What’s the best high school in Burnaby?

Last updated: July 28, 2020

Being in the right home for the right school

To see your home’s school catchment, please visit the School Locator, or talk to us – we’ve been helping our clients find their perfect home in Burnaby for a long time, so knowing the ins and outs of the education system here is a big part of that.

You can also use our map search tools to help find homes close to local schools. This tool is a great way to visualise where things are and what surrounds them. Create a free account to get started!

How do we know which schools are best?

What’s best can definitely be a subjective question: it really depends on what’s important to you as a parent as well as what your child’s aspirations might be. Read more to find how the Fraser Institute rates each high school in British Columbia, as well as their rankings of the Burnaby high schools. You’ll also see the different programs that the Burnaby School Board offers, and how your child can apply to these programs.

Every year the Fraser Institute rates each high school out of 10, and creates a ranking called The Report Card on British Columbia’s Secondary Schools. This ranking is released publicly and can be viewed here. The Report Card helps parents compare schools in BC and facilitates school improvement.

The Report Card critiques BC high schools based on the following seven academic indicators. Then, the indicators are combined to create a weighted average summary. To see how The Report Card is made, and for further details, please visit here.

1. The average exam mark in the Grade 12 language arts courses which include a mandatory provincial exam.
2. The percent of Grade 12 language arts mandatory provincial examinations that were failed.
3. The average difference between the school mark and the exam mark in the courses mentioned above in indicators 1 and 2.
4. The average difference between female and male students in their exam mark in the school’s most popular grade twelve language arts course.
5. The rate of graduation.
6. The delayed advancement rate.
7. Where there are no gender-gap results because they are either an only-boys or only-girls school, the school versus exam mentioned above in indicator 3 would be weighted higher. Where there is no delayed advancement rate, the graduation rate mentioned in indicator 6 would be weighted higher.

Here are the top Burnaby High Schools based off of The Report Card on British Columbia’s Secondary Schools (2016-2017 Rank)

1. St. Thomas More Collegiate
   Rank out of BC: 18/251
   https://stthomasmorecollegiate.ca/
   Catholic Private School
   Grades: 8-12
   7450 12th Ave
   Burnaby, BC V3N 2K1
   604-521-1801
   Registration Fee: $175.00
   Tuition for Canadian Residents (2019-2020): $6,950.00
   Grade Fees (Varying by Grade): $215-250
   Technology Fee: $150.00
   Grade 12 Graduation Fee: $250.00
   
2. Carver Christian High School
   Rank out of BC: 22/251
   http://carverchristian.org/
   Christian Private School
   Grades: 7-12
   7650 Sapperton Ave
   Burnaby, BC V3N 4E1
   604-523-1580
   Registration Fee: Please contact Carver Christian High School for more details.
   
3. Moscrop Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 87/251 (Tied with Burnaby Mountain)
   https://moscrop.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   4433 Moscrop St
   Burnaby, BC V5G 2G3
   604-664-8575
   
4. Burnaby Central Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 99/251
   https://central.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   4939 Canada Way
   Burnaby, BC V5G 1M1
   604-664-8542
   
5. Cariboo Hill Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 136/251
   https://cariboohill.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   8580 16th Ave
   Burnaby, BC V3N 1S6
   604-664-8568
   
6. Burnaby Mountain Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 143/251
   https://mountain.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   8800 Eastlake Dr
   Burnaby, BC V3J 7X5
   604-664-8552
   
7. Alpha Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 167/251
   https://alpha.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   4600 Parker St
   Burnaby, BC V5C 3E2
   604-664-8535
   
8. Burnaby North Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 189/251
   https://north.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   751 Hammarskjold Dr
   Burnaby, BC V5B 4A1
   604-664-8550
   
9. Burnaby South Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 218/251
   https://south.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   5455 Rumble St
   Burnaby, BC V5J 2B7
   604-664-8560
   
10. Byrne Creek Secondary
    Rank out of BC: 226/251
    https://byrnecreek.burnabyschools.ca/
    Public School
    7777 18th St
    Burnaby, BC V3N 5E5
    604-664-8299

It’s important to note that Deer Lake School is another Christian private school in Burnaby that was not found on the 2017-2018’s Report Card, but was ranked 11/293 in 2010. For more information about this school please visit here.

French Immersion

The French Immersion program is a program that the Burnaby School Board offers that helps children to gain French as a second language.  Students graduating from the French Immersion program will receive a bilingual designation on their high school diploma; this may help enhance their employment and post-secondary learning opportunities. Please visit the Burnaby Board of Education’s website for more details.

One thing that’s important to note is that the French Immersion program starts in elementary school. More details about the French Immersion Program can be found here.

The following elementaries offer the Early French Immersion Program starting in kindergarten:

• Aubrey Elementary
• Brantford Elementary
• Inman Elementary (K to 3)/ Cascade Heights (4-7)
• Marlborough Elementary
• Seaforth Elementary
• Sperling Elementary
• Westridge Elementary

The following elementaries offer the Late French Immersion Program starting in Grade 6:

• Armstrong Elementary
• Capitol Hill Elementary
• Marlborough Elementary

Both the early and late programs enter the same Secondary Immersion program in Grade 8 in the following high schools:

• Cariboo Hill Secondary
• Moscrop Secondary
• Alpha Secondary

Burnaby School’s Career Education Program

A program that the Burnaby School District offers is the Career Education Program. This program allows students to build knowledge and skills in a variety of careers and trades programs. Depending on the program, some can lead towards post-secondary credits, industry certifications, apprenticeships, scholarship opportunities and/or the development of portfolios. The programs can help students with post-secondary applications and/or with employment. Further information can be found here.

For some of the trades programs, students can start their apprenticeship and participate in 480 hours of paid work. Students can start to earn qualifications towards becoming a journeyperson. For more information on the Youth Work in Trades program can be found here.

These are some of the options for the Career Education Program:

• Auto Collision Repair Technician
• Auto Refinishing Prep Technician
• Auto Service Technician
• Baker (Pastry Arts)
• Carpenter
• Cisco Networking Academy
• DigiPen Game Development Academy
• Film & Broadcast
• Construction Electrician
• Graphics/Media Arts
• Fitness Instructor
• Health Sciences
• Hair Stylist
• Metal Fabricator
• Tourism and Event Management
• Microsoft Office Specialist Certification
• Music Production and Technology
• Painter and Decorator
• Pipefitter
• Palo Alto Cyber Security Academy
• Professional Cook
• Plumber
• Robotics (Mechatronics)

We hope you find this useful, please reach out to us with any questions about Burnaby schooling, and buying and selling property here.