| WHS graduation rates consistent across years |
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Posted: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 10:23 pm
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By LINSEY MAUGHAN
Staff Writer
WASECA —When the new yearbook comes out each year at Waseca High School, principal Jeanne Swanson sets out upon a unique task: she makes photocopies of the entire freshman class, and uses it to keep track of graduation rates.
Noting when students move away, change schools, drop out and so on, Swanson takes it upon herself to monitor what happens to those students who don’t go on to receive their diplomas from WHS. By doing this, she also keeps track of the average number of students completing all four years of WHS and well as the average number of students lost, in one way or another, along the way.
“This is probably not very scientific, but this is what I do by myself,” Swanson said. “I keep track of what happens to each student, whether they’ve moved or dropped out or switched to the ALC.”
The graduating class of 2008 consisted of 94 percent of the original students who began as freshman at WHS. In 2007, 94 percent of the original class graduated, while in 2006, 93 percent graduated.
According to Swanson, though, some students who drop out or don’t graduate in the four-year time span come back and complete a fifth year at the school to receive their diplomas.  td> |
“They may go to the ALC or they may come back here and finish their fifth year,” said Swanson. “If you count the kids who come back and finish, we can get right around 97 or 98 percent. We’re pretty excited about the kids that do decide to do that and finish.”
In the time that Swanson has been principal of the high school (beginning with the 2000/2001 academic year), the graduation rate has in general stayed around 94 percent. Prior to her arrival, Swanson said, the graduation rate was similar.
Although she is satisfied with the current graduation rate, Swanson said she would still like to see improvement.
“I think that it’s very good, but we of course would like to have 100 percent,” she said. “There is a variety of reasons that kids don’t graduate on time: maturity, mental health reasons, young women having babies. We feel like we’re doing a good job, but we always feel like we could do a better job — we don’t even want to lose one student if we don’t have to.”
Chemical-related problems in students (meaning drugs and alcohol) are the most common theme among dropouts, according to Swanson.
When asked how the school could know positively that chemical problems are the most-frequent issue at hand among dropouts, Swanson said that often those students will either have gone for treatment at some point, or the school will have become aware of chemical-related problems in certain students through reports from law enforcement.
The school district is currently looking for ways to decrease the number of students dropping out or failing to graduate as a result of drug and alcohol use.
“We need to make sure we catch those kids sooner and provide them the appropriate services, but I’d say that’s an area that we need to continue to work on and improve,” said Swanson. “We’re in the process of investigating that at this point in time.”
Linsey Maughan may be reached at (507)837-5449 or lmaughan@wasecacountynews.com |
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