Kinston High School Principal Angela Bryant knows sometimes a traditional pathway to education isn’t always best for some of her students, but some of those alternatives still contributed to the North Carolina’s 3.01 percent dropout rate for the 2011-12 school year.
She said some students can’t focus in a classroom setting and others lack discipline and leadership the school can’t always provide.
“You have to treat every kid differently,” Bryant said.
She has recommended some students chose alternative education options, such as the adult education program at Lenoir Community College or the Tar Heel Challenge Program. If they select those routes and go on to earn a high school diploma or GED, it still counts against the school as a dropout.
“This is going to hurt us as a school, but I’m going to help that kid by working to provide that child another opportunity,” Bryant said.
The Department of Public Instruction reported the most current dropout rate is a decrease from the previous 3.43 percent.
Bryant said it’s rare to find students who enjoy all academic subjects, so the school administrators try to engage the teenagers by offering various career pathways.
“Let’s face it, there are kids who don’t enjoy (school),” Bryant said. “It’s very seldom that you’ll find a kid who loves every subject, but you’ll find kids that are really passionate about other subjects.”
She added requiring students to pick a career pathway while in school will balance their interest and keep them enrolled.
“If you can keep that passion going, that’s really helpful for them,” she said.
Once a student is 16-years-old, they can choose to drop out of high school after going through a lengthy process depending on the school system.
In Greene County, guidance office representatives at the high school will only approve a drop out once the student has spoken with a counselor, the principal and Greene County Schools’ Central Office.
“We try to give them different scenarios to get them to stay in school,” said Don Marr, Greene Central High School principal.
The dropout rate at the school improved from 1.67 percent in 2010-11 to 1.37 percent for the 2011-12 school year. The most recent graduation rate for Greene Central was higher than the state average at 82.74 percent, Marr said.
He said students with behavioral issues can attend the Alternative Education Center.
“They go there and they flourish,” Marr said. “We’ve been able to save many students at the AEC.”
Some Greene Central students made a preventative dropout video for which they earned $8,000 to keep coming up with ways for fellow students to stay in school.
“I’d tell them that it’s not worth it,” said Kinston High School sophomore Jeremy Staten, 15, about persuading fellow classmates to change their mind about dropping out. “You wouldn’t be able to get anywhere in life without having an education.”
Teachers in area school systems are urged to make a connection with the students — starting long before they reach the high school hallways.
Jones Middle School Principal Michael White said he gets the community and parents involved to keep students interested in education.
“We really try to get to know the kids and find out what they like,” he said. “I do know this is the age when a lot of stuff starts, and they’re very curious about a lot of things. They can very well start loosing interest in middle school.”
Job fairs, community events and getting to know parents all contribute to helping students understand the importance of education, he said.
“(Those factors) help us all around the classroom to try to prevent discipline problems,” White said. “Middle school is the place you can catch them and really get them interested in lots of things.”
All North Carolina public colleges and universities are represented in Jones Middle’s hallways so students can at least become familiar with higher education.
The high school dropout rate for Jones Senior High School was 4.42 percent in 2010-11 and was 3.03 percent in 2011-12, giving Jones County the most positive rate gain.
“At the end of the year when they leave us, we hope they have a better feeling about education and why they need it,” White said.
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or at jessika.morgan@kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.
BREAKOUT BOX
North Carolina dropout rate at record low
Dropout statistics from 2011-12
n 3.01 percent of high school students dropped out of school (0.42 percentage point decrease from the previous year’s rate of 3.43 percent)
n Dropout count decreased in 70.4 percent (81 of 115) school districts
n Male students accounted for 60.3 percent of reported dropouts (60 percent the previous year)
n Students most frequently dropped out in 10th grade (28.6 percent)
n The dropout rate for 9th graders was 26.7 percent, 25.3 percent for 11th graders and 17.3 percent for 12th graders
n 41.5 percent attendance was the reason most cited for dropping out
Source: Public Schools of North Carolina