The Walton County School District has increased its graduation rate by 2.2 percentage points, hitting an all-time high of 89.9 percent and surpassing the state of Georgia by 7.9 percentage points.
In addition to the district’s overall accomplishment, Walnut Grove High School’s rate increased by 7.4 percentage points, posting the highest-ever individual school graduation rate in WCSD history at 93.6 percent. Monroe Area High School improved slightly, reaching 83.2 percent for 2019 while Loganville High School remained steady at an impressive 91.2 percent.
“I congratulate the Class of 2019 for achieving record-breaking levels of success and setting the bar even higher for our entire district,” said Superintendent Nathan Franklin. “The success of these students should be attributed to their hard work as well as the support and commitment of our parents, teachers and staff who believe in meeting the needs of all students to help them achieve.”
The 4-year cohort method is based on the number of students that graduate within four years plus one summer and includes adjustments for student transfers. The 4-year cohort data since the inception of the adjusted cohort graduation calculation is below.
4-Year Cohort Grad Rate (%) |
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 1-Year
Change | Change
since 2011 |
WCSD | 74.7 | 74.2 | 80.7 | 78.8 | 82.3 | 81.9 | 83.2 | 87.7 | 89.9 | +2.2 | +15.2 |
Loganville | 85.6 | 86.1 | 86.8 | 87.1 | 86.7 | 84.3 | 87.2 | 91.9 | 91.2 | -0.7 | +5.6 |
Monroe Area | 62.5 | 59.6 | 74.2 | 72.0 | 78.4 | 79.8 | 76.1 | 82.6 | 83.2 | +0.6 | +20.7 |
Walnut Grove | 72.8 | 79.4 | 81.8 | 78.3 | 81.4 | 81.9 | 86.2 | 86.2 | 93.6 | +7.4 | +20.8 |
State | 67.4 | 69.7 | 71.8 | 72.5 | 78.7 | 79.2 | 80.6 | 81.6 | 82.0 | +0.4 | +14.6 |
Six of seven subgroups made progress over last year's rates and met their 2019 improvement target developed by the state. Since 2011, the graduation rate for Asian students has increased by 20 points and reached 100 percent in 2019. Multi-Racial and White students topped 90 percent graduation rates, reaching 90.9 and 91.6 percent, respectively. Graduation rates for English Learners (87.5%), Black (86.4%), Hispanic (81.3%) and Economically Disadvantaged (80.2%) students all surpassed 80 percent. English Learners in WCSD exceeded the State by 28.2 percentage points. The graduation rate for students with disabilities increased by 8.5 percentage points in 2019 and by more than 39 points since 2011. All Walton County subgroups met or exceeded the State subgroup rates in 2019.
These unprecedented results have been supported by the implementation of several district programs and initiatives to help overcome barriers to learning and assist students academically.