THURSDAY
S I N C E
MARCH 7, 2013
1 8 9 5
Vol. 118, Issue 38
110
$
Smokie gets all-star nod Page 9
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
OUT ON A LIMB
FRASER INSTITUTE REPORT CARD
St. Michael’s, MacLean get top marks in local elementary rankings Average mark for all SD 20 schools matches provincial level BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
TIMOTHY SCHAFER PHOTO
A worker with Glacier Valley Tree Service positions himself in the branches to remove one of approximately 25 cottonwood trees along the shoreline area below the Esplanade walkway near Jubilee Park. The crew, who will occupy southern portions of the Esplanade walkway area, the shoreline and the access lane near Groutage Avenue, will be onsite working from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. until the end of the week. Portions of the walkway will be closed for this work to be completed. According to the City of Trail, the selective tree removal is a component of the River Wall Restoration project, an attempt to revitalize the river wall and the shoreline area.
Talk about your swan song. Rossland’s MacLean Elementary School is going out on top after the Fraser Institute has given the Golden City school high marks in its latest Report Card on B.C. Elementary Schools. Using data gleaned from reading, writing and numeracy tests from grades 4 and 7 from across the province, the Institute rated MacLean Elementary School at 193rd (out of 853 elementary schools), the second best school in the area behind St. Michael’s Catholic School in Trail. Although the Rossland school was found to have the highest rating in School District 20 (Kootenay Columbia), MacLean is now slated for closure and 10 grades—kindergarten to Grade 9—moved to Rossland Secondary School (RSS) after the school board voted last week to close the facility. School officials at MacLean declined to comment on the report card’s findings. A member of the group fighting to keep kindergarten to Grade 12 in Rossland, Rossland-based Neighbourhoods of Learning committee, said the city’s children will do well academically in whatever new configuration they will find themselves in next year. Shelley Ackerman said it was ironic in a way the district was closing its most successful school based on a financial consideration. “We have quality schools and we want to keep them,” she said, alluding to the struggle to keep three secondary grades in the city. MacLean’s 7.3 out of 10 ranking was down from 2011 when the school was given an 8.2 (177th). However, it was up from the 5.6 rating it received in 2009. The gender
gap pendulum at MacLean has swung in favour of the boys, with boys scoring higher on numeracy and especially reading, whereas four years ago girls had the edge. St. Michael’s 8.1 rating was higher than 2011’s 6.9 (111th), but down from its high of 8.6 in 2009. The gender gap was nearly nullified in reading and numeracy at the school, with a slight edge going to the girls in both areas. Over at James Webster Elementary in Warfield, the school was ranked at 193rd out of 853 with a 7.3 rating out of 10. The school was up from a low four years ago of 3.9, but down from 2011 when it was 7.9 (252nd). Boys held a slight margin in the gender gap in reading, a wider margin in numeracy. Glenmerry Elementary dropped in the rankings with a 5.8 rating this year, down from 6.6 last year (295th). There was no gender gap between boys and girls on reading and numeracy. Fruitvale Elementary School scored the lowest out of the SD20 elementary schools with a 5.0 (597th), a drop from the 6.0 (433rd) the school scored last year. In the gender gap, boys scored higher in both reading and numeracy. The report’s co-author, Peter Cowley, said the average for all of the Kootenay Columbia schools— public and private—was almost exactly the average for the province, 6.0 while seven schools in region were 6.01. “None of them showed any change in a statistically significant way,” he said. St. Micheal’s was, on average, 7.7 over the five-year period, MacLean was 7.1 over the period, James Webster at 6.6, Glenmerry 6.3 and Fruitvale, 5.5. The averages give parents a look at where they would want their children to go to school, or petition their school for improvement. See RATING, Page 3
Make your banking make a difference. online & telephone banking
mobile web
eStatements
eTransfers
Where you bank and how you bank makes a difference. At Kootenay Savings, you can protect the environment by going paperless with free online, mobile and telephone banking, online applications, eTransfers and eStatements. Make a change and make a difference today.
better. together.
kscu.com
Contact the Times: Phone: FineLine250-368-8551 Technologies 62937 Index 9 Fax:JN250-368-8550 80% 1.5 BWR NU Newsroom: 250-364-1242 Canada Post, Contract number 42068012