Ignacio School District significantly improved its high school graduation rate over the 2023-24 school year, a success largely attributed to the district’s development of strong community partnerships and more targeted academic curriculum.
Colorado Department of Education recognized Ignacio School District’s 11.6% increase in its four year graduation rates during a virtual news briefing Wednesday.
The high school’s graduation rate is 3.1% higher than the state’s average, a testament to the hard work of the community and its partners, said Ignacio Superintendent Chris deKay, during in his presentation.
Ignacio is diverse: the town’s population is roughly one-third white, one-third Hispanic and one-third Native American, deKay said. He said the district’s efforts to recognize and adapt its approach to better fit the diverse student population played into its success.
Ignacio made diversity a focus of the three-year strategic plan, developed in 2023.
It identified gaps in the school’s ability to address a wide range of diverse needs and emphasized the importance of forming external partnerships to better serve its students.
The district partnered with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and is working to strengthen its collaboration by working on a memorandum of understanding between the two entities in order to support the Native American community.
DeKay also emphasized that the district’s partnerships with the community and the school to provide a platform in which students, teachers, staff and community members are able to voice their opinions has had significant impact on students.
“We’ve worked very hard to give those people a voice and they have responded with a lot of hard work and a lot of focus,” he said.
Making a meaningful effort to cater to the diverse needs of the student population has meant shifting away from a one-size-fits-all approach to academics.
In Ignacio, it has meant realizing there are a variety of viable post graduate avenues for students that do not involve attending an institution for higher education.
Many students plan on entering trades after high school. Recognizing and accommodating that through the development of various academic pathways has led to improvements in graduation and dropout rates, as well as academic growth on state testing, deKay said.
“That has been very rewarding, and it’s great to see that a lot of this hard work is paying off,” he said.
Ignacio has lowered high school drop out rates by almost a full percentage point.
The upward trajectory of the Ignacio School District has mirrored the larger, statewide trend in lower dropout and higher graduation rates over the past three years.
From spring 2023 to spring 2024, Colorado experienced a 1.1% increase in the four-year graduation rate – and at 84.2%, that is a record high.
Colorado Commissioner of Education Susana Córdova said many of Ignacio School District’s strategies reflect the initiatives the state Department of Education is attempting to work into the department’s strategic plan.
Córdova emphasized that while improving four-year graduation rates is important, the ultimate goal is ensuring successful graduation outcomes, regardless of the time frame.
She said the seven-year graduation rate has climbed to 87.1% as a result of Colorado’s effort to accommodate students who need more time to finish school.
However, while overall graduation rates are rising, a closer look at the data broken down by gender and ethnicity reveals that several student groups are not experiencing the same upward trend.
Black students, as well as Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students have not experienced rising graduation rates, and there is a noticeable discrepancy between male and female students as male students lag behind their female peers.
Córdova said as of right now, it is difficult to point to specific reasons for those gaps, but she speculated that it is likely a result of differing engagement levels.
To bridge the gaps, Córdova said: “We need to ensure that the way learning occurs in school is engaging for all students.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
