Elementary and Secondary Overview

District school boards administer publicly funded elementary and secondary schools. Working within the framework of the province’s K-12 education program and its regulations, district school boards adapt provincial education policy to local situations. Trustees, as elected members of the board, represent the local community and provide a link between electors and the education system.

There are 3 type of schools in BC:

• Elementary for Kindergarten to Grade 7
• Middle schools for Grades 6 through 8, and
• High Schools for Grades 8 to 12. The High School program is based on the credit system. In order to graduate and receive a diploma, students must earn 52 credits in grades 11 and 12. There are 28 credits required in Foundation Studies, which are credits in core subjects that each student must have. The remaining 24 credits consist of Selected Studies, which are courses that students select based on their interests and career goals. Courses have values of between 1 to 4 credits based on hours of instruction and difficulty of the curriculum. In addition, each student is required to have 30 hours of work experience to be eligible for graduation.

Schools in BC offer many types of special programs from French Immersion and Aboriginal Education to Mandarin and Japanese Language Programs.

BC is a part of the Western Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Basic Education Kindergarten to Grade 12. This is a project that involves The Northwest Territories, Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Nunavut. They are working on developing common curriculum formats for math, computer guided learning, languages, and cultures.

In British Columbia, children begin school in September of the year they turn 5 and are kept with their age-appropriate peers. The school year runs from September-June with a two-week break in late December (Christmas Break) and typically a one-week break in March. 

Registration Procedures

Each school district may have a slightly different registration procedure, but as soon as you have secured an address, you should proceed with the registration procedure. The process may not be able to be completed, however, until you are physically present in the Vancouver area. 

For information on the B.C. Curriculum, please visit: Curriculum & Assessment.

Schools

Central Okanagan School District 22 - Vernon
1401 15^th Street 
Vernon, BC 
Phone: 250-542-3331
Website
Located in the Okanagan Valley of south central British Columbia, School District No. 22 (Vernon) serves the communities of Vernon, Coldstream, Lavington, Lumby, and Cherryville. As a dynamic public education system, the District provides excellent educational services to approximately 8,350 students. These services include a strong International Program, a High-Performance Program, a vibrant French Immersion Program, a growing Montessori Program, new and exciting Distributive Learning Courses, a strong Aboriginal presence, and opportunities for Trades Training and Secondary Apprenticeships.