Graduation rates are up at Windsor area public schools.
The Greater Essex Country District School Board (GECDSB) reported just over 79 per cent of students who entered Grade 9 in the 2013-14 school year earned their Ontario Secondary Schools Diploma in June of 2018. That’s an increase of 1.2 per cent over the previous year. The school board also said the five-year graduation rate has risen to 85.5 per cent.
“We are seeing more students taking advantage of a wide variety of opportunities - the coop programs we offer with community partners at the Unemployed Help Centre and the Carpenters’ District Council of Canada, Local 494, for example,” said Superintendent of Education Vicki Houston.
Experiential Learning, Specialist High Skills Majors, Dual Credit, Coop and O.Y.A.P. are all examples of programs offered to help improve graduation rates in the local public school board.
The GECDSB has also focused on identifying students that may not be on track to graduate with their peers and is providing support to meet the OSSD requirements on time.
Public schools across Windsor-Essex also have a re-engagement teacher designed to bring back students who left school to complete their high school education.