In the wake of the report issued yesterday by America's Promise Alliance pegging the national dropout rate at 50 percent comes this story about the Clover Park School District in Lakewood. Thanks to a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- one of the underwriters of the APA's dropout study -- Clover Park High was able to restructure itself and keep students with the same teachers for all four years.
The payoff? A 30 percent + drop in the dropout rate , or, more positively expressed as a 30 percent increase in diplomas granted. According to John Seaton, principal, Clover Park High:
"You've got a relationship that is so tight with those kids that they're willing to share their life with you," Seaton explained. "So you can become part of the solution for their problems."
