The new school year in Prince George is just over a week away and the province has now provided a snapshot at some of the facts and figures within the sector.
The average class size in BC ranges between 19 to 24 students within grades one to twelve, while that number is slightly less for kindergarten students in the province at 18.
Province-wide, this what the average class sizes looked like over the past school year:
- 22.1 in grades 8 to 12
- 23.9 in grades 4 to 7
- 19.9 in grades 1 to 3
- 18 in kindergarten
SD 57 Board Chair, Tim Bennett told MyPGNow.com their numbers fluctuate a bit more due to the higher classroom numbers in urban centres like Prince George, compared to some of their rural schools that have a lower volume of students.
“We are very comfortable with where our class sizes are at entering the new school year but it is something we monitor closely as we continue to grow.”
With the new school year slated to begin on September 4th, Bennett adds enrolment numbers have been trending upward for a while.
“Projected growth again for the third straight year, which is a great news story for the district as we are pretty close to 13,500 students.”
According to the latest numbers from the 2017-18 academic year, the six-year graduation rate for SD 57 is a shade under 80%, slightly below the provincial mark of 85%.
The Indigenous graduation rate within SD 57 sits at 66%, almost mirroring the BC average of 70%.
Final graduation numbers for the 2018-19 academic have not been made public yet as summer school courses in the province are still wrapping up.