The graduation and drop out rates in Springfield rose more sharply than the statewide results.
Jenna Dearborn, 17, a senior in the Springfield public day high school, left, confers with April Wesley, a special education and visual arts teacher and Rhonda Y. Jacobs, principal of alternative schools for the Springfield public schools. The graduation rate for alternative schools rose by nearly 20 percent in Springfield last year.
SPRINGFIELD – For years, the low high school graduation rate in Springfield has been a source of great concern for educators and parents, but new statistics released last week gave new hope the tide is turning.
The latest statistics on graduation and dropout rates in Springfield in 2012, showed percentage gains that outpaced the state averages.
The four-year graduation rate in Springfield climbed from 52.1 percent in 2011 to 56.6 percent in 2012. Likewise, the dropout rate showed improvement from 11.7 percent in 2011 to 10 percent in 2012.
Superintendent of Schools Daniel J. Warwick said last week he was “thrilled by our progress.”
“It’s a lot of work the last several years,” Warwick said. “It’s a credit to the hard work of the teachers, principals, counselors at the school level, and my team at the central office working very hard.”
“It’s a work in progress,” said Gilbert R. Traverso, principal at Putnam Vocational-Technical Academy. “We don’t let any students fall by the wayside without putting in a concerted effort to find out why they are struggling and intervene.”
There have been more than 800 parent meetings this year, Traverso said. “We want the parents to be partners with us in their child’s educational success.”
Warwick and principals said that strategies that were implemented and accelerated in recent years — ranging from early intervention to added attention to at-risk students – are making a difference. Urban schools across the country tend to have the greatest challenges in keeping students in schools.
“I think a key factor is poverty as the biggest obstacle to student success,” Warwick said. “What we try to focus on is making improvements, not making excuses. We are making sure we are focusing on every child.”
Subgroups in Springfield that have struggled the most in past years including the alternative program, English Language Learners, and the special education students, had even higher percentage gains in 2012 than other groups, Warwick said. The graduation rate for students in alternative program rose by 19.5 percent and the rate for English Language Learners rose by 9.2 percent.
The early intervention can occur at the elementary grades with follow-up in the later grades, Warwick said.
In a related initiative, students who are deemed at-risk of dropping out of school are provided with academic and social/emotional support, Warwick and principals said. There has also been an expansion of “alternative and flexible pathways” to graduation such as online credit recovery courses, to help keep students in school, Warwick said.
Warwick and principals also praised initiatives such as graduation coaches, ninth grade academies, and free night and summer courses.
The graduation rate statewide rose by 1.3 percent and its dropout rate decreased by two-tenths of a percentage point, according to statistics released by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The High School of Commerce saw its graduation rate rise by 5.3 percent, but it remains too low at 35.4 percent, administrators said.
Charles Grandson, Commerce’s principal for the past 17 months, said that shortly after his arrival, he launched weekly dropout prevention team meetings involving counselors, teachers and administrators.
In the past, students could go to guidance and just get a sign-out slip to be signed by their teachers, and leave, Grandson said.
“Now, no one leaves the building without talking to the principal – the student and parents,” Grandson said.
Students receive added help and have alternatives within the school, Grandson said. There is credit recovery program where they take courses online for failed classes and then night school, he said.
Students at risk of dropout are assigned a graduation coach who aids them until they graduate, Grandson said.
“I see hope,” Grandson said. “I think it is going to take time.”
Central High School’s graduation rate declined by 4.5 percent, but remained the highest among the four primary high schools at 74.6 percent.
“We are not happy with last year’s results and we are working tirelessly to ensure that next year’s results are much better,” Principal Thaddeus Tokarz said.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who serves as chairman of the School Committee, praised the citywide improvements in the rates. The school system will “continue to be relentless on this issue,” he said.
“There is much more work to be done but we are moving in the right direction,” Sarno said. “That was a substantial bump. It shows a lot of programs that we are putting in place are laying the foundation to push that graduation rate up.”
At Putnam, there is a multi-pronged effort to keep students in school including “consistent and fair expectations of all students because we believe all students can achieve,” Traverso said.
In addition, the school works hard to provide the teachers “meaningful professional development” and with the tools and resources to reach out and help more children, Traverso said.
There is a misconception in urban schools that parents do not want to be involved in their child’s education, Traverso said. There are parent meetings and home visits to address issues such as the students’ grades and attendance, he said.