Grant County saw some encouraging numbers — and some that could cause concern — in the Oregon Department of Education’s report on high school graduation rates for 2022-23.

The county as a whole saw a graduation rate of 64.2% — well below the statewide average of 81.3%. That number doesn’t tell the entire story, however.

Four of the county’s five brick-and-mortar schools exceeded the statewide graduation average with Monument leading the way, reporting a 100% graduation rate for the 2022-23 school year. Grant Union (89.7%), Prairie City (85.7%) and Dayville (85.7%) all exceeded the statewide graduation rate.

The only school that didn’t meet the state average was Long Creek, although the school’s tiny student body had a lot to do with that: Long Creek’s 2022-23 class had a mere four students. Two of them failed to graduate, which pulled the school’s graduation rate down to 50%.

Prairie City School District reported a lackluster graduation rate of 57.9% — but again, the numbers are deceiving.

Oregon Connections Academy, an online school whose students are counted as part of the Prairie City District, reported a graduation rate of just 55% for the 2022-23 school year.

Of the 145 students in the district’s 2022-23 graduating class, just 14 came from Prairie City High School with the rest enrolled in Oregon Connections Academy. Because of the large enrollment disparity, the online academy’s low grad rate left the Prairie City School District with an overall figure of less than 60%.

Monument sets the standardThe Monument School District was the only district in Grant County to report a graduation rate of 100%. While the district had just two students in its graduating class in 2023, the accomplishment is still noteworthy as both students came into their freshman year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A perfect graduation rate is nothing new for Monument, which hit the 100% mark during the 2021-22 school year as well. Laura Thomas, the superintendent of Monument Schools, said the school’s small size is an advantage in meeting the district’s goal of graduating all of its seniors in any given year.

“Because we are small, we are really able to look at each student individually to make sure their needs are being met, everything they need as far as graduation requirements is being met,” she said. “We’re really able to make sure nothing or nobody slips through the cracks.”

Part of being in a smaller school means knowing all of the kids personally, something Thomas said also plays a part in Monument being able to graduate its entire senior class.

“Some of these kids, they grow up with our own kids, they grow up at your house or your kids at their house,” she added. “It’s just a different relationship, and it allows you to know them on such a different level and to know where their strengths are and also where they need that extra push or that extra support to make it to graduation.”

A personal connection

Those close relationships make it easier to take corrective action to ensure students graduate on time, Thomas said.

“We’ve got such great connection and communication with families,” she said. “If they’re struggling at school, one of my first steps is to make sure that I’ve connected with the family to make sure the family at home knows where they’re struggling, because there is such a partnership between families and the schools.”

Thomas said the COVID pandemic affected Monument but not in the same way it did districts with much larger student populations.

“I think it impacted us in a different way — I don’t want to say less, but it impacted us differently,” she said. “It was challenging for our staff and our students.”

Like other schools, Monument went through a period of distance learning, but Thomas said the school was able to keep track of its students and their progress during the pandemic.

“We knew exactly where each of our students were,” she said. “We connected with every single student during that time. Some of the bigger districts, they truly had students disappear during COVID, and when schools opened up they were like, ‘We don’t know what happened to that kid.’”

Thomas said she didn’t think there was very much that larger schools could learn from Monument in working toward a 100% graduation rate, but she highlighted the importance of caring about students.

“You know, relationships and building those relationships is one of the most important things you can do to help make students successful. … I think it’s just really, truly caring about our kids,” she said.

“I don’t know that’s something somebody else can learn from us, (but) we care about our kids. Not making it to graduation isn’t an option for us.”