News

Local high schools honored for graduate rates

By Bill Moss, Published: October 27, 2016

Henderson County Early College, West Henderson High School and Hendersonville High School were three of 70 North Carolina schools recognized for exceptionally high 2015-16 cohort graduation rates.

Early College was one of 62 schools in North Carolina with a four-year cohort graduation rate of 100 percent in 2015-16. West Henderson High, with a rate of 96.7 percent and Hendersonville High, with a rate of 95.6 percent, were among high schools in North Carolina recognized for achieving a cohort graduation rate of 95 percent or higher. State Superintendent June Atkinson honored the schools at a special ceremony in Durham on Tuesday.

A four-year cohort graduation rate measures the number of graduates who started together as freshmen and completed high school in four years.

This is the second year in a row that Early College has been in the state’s “100% Graduation Club,” and the second year in a row West Henderson High has been recognized for a graduation rate of 95 percent or higher. All three high schools outperformed the state average graduation rate of 85.9 percent in 2016.

“Henderson County Public Schools are committed to educating leaders who are college-ready and prepared for the real world after high school,” said HCPS Superintendent Bo Caldwell. “We’re very proud of our consistently high graduation rates, which are testaments to the efforts of our students and teachers.”

According to a N.C. Department of Public Instruction news release, the state’s cohort graduation rate has climbed significantly from 68.3 percent in 2006, and students statewide are meeting higher expectations and achieving at higher levels.

“Thirty-five percent of the graduating class has college credit, 140,000 business and industry credentials were earned, and nearly 139,000 students received a diploma endorsement certifying that they achieved a high level of preparation for career, college or both,” Atkinson said in the NCDPI release.