Posted on 11/22/2010 6:21:47 PM PST by RandysRight
http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/schoolid/2271/articleid/389125/newspaperid/2257/Northwood_dropout_rates_decrease.aspx
So Principal Blice calls my daughter a High School Drop Out by law and will have to explain for the rest of her life why she didn’t graduate from a public school, what a crock!!
My wife and I worked hard with the our daughter and the public education system but it was not working for her. We spent hours after school trying to assist her with homework and even consulted a personal tutor. Yet when we as a family decided what was best for our daughter, we choose to have her complete her education at CCCC to complete her high school diploma. For those few months, I never seen my daughter work so hard to complete her degree, on her own terms. My daughter never had a discipline problem in High School and I believe her teachers from Perry Harrison and Chatham County High school would agree. Our daughter now has a well-paying PT job as an intern, no less at a company that works in education She is also registering for Junior College next semester.
I believe we should be congratulating these kids that completed their high school education by an alternative route, whether it be homeschooling or other programs.
So Principal Brice, when you call my daughter a drop out, it was your public education and bureaucrats that are failing these kids, not the child or parents in many cases.
Also, in last month’s Chatham County newspaper, it read that since she got her high school diploma, she was not counted as drop out on the state’s statistics. So Principal Blice, quit trying to cover your own butt at my daughter’s expense. Below is the Chatham County High School newspaper and the quote from Principle Blice and the interview with my child.
“By law though, they are considered a dropout,” said Blice. “[So for] the rest of your life you’re going have to explain why you did not make it at a traditional high school.”
Randy’s Right
The complete article below quote:
“By law though, they are considered a dropout,” said Blice. “[So for] the rest of your life you’re going have to explain why you did not make it at a traditional high school.”
Last month’s Homecoming pep rally was filled with many memorable moments, leaving Northwood students with a lot to discuss. One conversation in particular was the small size of the senior class. When entering the gym in years past the bleachers were filled with enthusiastic seniors. At this year’s pep rally, the senior bleachers housed a new norm—vacancy. The 2011 senior class entered sophomore year with 212 students, but this year stands at just 177 students. This significant decline can be linked to several factors, dropouts being one of them. According to Choices Education Group, every school day, 7,000 teenagers become high school dropouts. Nationally dropouts are on the rise, but in the past two years, Northwood’s drops out rates have actually been improving.
Based on the 2010 School Four Year Cohort Graduation Rate, Northwood was at 81%. Preliminary findings show that 38 students dropped out from Northwood in 2009-2010. While in 2008-2009 a total of 45 students dropped out. Although things are improving, principal Chris Blice still feels that dropout rates are an issue in the school, county, state and nation. “I think it’s an issue everywhere. I think it’s regrettable, something I wish never happened. But it’s certainly something I wish we could change,” said Blice. But to tackle and fix the issue, the first step has to be identifying the cause. Both Blice and social worker Saundra Gardner think that students have a variety of real reasons for wanting to drop out. “Nine times out of 10, they’ll say poor attendance. Poor attendance is just a symptom of what causes it. Sometimes it’s family situations,” Blice said. “Sometimes it’s if they’ve gotten behind academically and they just don’t want to come to school. Sometimes it’s that they’ve gotten a job and now [they’re saying] ‘I can earn a dollar if I work, instead of coming to school.’” Males are twice as likely to drop out as females and a majority of dropouts leave during their junior year. Gardner has a different description of the typical dropout. She sees students with average grades dropping out of high school. A major predictor of dropouts is the age of a student when they enter high school from middle school. Statistics show that there is a higher chance that students entering high school at age 16 will drop out. Northwood exit interviews reveal that many students drop out because they feel that CCCC can offer a quicker way to a diploma. Others reported dropping out because they’ve been suspended numerous times and feel they could benefit from a less structured environment. Many also feel like they cannot graduate from high school before age 21, which is a requirement. Some leave because they have to work and a few have left to be parents. “I really can’t tell you that the students who drop out are the students who struggle the most,” Gardner said. “Because a lot of students could have graduated from Northwood but decided to go to CCCC instead. And those are students that, in some cases, even had the potential to go to college who just decided that CCCC was what they wanted.” Students who wish to drop out are required to bring their parents for verification. Then the social workers and guidance counselors recommend alternatives such as SAGE Academy, which requires only 21 credits to graduate. Other options are doubling up on classes, doing a fifth period, or taking online classes for credit recovery. Jordan Dye faced this decision when she made the choice to withdraw from Northwood and attend CCCC for her senior year. She discussed it with her family and they all agreed that it would be better for her to leave Northwood. “I found out you could graduate in two months instead of spending two…semesters at Northwood. So I decided to go,” she said. But what Dye and other students may not realize is that officially withdrawing and going to a community college is considered dropping out. “At first, people thought that I went there to get a GED. But I actually went to CCCC and got a high school diploma. So it’s the same thing as if I were to graduate from Northwood,” said Dye. Dye is happy with her circumstances. Her only regret is not being able to experience senior year at Northwood. Ultimately she feels that students who go to a community college should not be counted as dropouts since they are still continuing their education. “I didn’t really drop out. I just transferred to get a different type of education. ‘Dropout’ to me is for somebody who just drops out of school and does not come back at all,” Dye said. George Gregor-Holt, director of student services for Chatham County Schools, agrees with Dye but the state of North Carolina has decided that students who leave high school to attend a community college will be counted in the dropout rate. “By law though, they are considered a dropout,” said Blice. “[So for] the rest of your life you’re going have to explain why you did not make it at a traditional high school.” Chatham County Schools has started implementing many changes to keep teenagers in school. Chatham County Schools has a drop out task force. This task force is composed of administrators around the county who attend workshops to create better strategies. Gregor-Holt’s ideal solution is to adjust graduation requirements. He wants students to take only the necessary classes with basic academics that appeal to their concentration of vocation. “I think students should recognize how important it is for them to follow through on walking across the stage and getting a diploma,” Gardner said. “And that it is a really good way to end your high school career.” Gregor-Holt concurs with Gardner but thinks students often need to learn for themselves what life is like without a high school diploma. “Sometimes students have to go out and see what it is like. Given the financial environment, applying for a job and there’s like 50 or 60 applicants, and 40 of them have high school diplomas and you don’t. You’re not even going to be considered,” said Gregor-Holt. “Even if it’s just to show the piece of paper so you can be competitive in this workforce we have right now. It is important to stay in school.”
If she needs a GED, she can get it and then go to a community college. If she keeps her class load light enough, there won’t be a reason she can’t graduate with “A”s.
Life doesn’t end with high school. It’s what you do afterward that matters.
Homeshool is the answer
I can’t figure out the context here. What is CCCC?
Some people just can’t take the dumbed down, brainwashing, mind controlled atmosphere of public education. There’s just something in them that rejects it all.
The words of the school Principal are a perfect example of what your daughter rejected, consciously or unconsciously.
Your daughter should be very proud of herself for what she accomplished and still is accomplishing—at least as proud as you are of her. She is a high school graduate and nothing that dork says can take that away from her. It doesn’t matter how she got her degree, she’s got it. The innane mumblings of that jerk of a Principal notwithstanding.
And you, I wish I had had a dad like you. Good work, dad.
And you, daughter of Randy...... Congratulations!!!!
Missouri has laws like that, where you quit school and if you don’t re-enroll in a fixed time frame, you are a “drop-out”...if you re-enroll past the date, however and then graduate, you are a “graduate” AND a “drop-out”...crazy...magritte
exactly! she can even get on the Dean's List in JC... what we want for our children is to be lifelong learners... Never Stop Learning! that's my motto...
I was wondering what CCCC is too.
Today he owns his own successful business in the Adirondack mountains of New York State in addition to receiving his teacher's pension. : )
Traditional highschools my ARSE.Life starts after highschool.I hope the young lady does well.
Central Carolina Community College
I never graduated from high school either. I consider it a badge of honor.
One person I was in high school with dropped out after his Junior year. A very smart kid. The school principal pulled off him getting into Wabash College in the fall of what would have been his Sr. year in H.S. After graduating from Wabash, he went back to Boston and has had a successful construction business. He has a blue collar background when he grew up.
Several years ago, at a 20-year class reunion for a former high school group of my students, a successful business man was introduced as having been invited by other students. As one, then another, of the attendees stood to say a few words, this man also spoke, after being introduced by another person who mentioned the business success and achievements of his friend.
The guest's words were thoughtful and emotional. First, he thanked the others for inviting him, adding that he appreciated it especially because he had been a "dropout," and had not felt worthy for some time of being included in the group, with doubts about whether or not to attend. He briefly told the story of some of the difficulties he had faced while in school and of his guilt about leaving school. He humbly spoke of his family, his community, and his appreciation for the kindness of his former classmates.
As a former teacher, my turn came next. Prepared remarks went by the wayside, for this was a "teaching moment," and it could not be missed. A few years earlier, I had participated in a state group purportedly seeking to "improve" public schools, which turned out to be a political move by a public official seeking political advantage. Remembering that, and the vast evidence available of the abject failure of these "public schools" to improve the learning performance of children, my remarks were addressed first to the man who had just poured out his heart about the burden he had carried at having been labeled by the very "system" which had failed him as a "dropout."
It was apparent that his life had been impacted by that label, and that no amount of success on his own part as a positive influence in his community, as a person who provided jobs to others, as one who gave money to charity and to churches, and as an all-around good citizen--none of these had erased the stigma placed upon him by so-called "educators."
My first remarks were directed to him, telling him that he should never allow that term to define him again, that he may have been one of the wise students who recognized that he was not being served well and made a choice to seek employment, work hard, achieve, and better himself despite the lack of a high school diploma. He was advised to treasure the fact that his fellow students remembered him and wanted him to be a part of the reunion and that no label applied by institutional bureaucrats can define the potential of any human being.
The attendees' applause and support of those remarks spoke volumes, as others agreed with the premise.
Failing in their duties to appropriately challenge students and to improve their learning performance, public education bureaucrats, such as the Principal named here, attempt to deflect their own failure on to the victims--the under served students and families who pay their salaries and future pensions.
With so many students who graduate from high school, only to find that they must take remedial reading or math courses when they get to college, how can these so-called educators label anyone in a negative context who simply chooses to find another path to success? Home schooling, as one retired Professor of Education at a major university has stated, is the "brightest spot" in American education today.
Generally not neccesary. My daughter did not attend High School and entered a community college at 15. More Pubic school BS. (Typo intended.)
John Taylor Gatto’s book, “Weapons of Mass Instruction,” addresses this concept very well — he provides a great list of successful people who were “drop-outs.”
Thank You
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