The best high school in the district and one of the best in the region dropped in the annual Fraser Institute's secondary school rankings for the province.
Rossland Secondary School fell from 49th out of 260 secondary schools to 103rd out of 284 secondary schools in the annual School Report Card ranking system for the 2011-2012 year, the last year for the traditional learning program at RSS before blended learning was instituted.
With an enrolment in Grade 12 of 43, the average exam mark for the final year of RSS was the lowest it has been in five years at 71.6 per cent, down from a high of 75 in 2010.
The percentage of exams failed, however, decreased in 2012 to 5.6 per cent from 6.1 per cent.
The school where RSS students could be heading this fall, J.L. Crowe Secondary School in Trail, performed better but was still behind RSS' performance at 107th in 2012, down from 80th.
The average exam mark at Crowe was 68.1 per cent, up slightly from 2011's 67.8. The average exam mark in the last five years—for an enrolment of 159 Grade 12 students—has not risen over 70 per cent.
The percentage of exams failed also decreased in 2012 to eight per cent from 8.3 per cent.
The average exam mark at Castlegar's Stanley Humphries was 67.6 per cent, down slightly from 2011's 68 per cent. The school's performance dipped at 173rd in 2012, down from 119th in 2011.
The average exam mark in the last five years—for an enrolment of 142 Grade 12 students—has not risen at Stanley Humphries over 70.1 per cent.
The percentage of exams failed also increased in 2012 to 10.3 per cent from 8.6 per cent.
In the nearby Kootenay Lake school district the top school was Nelson's L. V. Rogers, that was ranked 98th out of 284 schools.
To the north in the Arrow Lakes school district, the district's only high school in Nakusp rose three rankings from 207 to 204th.
To the west in the Boundary school district, Grand Forks' high school rose from 191st to 133rd in 2012, while its only other high school, Boundary Central in Midway, was 213th, down from 131st in 2011.
Only two public schools appear in the top 20 secondary schools as private schools continue to dominate the ranking system.
Public school Okanagan Mission is ranked 17th, while Vancouver's University Hill is slightly lower at 18th, tied with private schools Kelowna Christian and King David.
Private school York House rated the highest, with a perfect score of 10 out of 10, followed by Crofton House, Southridge, St George's and West Point Grey.
The lowest ranked secondary schools in the province were Century International in Vancouver, Kumsheen in Lytton and Nisga'a in New Aiyansh.
The Report Card rated 284 public and independent schools based on several factors, largely based on mandatory provincial exams in grades 10 through 12.
The annual report card also includes information about each school’s make-up, including parents’ average income, the percentage of ESL students and the percentage of special needs students.
editor@rosslandnews.com