Marshall County Alternative High School continues to see progress in helping students get their diplomas. Teacher Katie Duran told the Plymouth School Board last week that 42 students attended the alternative high school during the 2017-2018 school year, up from 40 the year before. Twenty-four students attended night school, down from 33.
The collective graduation rate stands at 81 percent, but Duran said that could go up to 87 percent, if three returning students are able to graduate by October 1.
Duran reported that alternative high school students completed a total of 237 courses during the 2017-2018 school year. When you add credit recovery and night school students, that number goes up to 502, up from 482 the year before.
Duran said that 80 percent of students passed the End of Course Assessment in Math, while 90 percent passed the English ECA. She said the average daily attendance is still below their target, although at 77 percent, it was four-percent higher than the previous year.
During her report, Duran also highlighted three of the alternative school’s success stories from the past year. She said one senior was so far behind that it didn’t look like she would graduate until October. But after Duran worked with her, she completed 14 credits in one semester and graduated on-time.
Meanwhile, a single mom was able to graduate a full year early, while working every day after school. Duran said she’s now able to work full-time and plans to take classes to become a certified nursing assistant. Duran said a third student who was living on his own, supporting himself, and commuting from Winamac was not only able to catch up on classes but actually graduated early.
