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The Wyoming Department of Education released its high school graduations rates for 2019-20 this week, with the data putting the Powell school district near the top of the list.
Across the state, …
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The Wyoming Department of Education released its high school graduations rates for 2019-20 this week, with the data putting the Powell school district near the top of the list.
Across the state, the graduation rate climbed to 82.3%, up from 82.1% the prior year and marking the seventh straight year of improvement.
Among Wyoming’s 48 school districts, Park County had two crack the top five. Park County District 16, in Meeteetse, ranked No. 1 with a 100% graduation rate, while Park County District 1 in Powell came in at No. 5 at 95.2%.
PCSD 1 Superintendent Jay Curtis said the high graduation rate is indicative of the hard work put in during a student’s entire school career.
“It doesn’t start at the high school level,” Curtis said. “It starts at kindergarten, frankly.”
When a student leaves first grade able to read on grade level, they are not as likely to struggle later on. That does not mean high school is time for kids to skate, though.
“There is an unblievable amount of work done at the high school, by the administrators, the counselors and the teachers,” Curtis said.
There is more to the graduation rate than just Powell High School, too. It includes students at the Shoshone Learning Center (SLC), where many of the learners are faced with special needs and challenges.
“SLC does a tremendous job of getting kids across the stage,” Curtis said. “This is a great job done by both of those high schools and for everyone from kindergarten on up.”
“When we get to 100%, we’ll have a celebration,” said board member Greg Borcher. “Notice I said when, not if.”
When the numbers are broken down by building, it appears Borcher might have to pony up for cake and balloons. The graduation rate for PHS on its own is 94.7%, but the Shoshone Learning Center hit the coveted 100% mark for the 2019-20 school year.
Curtis was not in the least surprised that Meeteetse had a 100% graduation rate, either. Typically, smaller schools have higher graduation rates. In the nine years Curtis served as superintendent at PCSD 16, it had a 100% rate for seven years. Those classes were generally between nine and 12 students. Even with small class sizes, Curtis said there was still a lot of work to get some students to graduation day.
