The graduation rate reached a new high this year in Cherokee County, with 87.4 percent of seniors earning a diploma within four years of entering high school, district officials announced.
Cherokee’s graduation rate rose from 86.5 percent in 2017, according to Georgia Department of Education date released Wednesday, Sept. 19. The statewide graduation rate, by way of comparison, rose by one percentage point to 81.6 percent.
Cherokee schools Superintendent Brian V. Hightower called the district’s graduation rate “great news,” citing the ACE Academy alternative day school, Polaris Evening School, online credit recovery courses, graduation coaching and the CHOICE special education program as contributing to the increased rate. The district also implemented a new course extension program in high schools last year.
Elsewhere in metro Atlanta, the Fulton County Schools held steady at 86.8 percent, above the graduation rates of Atlanta at 79.9 percent, Clayton at 71.7 percent, Cobb at 85.2 percent, DeKalb at 75 percent and Gwinnett at 81.7 percent.
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