The Georgia Department of Education has released SY 2018-19 graduation rates for the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.  SCCPSS improved its cohort graduation rate by more than a point over last year – rising from 86.6% to 87.8%.  That number surpasses the state rate for the fifth year in a row.  The state of Georgia’s rate is 82% - an all-time high since the state began using the adjusted cohort calculation now required by federal law. The most recently published national rate is 84% from the 2016-17 School Year.  SCCPSS Superintendent Dr. Ann Levett says, “We are encouraged to see another year of improvement in our cohort graduation rate. I am very proud of our students, staff, teachers, and administrators for their hard work in achieving another impressive milestone. This success is due to the efforts of many across the district and community who work diligently to provide high quality, engaging, and relevant learning experiences for students in grades Pre-K through grade 12.  With this focused effort to improve student achievement at all levels, I feel confident we will continue to see similar gains in Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools’ cohort graduation rate for years to come.”

Nearly all high schools in the District improved their cohort graduation rate over the previous year with the biggest increases coming at the School of Liberal Studies at Savannah High and New Hampstead High which saw increases of 4.4 and 4.3 points respectively.  Eight of the District’s eleven high schools saw their graduation rate either rise or stay the same.  Overall, SCCPSS 4-year cohort graduation rates range from 75.3% to 100%. SCCPSS can once again boast of two schools in the district out of only 15 in the state of Georgia with a 100% graduation rate.  It is the fourth year in a row that Savannah Early College High has met that goal and the third year in a row that Woodville Tompkins Technical and Career High School has done so.

Georgia calculates a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate as required by federal law. This rate is the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school 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 any students who transfer into the cohort during the next three years and subtracting any students who transfer out.

While all states use the same calculation, each state sets its own requirements for students to earn a regular high school diploma. Georgia has some of the highest requirements in the nation for students to graduate with a regular diploma.  Please see the chart below for a comparison of SCCPSS and state graduation rates.