Mobile County’s public school system posted a significant jump in its four-year, on-time graduation rate for the Class of 2014, climbing to 82 percent from 75 percent the year before, a gain that officials attribute to a coordinated push spanning elementary schools through senior year.
District leaders announced the new figure at the school system’s legislative delegation meeting earlier this month, describing the improvement as the product of career counseling, additional academic support, stronger parental involvement and a consistent, system-wide message that earning a diploma matters.
The most dramatic turnaround came at Blount High School, which improved its graduation rate by 23 percentage points over three years, climbing from 59 percent in 2012 to 79 percent last year. Blount’s principal credited the school’s Health Career Access Program, a signature academy launched in 2013 that has pushed more students toward certified nursing assistant credentials and other health care pathways. Williamson High School posted the second-largest gain among the district’s 12 high schools, improving by 22 percentage points.
Baker High School in west Mobile continues to post the county’s highest graduation rate at 91 percent among its roughly 2,600 students, followed by Citronelle High at 88 percent. B.C. Rain High School and Mary G. Montgomery High School are tied for third at 85 percent.
District officials pointed to several systemwide strategies behind the gains. Middle schoolers are now introduced to a career-planning computer program in sixth grade to help identify interests and appropriate high school coursework. Beginning in the 2013-14 school year, incoming freshmen were required to complete a formal plan of study, while all seniors had to complete a career portfolio, including a resume, transcript and record of extracurricular or work experience, in order to graduate.
The district’s eight signature academies, career-focused programs of study tied to local workforce needs, also played a role. Programs range from Blount’s health care pathway to a new maritime, engineering and entrepreneurship track at Williamson and an aviation and aerospace academy at B.C. Rain that has more than doubled its enrollment since launching.
Beyond the academic programs, school counselors and dropout-prevention specialists across the district’s 12 high schools have leaned on credit recovery programs, peer mentoring and one-on-one intervention to keep at-risk students on track. Officials described a deliberate effort to make sure no student is allowed to withdraw without first sitting down with a counselor to review other options, alongside extracurricular activities designed to give struggling students a reason to stay engaged with school.