TERRE HAUTE —
For the fourth year in a row, Vigo County School Corp. graduation rates have topped the state average, school district officials said during a news conference Tuesday.
The district’s four-year graduation rate for 2011 is 2.7 percentage points higher than the state’s — 88.4 percent to 85.7 percent.
In addition, Vigo County’s overall graduation rate improved nearly 4 percentage points, and all five high schools (including two alternative schools) also improved. “It’s a team effort,” said Superintendent Dan Tanoos.
He noted that 54 percent of school district students are on free/reduced lunch, the highest it’s ever been. The improvement in graduation rates is made even more significant because “we’re doing it with a number of students who are coming to school impoverished,” Tanoos said.
The graduation rate was 73.4 percent in 2007.
District officials, and the five high school principals, talked about different strategies they use to keep students in school and help improve graduation rates. “Our goal is 100 percent graduation,” said Mick Newport, director of K-12 education.
Success is a corporationwide effort involving educators at every level, elementary through high school, Newport said. The district’s success also is a credit to students and parents.
Terre Haute North Vigo principal Stacy Mason said the district has many “safety nets” to catch students who may struggle, including a diversity consultant and attendance officers. “We get as creative as we possibly can” when dealing with students who struggle or who are simply not happy about something at school, she said.
At McLean High School, an alternative school, much effort is made to encourage attendance in positive ways through various incentives, said Principal Rick Stevens.
Terre Haute South Vigo principal Chris Mauk said the school tries to “make sure our students have a connection with an adult in our building,” someone attuned to the students’ needs who can get them help, if needed.
At Booker T. Washington High School, which is for pregnant and parenting teens, staff educate, nurture and encourage students, said Trina McDonald, the school’s principal. Community members visit the school to talk about job skills and the importance of a diploma. The school also has small class sizes and credit-recovery programs.
Several years ago, the school district initiated Project 48, a dropout prevention program. The School Board made dropout prevention a top priority, Tanoos said.
Board members conveyed to him that when students walk away from school, “They are only going to be a detriment to our community and to society if we don’t get them back in and educated and make them eligible for the workforce,” Tanoos said.
The district has attendance officers who go out to homes in grades K-12 “pounding on people’s doors” to get them back in school, Newport said.
He noted that the graduation rate is based on students who graduate in four years. Other students may earn a diploma after four years, but it doesn’t count as part of the official graduation rate, Newport noted.
The district continues to work with those who don’t graduate on time. “We don’t just throw them out,” Newport said. “We make contact with them, we make sure they get back in school and make sure they get the credits they need to get their diploma.”
Tanoos said graduation rates also are important because people — and businesses — look at them when making decisions about whether to locate in a community. “It’s critical that we have a high graduate rate,” Tanoos said.
At North, the 2011 graduation was 90.2 percent, up from 90 percent the prior year.
At West Vigo, the graduation rate was 92.2 percent, up from 90.9 percent the year before.
At South, the graduation rate was 87.9 percent, up from 86.2 percent.
At Washington, the rate was 90.9 percent, up from 40 percent the year before.
And at McLean, the graduation rate was 67.8 percent, up from 51.3 percent the year before.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.
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