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Schools

Capo Unified Has Lowest Dropout Rate in the County

The state's Department of Education releases figures for the 2008-09 school year.

The Capistrano Unified School District has the lowest dropout rate in Orange County—0.3 percent. 

The state Department of Education released Tuesday the numbers of dropouts for the 2008-09 school year. The numbers presented in this article are the actual number of students who dropped out in 2008-09, a one-time "snapshot" into the schools. The state presented many other statistics using a series of complicated formulas.

San Juan Hills High came in with the lowest dropout rate—at 0.1 percent—of s six comprehensive high schools. Only one student dropped out in 2008-09. However, the newly built school only had ninth- and tenth-graders that year, for a total of about 1,000 students.

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"We're kind of an anomaly for the next few years," said Principal Tom Ressler. San Juan Hills will graduate its first senior class in June. "I wouldn't be surprised if we just fell in line with the rest of the district."

The average dropout rate for Orange County was 2.2 percent. Statewide, that figure was 4.5 percent. 

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Anna Bryson, outgoing president of the district's board of trustees, beamed at the news.

"We have such great, early-intervention programs. I'm very proud of that," she said. She also credited such programs as automobile mechanics and the Regional Occupational Program, which train non-college-bound students with skills they can use in the marketplace.

The district's five other comprehensive high schools' numbers for 2008-09 were as follows:

  •  Aliso Niguel High in Aliso Viejo: eight students dropped out, for a rate of 0.3 percent
  • Capistrano Valley High in Mission Viejo: seven students dropped out, for a rate of 0.2 percent
  • Dana Hills High in Dana Point: five students dropped out, for a rate of 0.2 percent
  • San Clemente High, 13 students dropped out, for a rate 0.4 percent
  • Tesoro High, one student dropped out; the rate was not measurable

The state broke the figures down into the grades in which the students dropped out and their ethnicity.

San Juan Hills' one dropout was a tenth-grade Latino student.

Ressler said it is in the junior and senior years that students are more likely to drop out of school, especially if they realize they don't have enough credits to graduate.

The numbers reflect this. Of San Clemente High School's 13 dropouts in 2008-09, 11 of them were seniors.

The Department of Education's press release that accompanied the report said that statewide, there is a definite "achievement gap" among minorities, with Latinos and African-Americans showing the highest dropout rates.

In Capistrano Unified, however, white students were the largest ethnic group to see dropouts. Districtwide, there were 28 "white, not Hispanic" students who dropped out in 2008-09, with Hispanics coming in second, with 22 dropouts.

Capo's continuation high school, Junipero Serra High School, had a 4.3 percent dropout rate, which fared well against other continuation schools in the county. Continuation schools serve students who do not do well in the traditional high school setting.

Saddleback Valley Unified's Silverado High had an 18 percent dropout rate, and Irvine Unified's Creekside High had a 5.2 percent rate.

Serra Principal Richard Bellante said his school's numbers don't surprise him.

"Serra High School has committed to helping students succeed, helping build skill sets and authentic confidence," Bellante said. "We all collaborate to make that happen."

Tustin Unified School District was second in the county, with an overall 0.5 percent dropout rate. Irvine Unified School District was third in the county, with a 0.6 percent dropout rate.

Ressler said he often looks to compare Capo Unified with Saddleback Valley Unified, because it is next door. Saddleback's rate was 1.3 percent.

 

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