Graduation rates are climbing, and are well above the provincial average in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school district.
The six-year completion rate is 91.4 per cent locally compared with the provincial average of 84.8 per cent – which includes both public and independent schools.
The six-year rate takes in students who complete all their graduation requirements within six years from the time they enrol in Grade 8 – so it includes those who need an extra year or semester to complete high school.
That was a total of 1,165 students in the local school district in the 2017-2018.
“They are phenomenal results,” said school board chair Korleen Carreras. “There’s a lot of great work going on in our district.”
The first-time Grade 12 graduation rate is also above the provincial average. This includes the students who are in Grade 12 for the first time in September, who then graduate in that school year.
In Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, that number was 85 per cent, or 926 students, out of a possible 1,085 grads.
The provincial average was 81 per cent.
Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows have typically been at the provincial average most years – 80-81 per cent.
Carreras said the six-year completion rate has been steadily climbing from 86 per cent five years ago, before reaching this year’s peak.
“There’s a commitment to students,” she said, giving credit to educators and students for their hard work.