Carson City schools’ graduation rates increase

The Carson City School District saw an increase in the number of students who graduated from high school during 2016-17, according to data released from the Nevada Department of Education.

The district’s graduation rate for students who began in 2013 and graduated in 2017 was 83.9 percent, which was above the state’s graduation rate of 80.85 percent. The district has seen a significant increase in its graduation rate in the last two years as it has gone up from 74.3 percent in 2015 and 80.31 percent in 2016.

Carson High and Pioneer High both recorded impressive graduations rates in 2017 with Carson at 93.2 and Pioneer at 80.88. The district’s graduation rate includes Carson and Pioneer High Schools and the district’s adult school.

In 2016, Carson High’s graduation rate was 88.1 percent while Pioneer’s was 70 percent. District Superintendent Richard Stokes credited the gains with the district’s learner-centered approach in which the needs of the individual student is stressed. Or as Stokes put it, “whatever it takes is what we try to do. Our goal is to make sure every one of our students graduates from high school. We feel like some of the applications from our learner-centered approach is making a difference.”

Stokes added he was impressed with the progress made by Pioneer.

“They made some amazing strides,” Stokes said. “I’m real proud of not only the students but the staff for embracing the learner-model concept. It’s an approach they are taking very seriously.”

Nevada’s graduation rate topped 80 percent for the first time. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Steve Canavero says the 80.85 percent grad rate for 2016-17 is great news for Nevada’s economy in need of more skilled workers.

That includes 83.2 in Clark County — an increase of 8.3 percent from the previous year in the largest school district in the state.

Washoe County high schools reported an 84 percent graduation rate, up 7.4 percent, and Elko County 85.1 percent, an increase of 5.1 percent.

Other county percentages were: Churchill 73.3; Douglas 87.5; Eureka 100; Humboldt 89.5; Lander 92.3; Lincoln 86.1; Lyon 83.6; Mineral 84.4; Nye 79.3; Pershing 100; Storey 90.6; White Pine 69.9.