Upward trend: Most county schools improve graduation rate

At nearly every high school in the county, more students graduated last school year than the year before.

This week, the Indiana Department of Education released graduation rates for school district across the state.

In Johnson County, every school district except one saw an increase in its graduation rate. Greenwood Community High School was the only local school whose rate dropped slightly, from 92 percent to 91 percent last school year, according to the Indiana Department of Education.

While most schools saw just a slight change of 1 or 2 percentage points, the biggest improvement was at Edinburgh Community High School, where the rate increased 5 percentage points to 96 percent.

At Whiteland Community High School, the rate went from 90 to 94 percent, but that higher rate is comparable to past years, Clark-Pleasant assistant superintendent Cameron Rains said.

Statewide, the rate stayed nearly the same at 89 percent.

The rate is based on the percent of students who graduate in four years or less. The rates also include students who received a waiver because they did not meet certain graduation requirements, such as passing end-of-course assessments.

Local school officials pointed to work in the classroom and to help struggling students catch up to their peers as some of the key reasons for the increases in their graduation rates.

The high school has continued to try to expand ways that students can earn credits, including through the alternative academy and credit recovery, and that counselors and teachers check in with students who are beginning to fall behind, he said.

For Franklin schools, which went from a rate of 93 percent to 95 percent, the increase shows the efforts made by all teachers at the high school, especially in targeting students that are right on the edge of not finishing, Franklin Schools Superintendent David Clendening said.

That includes the Franklin Academy, the alternative education program, and efforts at the high school, including literacy classes to help students with reading skills and math remediation classes. This year, the structure of the high school’s Algebra 2 remediation class changed to try to help students more, and all students passed, Clendening said.

Those are just some of the efforts that have led to an increase in the rate, he said.

And at Indian Creek High School, last year’s 95 percent graduation rate is the second highest since 2009, Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson Schools Superintendent Tim Edsell said.

That shows the school is moving in the right direction, and continuing work to help students graduate, he said.

For example, flexible scheduling helps students get back on track through summer or online courses, he said. Teachers also are doing all they can to make sure their students are prepared for graduation and beyond, Edsell said.