Recently, GCHS’s graduation rate for the 2021-2022 school year has been released with a record-breaking 95.7 percent. This percentage has put us in the top 10 schools in the state and the best of the six coastal schools. We have risen above the state average of 88.9 percent and our previous score of 94.3 percent.

  “In terms of getting better we and the local schools, and the high school need to continue to remind students that the most important thing when they come to school is to graduate. Everything else as important as it is, from the time you entered preschool to now your objective should be to graduate,” Superintendent Wade Whitney said.

   Not only has the standard graduation increased, but also the graduation rate for students with disabilities has also risen to 88.9 percent, making us seventh in the state. The amount of opportunities for special education students has also increased along with the graduation rate.

   “Our graduation rate for special education has improved tremendously. When you have that many special education students graduating, that is definitely a cause for celebration. That means they’re getting more opportunities not only in the workforce but in colleges too,” GCHS principal Sid Taylor said.

   Many of the administrators feel that this graduation rate helped us push to be an A-rank school and district. It has a 200-point effect on the 1000-point total score, having the ability to pass or fail us.

   “I think it goes hand in hand, it’s hard to be one without the other because of the fact that the graduation rate is such a big part of the county’s accountability ranking. Your school ranking is an indication of the quality of education going on in your school district,” Whitney said.