Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows schools: a buyer's guide

The district in numbers

Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District (SD42) enrolled 17,230 students as of September 2024 and runs 33 active public schools, per BC's Ministry of Education, serving a community of roughly 124,000 people across the two cities (BC Ministry of Education). It's a mid-sized district, bigger than Mission or Chilliwack, far smaller than Surrey, with rising enrolment that's tightening catchment placement (more on that below).

The standout: Meadowridge School

Maple Ridge's clearest academic standout is Meadowridge School, an independent IB World School. On the Fraser Institute's 2025 elementary report card it rated 9.4 (45th of 1,015), and on the most recent BC secondary report card (2020, 2018/19 data) it rated 9.4 (8th of 252) (Fraser Institute). It's a private, tuition-based school, so it isn't tied to a catchment, but it's the local name that consistently tops the rankings.

Highest-rated schools

The table below mixes the top independent and public results. The honest picture: the local public elementary schools rate in the lower-middle of the provincial range on the FSA-based scale, while the independents (led by Meadowridge) sit higher.

Top secondary schools (2020 report card)

Remember the secondary caveat: the most recent BC secondary report card is the Fraser Institute's 2020 edition (2018/19 data), now five-plus years old. On that edition, the local public schools ranked as follows.

Catchments and French immersion

SD42 sets catchments by home address, the registration form auto-populates your catchment school from the address on file (SD42). Out-of-catchment choice is allowed only where space is available, and the district is candid that "due to increasing enrolment in recent years, the majority of students are assigned to their catchment school." In other words, plan around your catchment.

French immersion is a program of choice: Early French Immersion at Eric Langton, Laity View, Maple Ridge Elementary, and Pitt Meadows Elementary, with Late French Immersion (Grade 6) moving to École Eric Langton from 2026/27, and immersion continuing at Maple Ridge Secondary and Pitt Meadows Secondary (SD42). A Montessori program runs at Hammond Elementary.

What this means for Maple Ridge buyers

Families come to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows for the outdoors and the value, mountain access, river trails, and newer townhouse pockets through Albion and Silver Valley, more than for top-of-the-table rankings. If a high academic ranking is your top priority, Meadowridge is the local answer (with tuition to match). Otherwise, confirm the catchment for the exact address, visit the community schools, and weigh them against the lifestyle that brought you here.

Compare Maple Ridge with the rest of the region on the Fraser Valley schools hub, read how catchments work, estimate your BC property transfer tax, or book a no-pressure chat with the FRIVE team.