With bright lights and a huge crowd of family and friends stacked on top of each other, you are adorned in a royal blue gown, your cap resting on your head. The day between your past and future is the present, where all of your hard work is rewarded by a diploma, a singular piece of paper that represents all the homework assignments and late nights.
However, not every student gets to walk across the stage for this diploma, whether it’s because of grades, absences, or the choice to no longer attend school.
In the 2022 school year, according to the Nebraska Department of Education, Millard North’s graduation rates hit a low after having trended downward since the 2019-2020 school year, with 87.12% of students who attended graduating within the typical 4 years. In 2023, the graduation rate is expected to be around 92.2%.
The district has identified the graduation rate as a lagging indicator, which means that when administration takes action, it will take a few years for the results to be clear and take effect.
“It’s not like I can just say, ‘Okay, I want more kids to graduate this year.’ There are a few things I can do, but a lot of it has to do with what we have done throughout the four years to get to that point,” Principal Aaron Bearinger said.
With graduation rates appearing to be on a positive trajectory, Bearinger, along with the staff, are working hard to keep raising them. To do so, they are starting from the ground up.
“A couple years ago, we started to look really specifically at freshmen,” Bearinger said. “We implemented some things to focus on freshman being on track. If they’re not on track after their freshman year, then it’s a lot more challenging to get them back on track for graduating.”
The first of these new implementations is the Freshman Navigator Program, for which a group of teachers, the Freshman Navigators, have the role of checking in with and guiding freshmen who appear to be struggling. The second is Freshman Refresh, where freshmen failing three or more classes come in on off-days, like non-freshmen testing days, to get additional help from teachers.
As for the rest of the student population, emphasis is being placed on presence.
“We know that tardies have been an issue, getting to class on time has been an issue, so we really try to get teachers to focus on the first five minutes, have something engaging for students. Maybe even have some sort of graded activity so that if they miss that, that’s going to impact their grade,” Bearinger said.
Another attendance incentive is the good standing policy, which states that students not passing at least four classes or who have ten tardies or absences cannot attend a school dance.
“We were one of the first schools to do the homecoming and prom good standing policy, which we continue to do to this day.
Tardies and absences they can’t do much about, but if it’s grades that are keeping them from going to homecoming, then they certainly have an impact and can get their grades up,” Bearinger said.
As far as absences, according to the Nebraska Department of Education, 24.72% of students in the 2022-23 school year were chronically absent. Chronic absence is defined as a student missing 10% or more days of a school year, which ends up being about 18 days a year. This number included Senior Kate Johnson.
“The school sent me a letter in the mail telling me how many absences I had and that if the absences continued then I could get sent to court,” Johnson said. “This helped me because I realized the seriousness of missing school that much.”
In an email to teachers and parents, Millard Superintendent John Schwartz introduced strategies for helping students struggling with absences, including following consistent morning and nighttime routines and, for parents, planning vacations and doctors appointments outside of school hours, taking an interest in their students’ education, and celebrating their successes in the classroom.
“Regular school attendance is critical for students’ academic achievement. Occasionally we all miss a day of work or school, and when a child is sick, they need to stay home. But when the missed days start to stack up, we want to help,” Schwartz said. “Think of school as a resource. We want to be a partner in your student’s success.”
Being present plays a large role in being on track to graduate.
“Students who attend school regularly are more likely to perform well in school, graduate on time, and have more opportunities to succeed after high school,” Schwartz said. “Simply stated, there are more doors open for people who show up and are reliable.”
With new implementations and goals in place, the graduation rate trajectory has no place to go but up.