	23/253
27	William Aberhart	Calgary	8.4	23/253

Top Elementary Schools in Alberta are:

	School	City	Score 2018 – 19	Rank 2018 – 19
1	Master’s	Calgary	10	1/863
2	Mount Pleasant	Edmonton	10	1/863
3	Renert	Calgary	10	1/863
4	Windsor Park	Edmonton	10	1/863
5	Grandview Heights	Edmonton	9.9	5/863
6	Webber	Calgary	9.9	5/863
7	Rundle College	Calgary	9.7	7/863
8	Stratford	Edmonton	9.7	7/863
9	Sunalta	Calgary	9.6	9/863
10	Holy Name	Calgary	9.4	10/863
11	Hillhurst	Calgary	9.3	11/863
12	River Valley	Calgary	9.3	11/863
13	Westmount	Calgary	9.3	11/863
14	Westbrook	Edmonton	9.2	14/863
15	Bearspaw Christian	Calgary	9.1	15/863
16	George H Luck	Edmonton	9.1	15/863
17	King Edward	Edmonton	9.1	15/863
18	New Horizons	Sherwood Park	9.1	15/863
19	St. Joan of Arc	Calgary	9.1	15/863
20	Tempo	Edmonton	9.1	15/863
21	Clear Water	Calgary	9	21/863
22	Wye	Sherwood Park	9	21/863
23	Archbishop Joseph MacNeil	Edmonton	8.9	23/863
24	Calgary French & International	Calgary	8.9	23/863
25	Edison	Okotoks	8.9	23/863
26	Meadowlark	Edmonton	8.9	23/863
27	Menno Simons Christian	Calgary	8.9	23/863
28	St. Mary	Beaverlodge	8.9	23/863
29	Strathcona Christian	Sherwood Park	8.9	23/863

Schools Improving Performance:

According to the Fraser Institute:

River Heights, a public school in Medicine Hat, is the fastest-improving elementary school in the province, rising from a score of 1.7 out of 10 in 2015 to 7.5 in 2019.
Cambrian Heights, a public school in Calgary, is the 5^th fastest-improving school (rising from 5.5 to 8.2 over the same period), even though 32.4 per cent of its students are English Second Language (ESL) and 31.5 per cent have special needs.
Of the 17 secondary schools with improving performance (16 schools showed declining performance) nine are located in Edmonton.
One of the fastest-improvers, J. Percy Page in Edmonton, increased its rating from 2.7 out of 10 in 2015 to 4.9 last year, and 34.3 per cent of its students are ESL.

“It doesn’t matter where a school is ranked, or what challenges its students may face. The evidence is clear—all types of schools, located all over the province with different types of students are capable of improvement,” said Peter Cowley, a Fraser Institute senior fellow.

The complete ranking can be found here.