Top marks for Catholic board
Niagara Catholic District School Board has again received top marks for its student graduation rate.
With 92.1 per cent of its students graduating after four years, the board ranked second highest among Ontario’s 57 Englishlanguage school boards, behind York Catholic District School Board’s four-year graduation rate of 94 per cent.
The local Catholic board also achieved a 94 per cent rating among students graduating after five years.
It’s the third consecutive year the board placed second for fouryear graduation rates, and it’s almost one per cent higher than the board’s graduation rate was a year earlier.
Meanwhile, 78.9 per cent of District School Board of Niagara students-graduated after four years — up from 77.4 per cent a year earlier. DSBN’s five-year graduation rate was 84.6 per cent, according to Ministry of Education data published earlier this month.
While Niagara Catholic education director John Crocco is again proud of staff and students for the “very impressive” graduation rate, he won’t be satisfied until that rate reaches 100 per cent.
“When you look at the results and you see we achieved 94 per cent, well, there are six per cent of students that didn’t graduate and we can put a name to all of those students. We will always strive to have 100 per cent,” Crocco said.
He called it a “kindergarten to Grade 12 success story,” adding that all staff play a role “collectively to make this happen as we meet the needs of all of our students.”
The board is developing “new and innovative programs” to enhance its graduation rate, such as summer camps to give students struggling with math some extra help, as well as re-engagement strategies to help students who have left high school without graduating earn their diploma.
For example, he said, the board is working with Niagara College to give students an opportunity to work towards completing their high school education while at the same time earning college credits. Catholic board chair Rev. Paul MacNeil, in a news release, said he shares that pride in students, adding it comes as “certainly no surprise to those of us who see firsthand the commitment to student success by all those involved in our Catholic schools.”
DSBN board chair Dale Robinson said local public high schools have seen year over year increases for the past decade.
“We have a completely focused board of trustees and a completely focused senior administration, all of our staff, everyone who is connected with the DSBN no matter what their capacity, is focused on helping students achieve and become the best possible person they can be,” she said.
“With every one of our actions, we hope to see results every year.”
Ontario’s French-language school boards ranked highest in the province.
Conseil scolaire catholique Providence which runs numerous schools across Ontario, including Jean-Vanier in Welland, achieved a 94.9 per cent graduation rate for four years, and 97.3 per cent among students graduating after five years.
The average graduation rate for school boards across Ontario was 79.6 per cent for four years and 86.5 per cent for five years.