The Georgia Department of Education is boasting an all-time high graduation rate under a new calculation method introduced in 2012. The state’s high school graduation rate rose this year to 84.1% – up from 83.7% in 2021.
This year’s rate is Georgia’s highest under the adjusted cohort calculation required by federal law since 2012. The method was introduced to standardize how graduation rates are calculated nationwide.
2022 graduation rates for all Georgia public high schools
A total of 107 Georgia school districts recorded graduation rates this year at or above 90%. In addition, 41 districts recorded rates at or above 95%.
Habersham County’s overall graduation rate for 2022 was 97.5%, up from 76% in 2012. The system graduation rate takes into account dropouts from Habersham Central, Habersham Success Academy, and Habersham Ninth Grade Academy.
Habersham Central High School’s 2022 graduation rate is 98.7%. The Habersham Success Academy posted a 100% graduation rate among its class of 21 students.
Habersham’s graduation rate is in the top 10 of the 179 traditional school systems in Georgia.
Among schools in the Pioneer Regional Service Agency (RESA), Habersham Success Academy has the highest graduation rate, with Habersham Central tied for third with Lumpkin County behind Union County.
“The staff at the Habersham Success Academy believes each student is capable of graduating from high school. Our students are reminded daily that a high school diploma is important and attainable and I am proud to see these efforts pay off,” says Success Academy principal Ernie Garrett.
Habersham Central principal Jonathan Stribling says all of Central’s team members understand that graduating seniors is the “top academic priority” of our high school.
“More important than 98.9% are the names, faces, and stories each of those percentage points represent. A high graduation rate not only enhances the lives of the individual students but ultimately means a more viable and productive Habersham County community. I am so proud to be a Raider!” Stribling says.
The graduation rate is calculated using the number of students who graduate within four years and includes adjustments for student transfers. The Georgia Department of Education divides the number of graduates who earn a diploma by the number of first-time 9th graders in the cohort, plus students who transfer into the school, minus students who transfer out of the school.
Habersham Central’s graduation rate has steadily increased since the new calculation method was introduced in 2012. In 2013, the county opened the Success Academy to house the county’s alternative school and offer classes to students who prefer to learn in a non-traditional setting.
When the Success Academy first opened, some viewed it as a way for the school system to move struggling students out of Habersham Central to improve Central’s graduation rate. Now, with its own perfect graduation rate, the academy is paving the way for its own students’ success.
“It is difficult to say to what Habersham Central’s graduation rate would look like if there was no Success Academy. There are a number of variables that would determine that outcome,” says Habersham County School Superintendent Matthew Cooper. “It is possible that the students who graduated from Success Academy would have still graduated from Central if there was no Success Academy. But, by the same token, it is also possible that we would have lost some of the students who graduated from Success Academy if that option did not exist for them. I think it is safe to say that the Success Academy has had an overall positive impact on both Habersham Central’s graduation rate and on the System graduation rate.”
