It isn’t a perfect score, but it’s close. The on-time graduation rate for Eatonville High School is now 95 percent, according to Eatonville School District officials. That’s an 8 increase over the 2013–14 school year and 5 better than the rate in 2014–15. Statewide, Washington’s graduation rate has hovered at about 78 percent in recent years. The higher mark and improvement in the Eatonville district can be attributed to several factors, said John Paul Colgan, the principal the past two years of the district’s lone, approximately 500-student high school. The first one, he said, is the faculty. “To say that our teachers get to know their students and their needs is an understatement,” Colgan said. “By the time they are seniors, the students have been well-served by competent, caring teachers, who have empowered them to take meaningful next steps after graduation.” Another factor bolstering on-time graduation is the addition of a graduation specialist. Cathy Kerr, who works in that role, monitors students’ progress, meets with them and their families, and “excels at making positive connections with other Pierce County schools that provide educational options for Eatonville students looking for additional choices,” Colgan said. Also steering students toward graduation are counselors MaryAnn Baker and Corinna Schoonover. They make sure all of the necessary credits, state assessments and graduation requirements are met, Colgan explained. “Students don’t fall through the cracks along the way,” he said. Colgan noted that students who need academic support get in a team approach by counselors, teachers and advisors “We have a great relationship among the teachers, counseling staff and the career center. We care deeply for our kids, and the relationships we have with our students matter most,” said teacher Mike Moeller, the senior class advisor. A new program, called Ignite, was started this year to help students make the transition from middle school to high school. “Entering high school can be complex,” Colgan said, adding that the goal of Ignite is to make the high school as “warm and welcoming as possible” for incoming freshmen. Upperclassmen acting as mentors lead freshman orientations, discuss the younger students’ strengths, visit the middle school campus and establish relationships with eighth-graders that will continue when they start attending the high school. The peer support can help the new high schoolers stay on track, Colgan said. While the high school’s rising graduation rate “is great news,” the primary goal throughout the school district is to inspire learning for a lifetime, Colgan said “Graduating from high school is a milestone, but life-long learners celebrate a multitude of milestones beyond the classroom,” he said. “That’s what counts most.” Colgan became Eatonville High’s principal in the 2014-15 school year, after serving as assistant principal at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. For Washington’s statewide graduation rate, the state tracks who graduates in four or five years. Washington’s current “extended” graduation rate — the percentage of students who graduate within five years — is more than 80 percent, officials said last March. “Our goal is to support student learning every step of the way,” said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn. “We need to make sure we’re meeting the needs of these kids so they can be successful citizens. If they earn a diploma, they have a much better chance for success as adults.”
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