Three out of four Downtown high schools improve

Anthony Marcusa –

Even though their scores improved while its score dropped, none of the three other Downtown high schools were able to beat out St. Michael’s Choir School for top honours in the Fraser Institutes’s annual ranking of secondary schools in Ontario.

As was the case with its elementary division, St. Michael’s Choir School earned top marks among Downtown high schools and was recognized again this year as one of the top secondary schools in Ontario.

St. Michael’s ranked 16 out of 725 high schools in the Fraser Institute’s annual review of grade 9 math and literacy. The report also identifies the number of special needs and ESL students in each school, parents’ average income, and the gender gap in testing.

Despite its high ranking, St. Michael’s score was down, dropping from 9.6 (out of 10) in 2011 to 8.7 in 2012.

The score was 0.5 points lower than the Fraser Institute’s predicted rating (based on past performance and familial income).

The three other secondary schools in the Downtown core all improved on their 2011 scores.

Riverdale outdid expectations, earning a 7.3 mark (up from 6.9 last year). College Francais showed the most improvement of the four. After dropped nearly two whole points from 2010 to 2011, they stopped their drastic two year decline, bettering their 4.0 up to 5.4.

Jarvis Collegiate also improved, but came in last among the four schools. They increased 0.3 points to 4.7, but still far from the 6.0 they posted in 2008.