New Albany schools ranked in top ten lowest dropout rate districts

This month the Mississippi Department of Education released the high school graduation rates and dropout rates for the 2017-2018 school year.

These reports indicated that the state’s graduation rate hit an all-time high of 84 percent, reaching the most recent national graduation rate. New Albany School District’s (NASD) graduation rate was 86.9% which is an increase from the previous year of 82%.

The state’s dropout rate fell to a historic low of 10.1 percent, a decrease from 13.9 percent in 2014. NASD was ranked in the “Top 10 Districts with the Lowest Dropout Rates”. NASD was ranked 7th with a dropout rate of 3.3%. This is a significant decrease from the previous year’s dropout rate of 8.6%.

Additionally, the state’s graduation rate for students with disabilities increased for the fifth consecutive year to 38.4 percent, up from 23.2 percent in 2014. NASD was significantly above the state average as far as graduating students who have disabilities with a 48% graduation rate. This is an increase from the previous year of 25%.

NASD is committed to their vision of “Preparing ALL for Success”.

“One of the goals in our five-year strategic plan is to increase student achievement,” explained Lance Evans, Superintendent. “We are excited that we are among the top districts in the state with the lowest dropout rate and that we have seen increases in our graduation rate.”

Another goal of the strategic plan is to provide equity in education. “The improvement in raising the achievement of students with disabilities is an accomplishment of which I am very proud,” Evans added.

-New Albany School District