Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) students are performing at or above the provincial average in almost every category.

However, while the top performing students have seemingly hit a plateau in early years literacy, GVSD Board Chair Laurie Dyck notes the students reading below their level are catching up.

"What's happening in the bottom numbers is really exciting," she says. "We're seeing significant improvements and headway with students that are just about at that reading level or have been significantly lower and have moved up substantially."

Dyck notes the division is closing on the goal of 85 percent of K-4 students reading at or above grade level. The latest results peg students at 77 percent of students reading at or above their current grade level.

"It's been a long haul," Dyck says, explaining they began the initiative to bring up literacy rates five years ago.

"Hats off to the staff, they have worked hard right from division down to the classroom... when you break it down there's lots of reasons to celebrate."

The division has also released the middle years assessment results for 2017-2018, which indicate GVSD students are outperforming the provincial averages in all categories of Grade 7 Math, Grade 7 Student Engagement and Grade 8 English Language Arts.

In grade 12 essential math, GVSD saw a mean score of 52.7, slightly above the average 52.2. The pass rate dipped below the provincial average of 55.6 to 53.3.

Grade 12 pre-calculus scores beat the average of 67.4 with a 69, and a pass rate of 90, well above the average of 79.

In grade 12 English language arts, the mean score was nearly identical, hovering just above 68, and a pass rate of 89.7, above the average of 87.5.

In applied math, GVSD students achieved a mean score of 65.3, well above the provincial average of 56.8. The pass rate was also much higher at 82.1, compared to 64.8.

To become more involved in GVSD, Dyck notes nomination papers are now available to become a school trustee in the fall.

"We would love to see an election happen,,, it would be great to see a full slate of candidates," Dyck says.