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West Springfield graduation rates continue to rise

Date: 2/20/2015

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The state’s graduation rates are rising, and West Springfield’s 2014 rates reflected that. Over a seven-year period, West Springfield High School’s graduation rate has soared from 69.1 percent for the 2007-08 school year to 85.1 percent for the 2013-14 school year.

The results were announced at Feb. 10’s school committee meeting, where Interim Superintendent Michael Richard said he was pleased with the upswing.    

Richard said that the consistent rise is in large part because the West Springfield school district does not wait until students walk through the doors of the high school to stress the importance of receiving a diploma. 

“That’s thanks to the outreach work that people are doing, not only at the high school but at the middle school and the elementary schools, showing students the importance of being in school each and every day, the importance that a high school diploma has to your lifelong sustainability as a contributor to society,” Richard said. “Again, I’m very, very proud of those numbers at West Springfield High School.”

While the reception at the school committee meeting was, expectedly, positive, committee member Jose Irizarry said the district will not stop until it closes the gap completely.

“We’re going to keep pushing it, right? We’re going to make it to 100 [percent graduation rate],” he said. “85.1 [percent] is good, but 100 [percent] is the goal we want to see here.”