Graduation Rates for Helix, Grossmont, Monte Vista, Mount Miguel

Also see 2012 La Mesa, Spring Valley High School Graduation Photos

New state data released in June shows La Mesa area high school graduation rates in 2010-11 were above the average for the state, county and for some schools, but below the average for others. 

The rate for was 81.8 percent for 2010-11, which compares favorably to the district average of 77.2 percent. However, the school saw a decline in the rate when compared to 2010-11, when it was 82.4 percent. Over the two years, the school's dropout rate stayed the same, at 6.4 percent.

Two Spring Valley schools, and , saw gradution rates below the district and state averages, at 76.3 and 68.7 respectively. The graduation rate for Monte Vista was 5.1 points higher than in 2009-10, while Mount Miguel's graduation rate actually dropped by about 9 percent, from 77.8.

Monte Vista's dropout rate was almost cut in half from '09-10, decreasing by 7.2 percent. But Mount Miguels's dropout rate was 5.2 points higher.

La Mesa's other public high school, which is not a part of the district, saw its graduation rate rise to 89.6 percent in 2010-11, up 6.1 percent. Similarly, its dropout rate plummeted from 13.8 percent in 2009-10 to just 4.4 percent last year, well below the rates for the GUHSD, county and state.

On the state level, the data shows that increasing percentage of California students are graduating within four years of entering high school.

"It's heading in the right direction," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said on a conference call announcing the high school graduation and dropout rates for the Class of 2011.

This is the second year the state's rates have been based on a state data system—CALPADS—that tracks individual students over their academic careers. Previous systems relied on group estimates.

The new data shows 76.3 percent of California high school students graduated within four years in 2011, up 1.5 percent from the previous class that was the first to use CALPADS.

Torlakson said though the numbers are not where state officials would like them to be ultimately, they are "good news" in the face of terrible budgets, turmoil and uncertainty, crowded classrooms, a shorter school year and eliminated summer school in some districts.

"We'd like to see the numbers climb higher and faster," Torlakson said.

Grossmont

The state's dropout rate, too, is headed in the right direction, Torlakson said, dropping just over 2 percent to 14.4 percent in the Class of 2011.

"Our research shows that chronic absence from school, even as early as kindergarten, is a strong indicator of whether a child will drop out of school later,” Torlakson said in a statement. “The dropout rate shows there’s still much work to be done, particularly to address the needs of disadvantaged and minority students. We must build on our work with parents and communities in the earliest years to pave the way for kids to succeed in school.” 

The dropout rate reflects students who are no longer enrolled in California schools and who are not known to have transferred out of state. With CALPADS, state education officials are able to track students as they move throughout the state—whether or not they let their original home school know they are leaving. But if students leave the state without notifying their last in-state school, they can be shown as a dropout.

Students who are still enrolled in school beyond four years, pursuing a GED or in a non-diploma special education program are not included as dropouts.

Patch editors Shauntel Lowe and Steven Bartholow contributed to this report.