Photo: Hameltion · CC BY-SA 4.0Bowen Island’s teenagers travel 7.6 km to the nearest high school
In or within 3 km of the town: 2 elementary schools, and no high school. 2 of its 2 schools with results sit in the top two fifths in British Columbia.
What stands out about Bowen Island’s schools
The strongest results
Island Pacific School (elementary) posts the area’s strongest results: the top fifth in British Columbia. Results ↓
The comparisons are with the province’s schools, never across provinces.
High schools within reach of Bowen Island
Secondary and all-grade schools within 15 km, by distance.
Counting out to 15 km, there are 4: 3 English public and 1 independent. The nearest is Rockridge Secondary, 7.6 km away.
| School | Board | System | Band | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockridge SecondarySecondary | SD 45 West Vancouver | English public | – | 7.6 km |
| Elphinstone SecondarySecondary | SD 46 Sunshine Coast | English public | Middle fifth | 13 km |
| Eaton Arrowsmith School (Vancouver) LtdAll grades | – | Independent | – | 14 km |
| West Vancouver SecondarySecondary | SD 45 West Vancouver | English public | Second fifth | 14 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
How Bowen Island’s schools do on BC’s assessments
The Foundation Skills Assessment in Grades 4 and 7 and first-time graduation: each school against every school in BC.
Its School Grade is A+: it compares these results with the other towns of the province.
The area’s schools by fifth of the province
Each school’s band is the average of its measures’ fifths. The mark shows an even fifth of the area’s schools.
| Measure | Schools | Middle here | British Columbia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 4 literacy (FSA score) | 1 | 501 | 468 |
| Grade 4 numeracy (FSA score) | 1 | 501 | 472 |
| Grade 7 literacy (FSA score) | 2 | 558 | 467 |
| Grade 7 numeracy (FSA score) | 2 | 515 | 454 |
Furthest from the provincial middle is Grade 7 literacy: 558 here, against 467 in British Columbia. On 4 of 4 measures the area beats the provincial middle; on 0 it trails.
Every school’s results (2)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Island Pacific SchoolElementary | G7 literacy 575 · G7 numeracy 518 | Top fifth |
| Bowen Island Community SchoolElementary | G4 literacy 501 · G4 numeracy 501 · G7 literacy 541 · G7 numeracy 511 | Second fifth |
BC Ministry of Education and Child Care: FSA 2021/22 to 2025/26 (the latest year with a value) and first-time Grade 12 graduation; masked where groups are small; resident students only. Open Government Licence – British Columbia.
Where the 2 schools in and around Bowen Island are
A pin for every school, its colour the system it belongs to.
Points from the provincial lists.
Schooling in English and French around Bowen Island
The language each school teaches in, against every school in British Columbia.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in British Columbia.
All teach in the province’s majority language; none in French.
Section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives French-speaking parents the right to French-language schooling for their children, through the French-language boards.
Who runs Bowen Island’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English and French public boards, independent and other schools.
Grouped by system: English public 1 and independent 1.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
How children get a place in Bowen Island
The neighbourhood school
Where a family lives settles it: the board’s map ties every address to one school, and a seat anywhere else waits on spare room.
Independent schools
Independent schools set their own admissions and fees; the province funds part of their costs where they meet its conditions.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 2 schools in and around Bowen Island
Towns its size in British Columbia
Similar-sized towns and their schools within 3 km, by population.
| Town | Population | Schools | French | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merritt | 7,190 | 8 | 0 | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||
| Douglas | 4,555 | 13 | 0 | 4.1 km |
| Electoral Area D (Oyster Bay - Buttle Lake), Strathcona | 4,546 | 4 | 0 | 8.7 km |
| Vanderhoof | 4,545 | 8 | 0 | 0.3 km |
| Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola | 4,540 | 10 | 0 | 16 km |
| Bowen Island | 4,501 | 2 | 0 | 7.6 km |
| Sparwood | 4,486 | 2 | 0 | 32 km |
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley | 4,482 | 16 | 1 | 2.4 km |
| Golden | 4,433 | 5 | 1 | 0.1 km |
| Rossland | 4,355 | 3 | 1 | 0.1 km |
| … | ||||
| Electoral Area E, Peace River | 2,737 | 8 | 0 | 41 km |
More schools are within reach in 92 of the 105 other towns. 22 of the 106 have a French-language school.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Bowen Island
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowen Island | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7.6 km |
| Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast 12 km | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4.1 km |
| Gibsons 12 km | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 km |
| West Vancouver 13 km | 37 | 1 | 5 | 1.5 km |
| Lions Bay 14 km | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 km |
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast 14 km | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 km |
| Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver 15 km | 58 | 0 | 15 | 0.7 km |
The busiest neighbour is Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver, with 58 schools.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Boards and systems. Boards here split by language only: English districts and a French-language board.
- The year. As the province lists them in 2025/26.
- What isn’t here. What no open list gives: inspection grades, several years of enrolment, and Ontario’s private schools.
- Bands, not ranks. Fifths are worked out among every BC school with a result on that measure, then averaged per school.
- The kinds of school. Each school is elementary, secondary or all-grade by the grades it teaches; alternative, adult and online programs sit in a group of their own.
- Which schools count. Counted: Bowen Island’s own schools and any within 3 km of its edge.
Questions about schools in Bowen Island
How do I get a place at a school in Bowen Island?
Register with the board that runs the school: the address decides the designated school in each system, and the board can say which one it is.
Is there a French-language school in Bowen Island?
Not within 3 km of Bowen Island. The French-language board still serves families here.
How many schools are there in Bowen Island?
All 2 are inside the town itself.
Sources: BC Ministry of Education and Child Care, K-12 school list 2025/26 (Open Government Licence – British Columbia) · map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).