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Collingwood School vs Meadowridge School

🇨🇦 Vancouver · Side-by-side comparison on verifiable public data.

Neither Collingwood School nor Meadowridge School sits in a market with a public inspectorate, so both are assessed on verifiable accreditation, curriculum authorisation, and published data rather than an official quality rating. Both are day schools with fees in the same market band — see the table below for the figures, and verify against each school's own published fees.

Key Facts

Collingwood SchoolMeadowridge School
CurriculumCanadianIB / Canadian
Ages4–184–18
Languages of instructionEnglishEnglish
Annual feesCAD 28,550–31,900CAD 32,595–42,595
Enrollment1,260644
BoardingDay onlyDay only
AccreditationsCAIS (Canadian Accredited Independent Schools), ISABC (Independent Schools Association of BC)CAIS, CIS, ISABC, IB World School

Strengths

Collingwood School
  • Broad Advanced Placement offering (20+ AP courses) plus additional advanced courses in mathematics and organic chemistry, giving strong university-preparation depth
  • Full JK–Grade 12 continuity on two purpose-built West Vancouver campuses
  • Low reported teacher-to-student ratio (about 1:8) and moderate average class size (about 20)
  • Dual accreditation (CAIS and ISABC) and membership of the international Round Square network with global service trips
  • Explicit four-strand model balancing academics, arts, athletics and service
Meadowridge School
  • Fully authorized IB Continuum: all three programmes (PYP, MYP, DP) from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 — a complete, uninterrupted IB pathway
  • Long, stable operating history (founded 1985) as an independent coeducational school
  • Multiple credible affiliations: CAIS, Council of International Schools (CIS), ISABC and the IBO
  • Fully published, transparent tuition for 2026/2027 (domestic and international rates, plus itemized enrollment and programme fees)
  • Large, well-resourced 35-acre / 152,000 sq ft campus with a four-house system and extensive co-curricular offering

Trade-offs

Collingwood School
  • !Day school only — no boarding option for families needing residential places
  • !No IB or Cambridge pathway; families specifically seeking those programmes are served elsewhere
  • !English-as-an-additional-language support is not published on the school site, so its scope is unclear
  • !Tuition sits at the higher end of the Vancouver independent-school market
Meadowridge School
  • !Does NOT publish an IB Diploma average score or a verified, itemized university-destination list on its own pages — academic outcomes cannot be independently verified
  • !Reported enrollment differs across sources (644 on the school site vs 672 for September 2021 on Wikipedia), so no single precise current figure is fully reliable
  • !Located in Maple Ridge, roughly 55 minutes from downtown Vancouver — not in the city itself, which matters for commute
  • !Languages of instruction beyond English and any EAL/ESL support are not described on public pages and cannot be confirmed
  • !Current accreditation status (versus membership) with CAIS/CIS could not be confirmed verbatim — the school's accreditations page did not resolve

Best Fit For

Collingwood School
  • West Vancouver families wanting a full JK–12 independent day school
  • Academically ambitious students who will use a wide Advanced Placement menu for university preparation
  • Families valuing a balanced academics-arts-athletics-service programme and a global Round Square network
Meadowridge School
  • Families in the greater Vancouver / Maple Ridge area wanting a complete, authorized JK–12 IB continuum
  • Internationally mobile families seeking a recognized IB pathway blended with the BC provincial curriculum
  • Households prioritizing a large campus, broad co-curriculars and a stable, long-established independent school
  • Families comfortable with a suburban campus outside the Vancouver core

University Placement

School-reported · not independently verified

Collingwood School

University-destination and graduate-placement data are not published on the pages reviewed (school-reported outcomes not available).

Meadowridge School

School-reported, unverified: Meadowridge reports 100% post-secondary acceptance, and per third-party summaries its graduates place at universities across Canada, the US and the UK (e.g. the Class of 2017 was reported to average 4.5 offers per student with 100% of applicants receiving offers). The school does not publish an IB Diploma average score or an itemized, verified university-destination list on its own pages; treat placement claims as school-reported and unverified.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I choose Collingwood School or Meadowridge School?

Collingwood School is best for: West Vancouver families wanting a full JK–12 independent day school. Meadowridge School is best for: Families in the greater Vancouver / Maple Ridge area wanting a complete, authorized JK–12 IB continuum. The right choice depends on target curriculum, budget, and family priorities — the two are not linearly comparable.

How do fees compare between Collingwood School and Meadowridge School?

Collingwood School: CAD 28,550–31,900. Meadowridge School: CAD 32,595–42,595. Verify against each school's own published fees; some figures are sourced from third-party aggregators.

What curricula do Collingwood School and Meadowridge School offer?

Collingwood School: Canadian. Meadowridge School: IB, Canadian.

Do Collingwood School or Meadowridge School offer boarding?

Collingwood School: day school only. Meadowridge School: day school only.

This comparison is BrightKey's independent assessment using verifiable public data only. University-placement figures are school-reported and not independently verified. BrightKey takes no payments from schools. Our method →