Photo: The High Fin Sperm Whale · CC BY-SA 3.0Results around Cultus Lake lean high: 5 of 9 schools in the top two fifths in British Columbia
The strongest include John Calvin School, Yarrow Community School and Cultus Lake Swílhcha Community School. Taken together, Cultus Lake and its 3 km edge hold 7 elementary schools, 1 secondary school and 1 school for every grade.
What stands out about Cultus Lake’s schools
The strongest results
Top of the area: John Calvin School (all grades), its results in the top fifth in British Columbia. Results ↓
The comparisons are with the province’s schools, never across provinces.
How Cultus Lake’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) | 7 | 477 | 468 |
| Grade 4 numeracy (FSA score) | 7 | 500 | 472 |
| Grade 7 literacy (FSA score) | 2 | 496 | 467 |
| Grade 7 numeracy (FSA score) | 2 | 466 | 454 |
| First-time Grade 12 graduation | 1 | 96% | 91% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is Grade 7 literacy: 496 here, against 467 in British Columbia. On 3 of 5 measures the area beats the provincial middle; on 0 it trails.
Every school’s results (9)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| John Calvin SchoolAll grades | G4 literacy 511 · G4 numeracy 538 · G7 literacy 542 · G7 numeracy 510 | Top fifth |
| Yarrow Community SchoolElementary | G4 literacy 514 · G4 numeracy 570 | Top fifth |
| Cultus Lake Swílhcha Community SchoolElementary | G4 literacy 504 · G4 numeracy 508 | Second fifth |
| GW Graham SecondarySecondary | Graduation 96% | Second fifth |
| Vedder ElementaryElementary | G4 literacy 477 · G4 numeracy 485 | Second fifth |
| Unsworth ElementaryElementary | G4 literacy 471 · G4 numeracy 500 | Middle fifth |
| Promontory Heights Community ElementaryElementary | G4 literacy 451 · G4 numeracy 459 | Fourth fifth |
| Mount Slesse Middle SchoolElementary | G7 literacy 451 · G7 numeracy 423 | Fourth fifth |
| Watson ElementaryElementary | G4 literacy 429 · G4 numeracy 442 | Bottom 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 9 schools in and around Cultus Lake are
Every school as a pin, coloured by system; each opens its own page.
Points from the provincial lists.
Schooling in English and French around Cultus Lake
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 Cultus Lake’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English and French public boards, independent and other schools.
Grouped by system: English public 8 and independent 1.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
How children get a place in Cultus Lake
The neighbourhood school
Boards set boundaries for each school; living inside one guarantees a place there, and moving across one usually means a request.
Independent schools
An independent school decides whom it takes and what it charges; provincial grants cover part of the cost.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 9 schools in and around Cultus Lake
High schools within reach of Cultus Lake
Secondary and all-grade schools within 15 km, by distance.
5 secondary schools are within 15 km: 2 independent, 2 English public and 1 French public. The shortest trip is to John Calvin School, 6 km.
| School | Board | System | Band | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Calvin SchoolAll grades | – | Independent | Top fifth | 6 km |
| GW Graham SecondarySecondary | SD 33 Chilliwack | English public | Second fifth | 9.6 km |
| La VerendryeAll grades | SD 93 Conseil scolaire francophone | French public | Fourth fifth | 9.9 km |
| Cascade Christian SchoolAll grades | – | Independent | Second fifth | 14 km |
| Imagine High Integrated Arts/TechnologySecondary | SD 33 Chilliwack | English public | Middle fifth | 14 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
Towns its size in British Columbia
Towns of a similar population, with their schools in or within 3 km; described, not ranked.
| Town | Population | Schools | French | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rossland | 4,355 | 3 | 1 | 0.1 km |
| … | ||||
| Elkford | 3,030 | 2 | 0 | 53 km |
| Bainbridge | 3,015 | 32 | 0 | 2.5 km |
| Electoral Area C, Strathcona | 2,981 | 4 | 0 | 7.5 km |
| Sicamous | 2,854 | 2 | 0 | 21 km |
| Cultus Lake | 2,773 | 9 | 0 | 6 km |
| Tofino | 2,772 | 1 | 0 | 18 km |
| Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley | 2,761 | 5 | 0 | 3.9 km |
| Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay | 2,758 | 6 | 0 | 6.3 km |
| Highlands | 2,753 | 9 | 0 | 7.7 km |
| … | ||||
| Clearwater | 2,500 | 3 | 0 | 85 km |
18 of 63 similar towns count more schools. 15 of 64 have a school teaching in French.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Cultus Lake
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cultus Lake | 9 | 0 | 1 | 6 km |
| Tzeachten 13 10 km | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 km |
| Chilliwack 13 km | 42 | 1 | 8 | 1.9 km |
| Skowkale 13 km | 15 | 0 | 3 | 2.6 km |
| Electoral Area E, Fraser Valley 15 km | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 km |
The busiest neighbour is Chilliwack, with 42 schools.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Bands, not ranks. The fifths are of schools, not students: a small school counts as much as a large one.
- What isn’t here. Enrolment is a single year, where published at all, and no inspectorate rates schools.
- The year. The provincial list for 2025/26.
- Boards and systems. The province’s public schools are run by districts in English and a French-language board; independents run themselves.
- Which schools count. Counted: Cultus Lake’s own schools and any within 3 km of its edge.
- The kinds of school. Where a province publishes grades, the card gives them; elementary and secondary follow those grades.
Questions about schools in Cultus Lake
Is there a French-language school in Cultus Lake?
No, none within 3 km of Cultus Lake; ask the French-language board for the nearest.
How many schools are there in Cultus Lake?
1 in the town, 8 just beyond it, within 3 km.
How do I get a place at a school in Cultus Lake?
Start with the board for the system you want; your address sets the school.
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).