Decatur Graduation Rate Hits All-Time High
Decatur Metro | November 10, 2015 | 5:06 pm
Pretty awesome news from CSD…
With a rate of 97.1%, City Schools of Decatur is tied for the 3rd highest 4-year cohort graduation rate out of all districts in the state for 2015.These results reflect the work of the entire district. Our commitment to providing differentiated instruction for all students, the Decatur High School Learning Center, and providing all junior and senior families with counseling sessions has provided our students with the individualized support necessary for high school success.
I am not looking to denigrate the accomplishments of the CSD in hitting a record graduation rate, but given the concerns expressed here and elsewhere about Decatur becoming a strictly upper income community I wonder if there isn’t a correlation between the graduation rate and rising real estate values or graduation rate and changing demographics.
To partially answer my own question, the number of DHS students receiving free or discounted lunches decreased from 31% to 20% from 2009 to 2014 according to statistics at schooldigger.com
Hey, isn’t Hancock County the poorest in the state? What’s up with that?
I’m not sure that any of the other districts listed in that top six are especially affluent. I believe they are quite small, at least for the most part.
According to the Georgia Department of Education, Decatur definitely has the lowest rate of free and reduced lunch among these districts (17%). Bremen and Chickamauga are also fairly low at 24 and 21 percent, respectively. Trion is at 46% and Union County at 61%. And Hancock County reported has 100% enrollment in the school lunch program. I understand why one might surmise a causal correlation between free lunch enrollment and graduation rates in Decatur. Doesn’t seem to necessarily be the case in general, though.
Interesting list. All the other districts in this group are either small towns or rural counties. I’m no authority, but I don’t recall any of these being on the perennial lists of top-performing systems, and I don’t think these are particularly high-income areas. None of the usual “model districts” are listed here.
That’s it! They graduate in districts where there’s nothing else to do! 😉
Not to minimize their accomplishments and support of students, but many of the other districts at the top have a local program that students “move” to when they are struggling academically. Several years ago, the former DHS graduation coach visited one of the school systems listed with a top graduation rate with the hope of learning their strategies. What she found was that students who failed a state test (thus hurting their chances of graduating on time) were unenrolled and sent to an alternative-style school that is in the north GA area. Many of the systems that linger at the top use that school to support struggling students.
That said, and knowing DHS supports all students in house, this data point is reflective of the committed faculty at DHS. For the past few years, DHS teachers have nominated their peers who specifically work in programs designed to support struggling students as their teacher of the year. This respect and climate of support deserves our thanks and praise. Go bulldogs!
go you hairy snowflakes!
My personal experience was that if not for the almost heroic efforts of the DHS graduation coaches (past and present), administrators, counselors, awesome special ed teachers, a large majority of the regular ed teachers, the Lunchroom Lady Ms. Davis, and Ms. Riley and Ms. Foy, our graduation rate would be much lower. Many CSD parents and residents have this notion that all the kids need to do is show up and graduation is a given. Not so and there many students that struggle all four years. Congrats to the DHS staff who worked so hard to earn this recognition.
Well said. The more I know about what it takes to graduate a high school student, the more impressed I am at what is achieved at DHS. Most of us don’t have what it takes to do this job. Thank goodness we have caring and committed teachers and staff who do.