A recent report from the Sea to Sky School District shows how Indigenous students’ numeracy, literacy, and graduation rates have changed since the previous year. While Indigenous literacy and numeracy rates were often lower than the rate for all students, the Squamish Chief reports that improvements were seen on the fronts of Grade 4 literacy (from 39% in 2023/24 to 75% in 2024/25), Grade 10 literacy (35% to 49%), and Grade 10 numeracy (19% to 30%), while a slight decline was noted in Grade 7 literacy (56% to 50%). Indigenous students had a five-year graduation rate of 67% and approximately 38% transitioned to postsecondary immediately. Among Indigenous students, a sense of belonging improved from 33% in 2020/21 to 54% this year, though students who live on reserve had a lower sense of belonging (42%). Sea to Sky superintendent Chris Nicholson explained that the school district is implementing initiatives such as place-based learning aligned with corridor First Nations to improve the sense of belonging and connection.
