Schools

Murrieta's High School Graduation Rate Among Top in County

Murrieta Valley Unified's 2012 graduation rate of 92.2 percent was second-highest in Riverside County behind Temecula Valley Unified's 93.1 percent.

More Murrieta students are graduating high school, an uptick reflected state- and county-wide, according to data released Tuesday.

Overall, more than 9 out of 10 students in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, or 92.2 percent, who started high school in 2008-2009 graduated with their class in 2012, numbers from the California Department of Education showed. This is up 2.5 percentage points from 2010-2011.

This earns Murrieta Valley Unified the second-highest graduation rate in the county behind Temecula Valley Unified. The top five also included Corona-Norco, Val Verde and Lake Elsinore unified school districts, respectively.

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Additionally, Murrieta Valley Unified was among the five districts with the lowest dropout rates—5.5 percent.

The rates reflect hard, behind-the-scenes work by staff to ensure accurate numbers are reported to the state, said Murrieta Valley Unified Assistant Superintendent Guy Romero.

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"What it reflects is a better accountability with the data," Romero said. "What you measure is what you get. Graduation rates along with dropout rates oftentimes go hand in hand, and a lot of it will depend on how well you follow up with kids who leave our schools."

And fewer are leaving, he said.

Among the district's three comprehensive high schools, Murrieta Mesa High School produced a 98 percent cohort graduation rate, while Vista Murrieta's rate was 97.1 percent—up from 95.4 percent the previous year. At Murrieta Valley, 94.8 percent of the cohort graduated within four years, an increase from the school's 2010-2011 rate of 94 percent.

Students enrolled in the district's independent study program, Tenaja Canyon Academy, graduated at a rate of 69 percent, a decrease from the prior year's rate of 72.2 percent.

Of the district's three greatest population groups, Hispanic, White and African American, 90.4 percent of Hispanics graduated with their peers—an increase from the previous year's rate of 87.7 percent. Of Whites, 94 percent graduated, up from 92.3 percent in 2010-2011. Of African Americans, 82.6 percent earned their high school diplomas within four years, an increase from the prior year's rate of 81.7 percent.

The district's Asian population accomplished the highest cohort graduation rate: 98.8 percent. This was up 7.4 percentage points from the 2010-2011 rate of 91.4 percent.

Riverside County's graduation rate went from 80 percent in 2010-2011 to 82.3 percent in 2011-2012.

"Our first and foremost goal in public education, from preschool through 12th grade, must be to have every student complete high school," said Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth M. Young. "A diploma is the basic indicator of each student’s preparedness for their future. If a student does not complete high school, statistics overwhelmingly show that they will not have much of a chance at experiencing a good quality of life in the future."

Young also noted "For the past several years, we have placed a major emphasis on significantly increasing our county’s high school graduation rate, and it is starting to pay off. Between 2006 and 2012, we moved from 6th in the state to third highest in 2012."

The greatest improvements were seen in the county's Hispanic and African American students, whose graduation rates increased more than three percentage points from the previous year.

Throughout California, 78.5 percent of students who started high school in 2008-2009 graduated with their class in 2012. That is up 1.4 percentage points from the year before.

During a Tuesday morning press call with State Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson, officials discussed the California’s “closing of the achievement gap.”

Statewide, African American and Hispanic students showed gains in grad rates in 2011-12. According to Tuesday’s numbers, the statewide graduation rate for African American students was 65.7 percent, a 2.9 percent increase over the 2010-11 school year. For Hispanic students, the 2011-12 rate was 73.2 percent, a 1.8 percent increase over the previous year.

While officials were pleased with the upward direction, they acknowledged there is still a long way to go.

"We’re going to have to double our efforts" if the rates are to equalize with non-Hispanic white students by 2020, said Dr. Pamela Short Powell, president of the California Association of African-American Superintendents and Administrators.

Torlakson said improved graduation rates have been the result of better data that allows educators to identify key areas in need of improvement. Tuesday’s numbers were calculated based on four-year cohort data, meaning they track the same group of students from grades nine through 12.

"There has been a greater focus on closing the achievement gap," Torlakson said. "The focus is what has driven a lot of this. It’s part of an accountability system."

—Toni McAllister contributed to this report.


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