CMS celebrated its increasing graduation rate this week. It hit a new high at 85.2 percent, edging out the state of North Carolina as a whole and Wake County.
It wasn't until the next day that the school-by-school numbers came out, and as you'd expect there's both good news and not-as-good news.
- Hawthorne High near uptown Charlotte had the biggest leap in graduation rate, to 90.6 percent from 65.9 percent the year before. The school is a bit of an unusual case, though. For years, Hawthorne was an alternative school. CMS decided last year to turn it into a medical science academy magnet school, and brought in some new students this year in that program. The graduating classes each year are also exceedingly small: only 29 students this year.
- Lincoln Heights Academy posted the lowest graduation rate at 66.7 percent. It's a school designed for students with behavioral issues. You can't compare this year's rate with past performance, however. The school was formerly known as Lincoln Heights Elementary, and only re-opened with high school students in 2011. That means a full class of seniors hadn't come through until this year.
- West Charlotte High posted another sizable increase in its graduation rate year, moving from 71.1 percent to 78 percent. The school made headlines last year by jumping 15 points in a single year. It's still the lowest graduation rate among high schools with a traditional population, however.
- Fifteen schools had graduation rates above 90 percent, just more than half of the 29 total schools with reported figures.
- Seven schools had graduation rates above 95 percent this year, which is the cut-off point where the state no longer gives a specific figure but instead just reports that the graduation rate was somewhere above that line. Ardrey Kell, Mallard Creek, Northwest School of the Arts, and Providence were repeats from last year. The Military and Global Leadership Academy and the Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology were new entrants on the list. The Performance Learning Center fell off the list, coming in at 93.2 percent this year.
- Garinger High took the biggest step back this year, falling from 92.2 percent to 87.6 percent.
Here's a full table I compiled, for your perusal:
| School | 2013-14 | 2012-13 |
|---|---|---|
| Ardrey Kell High | > 95 | > 95 |
| Butler High | 91.8 | 93.4 |
| Cato Middle College High | > 95 | > 95 |
| East Mecklenburg High | 83.5 | 83.8 |
| Garinger High | 87.6 | 92.2 |
| Harding University High | 87.6 | 87.6 |
| Hawthorne High | 90.6 | 65.9 |
| Hopewell High | 87.5 | 86.5 |
| Independence High | 88.6 | 84.4 |
| Lincoln Heights Academy | 66.7 | n/a |
| Mallard Creek High | > 95 | > 95 |
| Military and Global Leadership Academy | > 95 | 92.6 |
| Myers Park High | 91.3 | 85.6 |
| North Mecklenburg High | 92.3 | 88 |
| Northwest School of the Arts | > 95 | > 95 |
| Olympic High - Biotech Health Pub Admin | 88.5 | 85 |
| Olympic High - Intl Study, Global Econ | 85 | 76.2 |
| Olympic High - Renaissance School | 91.5 | 83.8 |
| Olympic High -Intl Bus and Comm Studies | 82.5 | 85.5 |
| Olympic High-Math Eng Tech Science | 92.8 | 93 |
| Performance Learning Center | 93.2 | > 95 |
| Phillip O Berry Academy of Technology | > 95 | 91.8 |
| Providence High | > 95 | > 95 |
| Rocky River High | 88.9 | 92.6 |
| South Mecklenburg High | 90.8 | 88 |
| Vance High | 84.2 | 81.3 |
| West Charlotte High | 78 | 71.1 |
| West Mecklenburg High | 85 | 77.4 |
| William Amos Hough High | 92.4 | 92.2 |
Posts
