Homes for Sale Near Laurelwood Public School

Ranking

We saved Laurelwood for last in our WRDSB series, as it is, at present, the #1-ranked school in the City of Waterloo. Not only this, but Laurelwood is also the highest-ranked school in the entire Waterloo Region (Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, and the surrounding Townships) – in both the WRDSB and the WCDSB.
 
That’s quite an achievement! But before we dive deeper into the ranking, let’s first discuss where the ranking comes from (the Fraser Institute). The Fraser Institute is a Canadian organization based in Vancouver that conducts research in a variety of fields affecting Canadians – education is one of their most prominent areas of focus.
 
Using publically-available data, the Fraser Institute compiles schools’ scores on certain standardized tests and grades them on a 10-point scale. Elementary schools are assessed and ranked based on their performance in the Grade 3 and Grade 6 testing conducted by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO); the Fraser Institute analyzes average performance in Reading, Writing, and Math, while also taking gender gap, percentage of tests written below average, and percentage of tests not written into account.
 
Schools ranked 7.6/10 and higher fall into the ‘Green’ quadrant of schools.
 
Moving back to Laurelwood: the Fraser Institute presently ranks 3064 elementary schools all across Ontario (they also assess schools in Alberta, B.C., and Québec). In the 2016-17 school year, Laurelwood ended up as #52 in the entire province (within the top 2% of schools), and #26 out of Ontario’s public schools.
 
Amazingly, Laurelwood has done even better in years past (2012-13 saw its score reach 9.7/10, placing it in the top 25 throughout Ontario), but the overall theme of Laurelwood is not just quality: it’s consistency.
 
In each of the past 5 years (though note that there was no EQAO testing in 2015), Laurelwood has scored higher than 8/10. Also worth noting is that between 2016 and 2017, Laurelwood’s score increased from 8.8/10 to its present standing of 9.2/10 – the scores themselves are important to pay attention to, but upward trends are very good indications of a school’s performance, as well.
 
So as it stands, Laurelwood sits as the top-ranked school in the entire Waterloo Region (in both school boards), with fellow Laurelwood-neighbourhood schools Abraham Erb P.S. and St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary School also placing in the top 5 overall.
 
Do note that the EQAO tests themselves, and the Fraser Institute’s school rankings/annual Report Cards, are imperfect measures of success, though, and factors beyond the test scores themselves can affect overall results. Nevertheless, Laurelwood’s consistently impressive performance is certainly one indicator of a top-tier WRDSB elementary school.
 

Conclusion

The City of Waterloo has a sterling reputation for its educational opportunities: many of its elementary schools consistently perform among the best in the region, as do its secondary schools, and it has two very well-regarded universities (University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University).
 
Laurelwood Public School earns the distinct privilege of being the top-ranking elementary school in a city full of high-ranking elementary schools. Likewise, Laurelwood (the neighbourhood) has the distinction of being one of the most sought-after neighbourhoods in a city also full of sought-after neighbourhoods.
 
Families looking to find great educational opportunities for their children will find much to love about Laurelwood – both the school and the neighbourhood.
 

Written by Will Kummer

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