Camden graduation rate rises again
Camden's graduation rate has increased for the fourth straight year, school district officials said Thursday, and stood at 64 percent for the last school year.
Camden's graduation rate has increased for the fourth straight year, school district officials said Thursday, and stood at 64 percent for the last school year.
The graduation rate for the 2011-12 school year was 49 percent. The state took over the district the following year, with Gov. Christie appointing Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard to lead the city's schools.
Almost 80 more students graduated last year than in 2011, district officials said. Not only has the overall rate improved, but the graduation rate among Latino students has increased from 44 percent to 66 percent since 2012, Rouhanifard said Thursday at a panel discussion among students at Brimm Medical Arts High School, one of the city's three magnet high schools.
The graduation rate among special education students rose from 38 percent to 56 percent, he said. At Woodrow Wilson High School, the graduation rate has increased for four consecutive years since 2012, climbing from 46 percent to 63 percent.
"We need to acknowledge that we have a lot of work left to do," Rouhanifard said. "But progress matters. Growth matters."
The district's dropout rate has declined from 20 percent to 15 percent since 2012, Rouhanifard said Thursday.
The graduation rate for the district, which has just under 10,000 students, included the city's five traditional public high schools. Charter high schools were not included, and the city's charter-hybrid "Renaissance" schools did not serve high schoolers this past year.
Statewide, the average graduation rate for the 2013-14 school year is 89 percent, officials said. The average for the 2014-15 school year has not yet been released.
Rouhanifard said Thursday that Camden leaders must do more to prepare students for college.
"Just because more students are receiving high school diplomas doesn't mean they're all ready for the next step," he said.
The panel discussion in the Brimm library featured 12 recent graduates who returned to talk to members of the school's junior class about college, graduate school, and careers.
Some are now studying mathematics or science, taking premed classes, or preparing to attend medical school. Others have become lawyers or social workers.
Edwin Coleman, who graduated in 2007 and went to Duke University, spoke about feeling out of place when he realized he was the only African American student in some lecture halls. Now he works for the U.S. government, investigating workplace discrimination, he said.
"I had to work through a lot of self-doubt," he said. "But I embraced the challenge."
856-779-3876 @AESteele