Franklin County High School Graduation Rate at 82% for Class of 2013

While the graduation rate for Franklin County High School was 76% last year, this year the rate took a dramatic jump.

Franklin County High School’s graduation rate for the Class of 2013 was 82%, based on the new state formula.

“All of us have worked on it, especially the high school,” noted Franklin County School Superintendent Dr. Ruth O’Dell. “Six years we’ve been working on improving the graduation rate and most of the kids that have been affected by our efforts have been at the high school for the past four years.  The teachers have now had a couple of years where they’re seeing students coming in that I hope they see are better prepared.”

When Dr. O’Dell took over as school superintendent in Franklin County in 2007, the high school graduation rate was just over 50%.

But for the past six years, teachers at the elementary and middle school levels have also been working to prepare their students for high school work.

“I believe the entire school system has now bought into the importance of improving the graduation rate,” she said.

One area at the high school where teachers have been concentrating on over the past several years is not letting students who are struggling fall through the cracks.

“I believe our high school has done a wonderful job of paying closer attention to kids who need a little more, a more motivation, a few more chances,” she said. “So, we’ve looked at lots of different alternatives for them. And they’ve gotten very creative at the high school.”

O’Dell said teachers are now keeping track of those students and are keeping track of the students’ credits. As a result, teachers are able to help students who need it, make up credits.

“We’re doing a lot more credit recovery than we had in the past,” she said.

Another area Dr. O’Dell believes has kept the graduation rate lower in the past has been the graduation test, which students take in the 11th grade. The test covers the student’s entire high school career and some have failed it.

“Kids would get enough credits to graduate but they couldn’t pass the test,” O’Dell said. “So, teachers have also been very creative on more specific tutoring and areas that the kids had not passed. They have very good record keeping on those tests the students have or have not passed.”

Dr. O’Dell said teachers at the high school have put in special programs to help students, such as special summer school classes and other classes throughout the school year.

But O’Dell said just getting out of high school is not enough. She said more emphasis will be placed in the coming years on getting students from high school to college or technical college so they can be successful in life as well as in the classroom.