The Georgia Department of Education released the Clarke County School District’s public high school’s graduation rates for the 2023-24 school year on Oct. 8. According to the GADOE data, Clarke Central High School’s four-year graduation rate increased 3% to 83.1%, and the overall CCSD rate also increased by 1.7% to 83%. “(I’m) always trying to think of ways in which we can get students across the finish line,” CCHS Graduation Coach Tonia Jones said. “Some students who don’t find success here at Clark Central, (so I try to) talk with them and with their families about alternatives. But, what it really boils down to is students earning those credits and getting enough credits to graduate.” Photo from the ODYSSEY archives
Despite an increase in CCSD and CCHS graduation rates, CCHS staff continue to focus on providing support for struggling students.
The Clarke County School District’s graduation rates for the 2023-24 school year were released by the Georgia Department of Education on Oct. 8. Although the data showed an increase districtwide and at Clarke Central High School, CCHS administrators still aim to make improvements to support students.
According to the GaDOE, CCSD showed a 5.7% increase to 81.1% in the districtwide four-year graduation rate, and a 3.4% increase to 80.4% in the overall rate. At CCHS, the four-year graduation rate increased 3% to 83.1%, and the overall rate increased by 1.7% to 83%.
A juxtaposition shows the differences in graduation rates between the 2023-24 school year and 2024-25 school year, in the Clarke County School District and Clarke Central High School respectively. According to the Georgia Department of Education, CCHS experienced a 1.7% increase in the overall graduation rate, something CCHS Assistant Principal Everett Nealy feels could be improved. “We’re too one-size-fit-all model in (CCSD), and we need to have other options for our kids who may not want to be on the college track,” Nealy said. “A lot of our kids have struggled through school all the way, and they get (to CCHS) and they can’t read and write, they can’t do math, and so they can’t work on grade level.” Graphic by Janie Ripps
“This is going on my 11th year (at CCHS), and so having the graduation rate come out and (show) that we did have an increase, it’s awesome,” CCHS Graduation Coach Tonia Jones said. “It’s great when we see that because we know that more students are graduating.”
However, there are still students who need alternative options. According to Jones, if a student doesn’t find success at CCHS, some other options include Classic City High School, Foothills Regional High School, Athens Technical College and a General Education Department credential.
For Assistant Principal Everett Nealy, more amplified and intentional efforts of flexibility to set students up for success early on are necessary to increase these rates.
“We’re too one-size-fit-all model in (CCSD), and we need to have other options for our kids who may not want to be on the college track,” Nealy said. “(We need to) engage them with things they’re interested in, because I think a lot of our kids have struggled through school all the way, and they get (to CCHS) and they can’t read and write, they can’t do math, and so they can’t work on grade level.”
“We’ve failed the kids in some ways, in terms of trying to make sure that they have an opportunity to learn, not necessarily here at (CCHS), but in other spaces. So I think we can be a little more creative with supporting all the kids here.”
— Dr. Swade Huff,
CCHS Principal
Leaning on these alternatives and flexibility is also a goal of CCHS Principal Dr. Swade Huff, who believes there are still measures that need to be taken to better support students.
“The issues that we have with students who (fall) off track (in ninth grade) have been historical, and we continue to make the same decisions in terms of keeping those kids in the mainstream when we need to look at alternatives,” Huff said. “We’ve failed the kids in some ways, in terms of trying to make sure that they have an opportunity to learn, not necessarily here at (CCHS), but in other spaces. So I think we can be a little more creative with supporting all the kids here.”
