State Report: MHS Has 4th Highest Graduation Rate in County

Moorestown High School has the fourth highest graduation rate in Burlington County, according to numbers released by the state Department of Education (DOE) last month.

Moorestown's 2012 graduation rate of 95.64 percent—down just slightly from 95.66 in 2011—puts it behind only Cinnaminson (96.68),  Cherokee (96.44) and Shawnee (95.75) among the 20 high schools listed in the report. 

High school principal Andrew Seibel explained that the roughly 4.5 percent disparity isn't due to dropouts, but rather students who are receiving special services or attending alternative schools and didn't graduate in four years, which is what the state's formula is based on. 

"We see very, very few dropouts here," Seibel said, noting that the number is less than 1 percent.

This is the second year in a row the state is using the new federal methodology for calculating the graduation rate. For more information on how it's calculated, visit the DOE website here.

Seibel said the school consistently strives to help those students who struggle to graduate.

"We look at the percentage of students who haven't graduated and we identify, OK, why are these students not graduating in four years," he said. "And for close to 100 percent of them we have programs designed to get them to graduation."

While a 100 percent graduation rate is obviously the ideal, Seibel said he's pleased with how Moorestown stacks up.

"I believe that number is absolutely a fair number, and I believe that's a number to be applauded," he said, adding that possessing such a high graduation rate is a "testament" to the hard work of the faculty, the students and the community. 

The state’s overall graduation rate increased from 83 percent in 2011 to 86 percent in 2012. And while some of the state’s largest school districts increased, some decreased. Camden’s graduation rate decreased from 56.89 percent in 2011 to 49.27 percent in 2012, while Trenton increased to 48.44 from 47.71.

That’s an average of all graduating schools in those cities.

To see the entire state breakdown, click here.