Parent Teacher Magazine Gaston County Schools May 2014 | Page 7
Dropout rate decreases again for Gaston County Schools
A report from the State Board of Education and N.C. Department
of Public Instruction indicates that Gaston County Schools’ dropout
rate decreased again. Gaston’s rate is 1.61 for the 2012-2013 school
year, which is lower than the district’s 2011-2012 rate of 3.43.
Gaston’s dropout rate is below the state rate of 2.45.
Gaston County Schools is one of five school districts in the state
with the largest three-year decrease in the dropout rate for grades
9-13. The school district’s dropout rate represents the number of
students who dropped out of school during the 2012-2013 school
year.
Over the past seven years, the GCS dropout rate has declined
from 6.29 in 2006-2007 to 1.61 for 2012-2013.
Superintendent of Schools W. Jeffrey Booker stated, “We are
encouraged to see our dropout rate decrease significantly over
the past seven years. We attribute the decrease to our school
administrators and teachers who along with school counselors
and social workers have worked very hard to reduce the district’s
dropout rate. Emphasis on early intervention, home visits to students
identified as at-risk of dropping out, collaboration with parents, and
more individual attention for students are ways that we are working
to decrease the dropout rate and increase student attendance.”
Programs such as Operation Roll Call, which is a joint partnership
with the Gaston County Police Department that addresses truancy,
also contributed to the dropout rate’s decline.
The annual report released Wednesday, April 2 provides data
about the dropout rate for public school districts and charter schools
across the state. The state report is available online: http://www.
ncpublicschools.org/
Cramerton Middle wins
Math Elite competition
Cramerton
Middle School
captured first place
honors in the Math
Elite competition.
Belmont Middle
placed second and
Holbrook Middle
finished in third
place at the March
6 competition
held at Hawks
Nest Intermediate
School.
The annual
contest featured the top academic math teams from all 11 middle
schools in Gaston County. Each middle school Math Elite team is
made up of six sixth-grade students, who are chosen based on
criteria determined at each school.
During each session, teams have 15 minutes to correctly answer
eight problems. Sessions are divided into five categories. They
include:
n Number and operation
n Patterns, relationship and functions
n Spatial sense, measurement and geometry
n Logic
n Problem solving
The following information provides the Gaston County Schools
dropout rate for the past seven school years:
Seven-Year High School Dropout
Rate – Grades 9-13 Gaston County
Schools is one of five school districts
in the state with the largest threeyear decrease in the dropout rate for
grades 9-13.
2012-2013
2011-2012
2010-2011
2009-2010
2008-2009
2007-2008
2006-2007
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
1.61
3.43
4.46
4.43
5.60
5.69
6.29
dropout
dropout
dropout
dropout
dropout
dropout
dropout
rate
rate
rate
rate
rate
rate
rate
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Parent Teacher Magazine • May/June 2014 • 5