Nelson's L.V. Rogers Secondary was the only West Kootenay/Boundary high school to crack the top 100 in the Fraser Institute's much-maligned high school rankings.
The 2011-12 list, released this week, pegs the school as 98th overall out of 284 high schools in BC based on a review of such criteria as average exam marks, graduation rate, and English and math gender gaps, which are combined into a single rating out of ten.
That was below LVR's five-year average of 53rd among 260 ranked schools, which is second only to Rossland Secondary, with an average rank of 49th.
Rossland finished 103rd in this year's rankings. It is due to become a K-9 school next year.
It's the third year in a row LVR has led Kootenay Lake district high schools in the rankings.
Kaslo's J.V. Humphries was 142nd, Creston's Prince Charles was 155th and South Slocan's Mount Sentinel was 188th. Salmo, Crawford Bay, and W.E. Graham were not ranked.
Many educators and administrators dismiss the rankings produced by the right-wing think tank as a dubious measure of a school's worth that tends to reward private schools over public ones.
Private school York House rated highest in this year's rankings, with a perfect score of 10, followed by Crofton House, Southridge, St George's and West Point Grey.
Only two public schools appear in the top 20: Okanagan Mission is ranked 17th, while Vancouver's University Hill is 18th. Elkford Secondary was the top-ranked in the Kootenays, in 37th place.
Kimberley's Selkirk Secondary and Grand Forks Secondary were singled out as among the eight fastest-improving schools in BC.
