A student receives his diploma last spring at Whiteland Community High School.
The Indiana Department of Education released updated graduation rates last week, and half of the six Johnson County public high schools experienced more than a 3% change in their rates.
Indian Creek High School, Greenwood Community High School and Edinburgh Community High School saw the greatest difference in their year-to-year graduation rates. At Center Grove High School, Whiteland Community High School and Franklin Community High School, the difference was negligible at a less than 1% change.
Greenwood Community High School, which in 2020 had the third-best rate in the county at 92.4%, dipped to 88.6%, placing it sixth out of the six county high schools. The school district is hopeful new opportunities for students will help increase the graduation rate in years to come, said Terry Terhune, superintendent.
Part of that strategy includes expanded pathways for graduation. Under graduation pathways, students can complete a traditional academic diploma or select a different pathway to graduation that involves specialized courses, Terhune said.
Up until now, the main pathways either centered around career and technical education or around fields related to science, technology, engineering and math. But soon, students at Greenwood will join other high schools throughout Indiana to complete pathways in journalism and fine arts. The change is due to administrators at Greenwood schools asking the department of education to add those pathways, Terhune said.
“The (pathways) approved are in areas really meaningful to our kids,” he said. “That’s one of the best ways in trying to continue to improve our graduation rate.”
Edinburgh High School also saw a decrease in its graduation rate, from 93.6% in 2020 to 90.4% last year. Because the graduating class at Edinburgh High School is only about 50 students, having one or two students not graduating would account for such a decrease, said Ron Ross, superintendent.
“Our high school team works tirelessly with each student and their family to make sure they graduate,” Ross said in an email. “We have a partnership with the Simon Youth Academy that helps provide an alternative path if the traditional path to a diploma doesn’t work for a particular student. We will continue working with students and families in our efforts to reach a 100% graduation rate.”
Indian Creek High School saw the greatest increase in its graduation rate, from 92.2% in 2020 to 96.4% last year, good enough for the best graduation rate in Johnson County. In 2021, 135 of 139 students either graduated or completed their required course work, said Luke Skobel, Indian Creek High School’s principal.
“Really, we’re just continuing to do the things we always do. I have an excellent guidance department that stays on top of the kids who are struggling and we have an alternative education plan that catches kids up as non-traditional learners,” Skobel said.
“It’s just a testament to our counselors, the whole administrative staff and teachers and the work we put into our kids. One of the positives of being a smaller school is we know all our kids. We have faculty members that know everyone. There’s an advocate for each of our kids.”
