Yesterday, the Indiana Department of Education released the graduation rates for the 2013-14 school year.

The data shows that the schools in and around Kosciusko County ranked fairly well among Hoosier high schools.

(Information provided by IDOE)

Warsaw Community High School ended up with a graduation rate of 93.8 percent. This is an increase of almost 4 percent from last year.

“We were very encouraged about our increase,” says Warsaw Community School Corporation Superintendent David Hoffert. “That’s due to corporation-wide focus to make sure we continue to raise that graduation rate.”

Hoffert says the goal at Warsaw Community High School is to consistently have a graduation rate above 90 percent. “We have a number of safety nets,” he says. “We’re tracking every kid starting at kindergarten. You can identify drop out students in second or third grade.”

Gateway Education Center and Warsaw Career Center are just a couple of the programs the WCS offers to keep students on the path to a diploma. Hoffert also says that creating strong relationships with all of the students is essential for getting students all the way to graduation.

“Our goal is to always be over 90 percent,” Hoffert says. “But our secondary goal is to keep pushing that number up.”

Seeing a 3 percent increase was Wawasee High School. (See Wawasee Graduation Rate Improves) Wawasee graduated 86.6 percent of its cohorts last year. However, Wawasee High School also has a goal of achieving a 90 percent graduation rate, and it fell just shy of its goal. Additionally, over in Winona Lake, Lakeland Christian Academy scored an 86.7 percent graduation rate.

Statewide average graduation rates (Information provided by IDOE)

Most of the area schools boasted rates higher than the state average of 83.4 percent. Tippecanoe Valley High School ranked just under with a graduation rate of 79.7 percent. Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation Superintendent Brett Boggs had not yet commented on the TVHS graduation rate at time of posting.

UPDATE: Boggs has issued the following statement regarding the 2013-14 graduation rate:

“The graduation rate at TVHS reflects a four year cohort. The number of students that started with us as freshmen was compared to the same persons that graduated four years later. The actual number of students that started with us senior year and graduated with us the same year is in the high 90 percent.

At TVHS we are not satisfied with our cohort graduation rate. We have already implemented programs to better track students during the four year span and better help students that are struggling. This is an on-going process. We are confident that our grad rate will rise in a timely fashion.”