Bigfork leads Flathead Valley in graduation rates

Good things come in small packages, particularly with schools’ graduation rates. Bigfork High School once again has the highest graduation rate and the lowest dropout rate in the valley.

“I think the first thing is just the principal and counselor are working diligently to identify kids at risk of not completing high school,” Bigfork School District Superintendent Cynthia Clary said.

BHS’s graduation rate was the highest in the Flathead Valley for last school year and well above the state average, 83.9 percent, with 94.6 percent of students graduating within four years of their freshman year. Columbia Falls wasn’t too far behind with 90.4 percent, followed by Whitefish with 88 percent, Glacier with 87.3 percent and Flathead with 85.8 percent.

Bigfork also had the lowest dropout rate in the valley with only 1.9 percent of the school’s 259 students dropping out. Whitefish wasn’t too far behind with 3.6 percent of 501 students dropping out, followed by Glacier with 3.7 percent of its 1,268 students. Columbia Falls and Flathead High School each had a dropout rate of 4.2 percent, Columbia Falls had 721 students enrolled for 2011 and Flathead had 1,483 students enrolled.

This trend held true on a statewide level as well for Bigfork. In 2008-09 Bigfork graduated 92.5 percent of its students compared to the state average of 83.77 percent. Those numbers were closer in 2009-10 with just a 4 percent difference, and a 6 percent difference in 2010-11.

BHS guidance counselor Christina Nadeau said the reason Bigfork has a larger percentage of students who graduate is because their class sizes are smaller and the district is more flexible with how students earn credits toward graduation.

The average class size at BHS is 16 students and the district offers a credit recovery program, which allows students who are willing to put in the extra time and effort to make up missing credits needed to graduate high school within four years. They can do this through summer classes or online courses through the Montana Digital Academy or the Virtual High School program.

“We work with kids on a case-by-case basis,” Nadeau said. “Because our class sizes are smaller, our teachers know the kids well; and when you know the kids well you are going to get more out of them.”

All of Bigfork’s students also have the opportunity to take courses through Flathead Valley Community College after their sophomore year.

Nadeau said early enrollment at FVCC gives students who otherwise wouldn’t have gone to college the confidence boost necessary to take that next step in their education.

But, graduation and dropout rates aren’t clearly defined by the state.

Nadeau said students who test out of high school to get their General Equivalency Degree are considered a dropout no different from a student who simply stops attending school.

“We beg to differ. I consider that a kid who has the skills and goes onto college,” Nadeau said. “To me, a dropout leaves high school and does not continue education elsewhere.”

According to Nadeau, students who drop out of high school may do so for any number of reasons, including not being academically challenged enough or not prepared for the level of required coursework. Because of this, the district allows students to graduate early. Two juniors are graduating at the end of this spring and two seniors graduated at the end of the fall semester.

Further complications arise as students move from one district to another or switch to homeschooling since the graduation rate is measured by the Montana Office of Public Instruction through a method called the Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate.

This rate is determined by taking the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular diploma divided by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class. From the beginning of ninth grade, students who are entering that grade for the first time form a cohort that is subsequently adjusted by adding students who transfer in and subtracting those who transfer out, emigrate or die.

BHS Principal Matt Porrovecchio said the school’s high graduation rate isn’t just the result of district staff and students working together. Porrovecchio cited afterschool programs such as the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre as one of the programs that help keep students on track to graduate.

“The graduation rates are a byproduct of hard work, great teachers, supportive school board and the school community, the whole picture working with the kids,” Porrovecchio said. “We are lucky to have a supportive community that gives leadership opportunities. For a small community we have a lot of opportunities for our kids, the school isn’t the only piece at play in getting these kids where they need to be.”