Five KCSD high schools boast 2023 grad rates above 90%; overall district rate steady
Jan. 25, 2024 / Five high schools in the Klamath County School District boasted graduation rates above 90% in 2023 and one of those – Bonanza Junior/Senior High School – hit a perfect graduation rate of 100%.
The other KCSD schools with above 90% graduation rates were Henley High School at 97.9%, Lost River at 91.7%, Gilchrist at 90.9%, and Chiloquin at 90.5%. Mazama’s rate of 88.4% was down from 2022, but still nearly 7 percentage points above the state average.
“The graduation rate is a product of how we support students and what we do on a daily basis,” said Bonanza Jr/Sr High Principal Jordan Osborn. “Every single staff member is a true champion for our kids – from our teachers and support staff to our secretaries, bus drivers, and custodians. Graduating 100% of last year’s senior class validates the hard work we did together.”
“I am proud of last year’s senior class,” he added. “They faced extreme adversity in their high school careers and they showed determination, grit, and perseverance. I loved being their principal.”
The class of 2023 were freshman in spring of 2020, when the pandemic closed school buildings and forced students into remote learning. The pandemic continued to play havoc with traditional in-person learning well into 2021.
A districtwide look
Overall, the county school district’s four-year on-time graduation rate of 79.90% represents a half a percentage point decrease from 2022, coming in at 1.4 percentage points below the state’s rate of 81.3%, according to data released Jan. 25 by the Oregon Department of Education.
KCSD’s rate includes Falcon Heights, an alternative high school for students who are behind on credits and at risk of dropping out. Falcon Heights, though tracking in at lower overall on-time graduation rates than the county’s six traditional high schools, has seen consistent increases over the past five years – from 29.49% in 2019 to 47% in 2023.
Graduates who earn GEDs or extended diplomas do not factor into the on-time four-year graduation rate, but instead are considered completers. The district’s 2023 four-year completer rate was 83.2%, and the five-year completer rate for 2023 was 85.8%.
“I think the data shows that we do not give up on students if they are behind due to life circumstances,” said Glen Szymoniak, superintendent of the Klamath County School District. “We work hard and have programs like Falcon Heights and Great Basin Homeschool Center in place to help all students find a way to graduate.”
Focus on Bonanza
Bonanza’s 100% graduation rate represents several years of hard work to create a culture and climate that cultivates success, said Osborn, who took the reins in the 2019-20 school year, the first year of the pandemic. “We now have systems in place that support struggling students on a daily basis. We do weekly grade checks and meet with every student who is failing in a class.”
The school also has improved its facilities, including updating the culinary and science labs, remodeling a former shop into a community CTE (career and technical education) hub, and offering new programs and classes.
“Our continual improvement at the school is something I’m extremely proud of,” Osborn said. “If you provide students with excellent facilities, classrooms, and teachers, you can expect excellence in return.”
The work continues
The district’s overall 2023 rate, though an improvement from the pandemic-impacted 2021 rate, is still lower than 2020’s 83.89%, which represented six years of steady improvement.
District leaders say more social emotional supports, including a counselor in every school, as well as implementation of new math curriculum and small-group and project-based learning in the elementary schools is expected to positively affect student learning and, ultimately, graduation rates.
Superintendent Szymoniak gave credit to the KCSD school board for understanding the need to support improvements districtwide for all grades.
“Impacting graduation rates is not something that is done solely in a student’s senior year or even in high school,” Szymoniak said. “The work to achieve outstanding graduation rates begins in kindergarten and continues as students progress through school. To avoid dropping out, students need to feel successful at every grade level. We are doing that by investing in small-group instruction, providing individualized attention at the elementary level to build self-esteem through competence.”
The district also will continue to increase the availability of career and technical education courses at both the junior high and high school levels to engage students and contribute to their employability and lifelong success, he said.
Another area the district plans to focus on is ongoing support for houseless students, said Jeff Bullock, KCSD director of school improvement and secondary programs. Fifty-nine KCSD students were considered houseless in 2023, a 23% increase from the year before. The graduation rate of those students decreased by 7 percentage points. The district currently has two full-time specialists who work to support houseless students.
“Overall, we are proud of the work our schools and students are doing to meet academic standards and learn career-based skills,” Bullock said. “Student success can be attributed to engaging learning that includes career education, a caring and professional staff, and a focus on improvement.”
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