When entering Grade 8, most students move to their neighbourhood secondary school along with their classmates from Grade 7. This is what the District recommends unless there is a very specific and significant educational reason to attend a different secondary school. The transition to secondary is much easier when students stay with their friendship group and it is both healthy and environmentally responsible to be able to walk to school rather than requiring transportation.
Since all secondary schools offer the same program at the Grade 8 level there is seldom any educational reason to move outside of the neighbourhood. Students choose only a few elective courses in Grades 8-9 and all schools offer an equivalent range of options. All schools also offer enrichment opportunities for students.
In some countries, schools vary in quality because of the type of staff or the level of funding they receive. This is not true in British Columbia. Teacher qualifications, administrators and funding levels are equivalent in all Richmond schools The difference between courses and teachers within a particular school are much greater than the differences between schools.
Program options become much more varied in the Graduation Program (Grades 10-12) and students can change schools at that time if there is space in the school they wish to attend.
Students who choose to not attend their neighbourhood school are responsible for their own transportation.
Program Options Based on Needs
Support services are provided in all schools for students with special educational needs and for aboriginal students. For secondary students who are unable to attend school due to severe health problems, pregnant, close to graduation age but unable to speak sufficient English to graduate, or who have been out of school for one or more years there are special district programs. Additional iinformation about District Alternate Programs can be found below:
Program Options Based on Preferences
A very similar range of courses is offered at all secondary schools. However, some differences do exist (e.g. languages or electives offered) and the courses that are offered will only run if there is a sufficient number of students who enrol in them.
If a course is not offered in the school it may be offered by the District as a "Distributed Learning" course that is available to students in all schools over the internet. Our District's distributed learning programs are offered through our Richmond Virtual School.
Career Development is an important part of every student's secondary program. For those students with a particular interest in trades training and/or apprenticeship programs several district programs are offered.
For more information about the programs in individual schools please refer to their individual web sites.
Graduation Requirements
All students must fulfill provincial graduation requirements. However, the Ministry recognizes there are circumstances in which a student may be unable to demonstrate his or her knowledge on provincial exams using standard procedures and formats. More information... | 
