Improving graduation rates now puts Libby in the forefront

Doing as much or more with fewer educators and less budget has been the mantra in Libby School District 4, a task Libby High School Principal Rik Rewerts has embraced.

Recently, state graduation rates for 2012 have been announced, and Libby High School, which has been steadily improving its graduation rate, has risen to the top of the state class with 92.9 percent of its students graduating.

That percentage is tops in Montana among both large and small schools.

In comparison, Lincoln County High School in Eureka can boast an 88.6 percentage rate, which mimics Troy’s rate. According to the Office of Public Instruction, the statewide average for 2012 is 83.9.

“A lot has to do with changing the mentality of graduation,” Rewerts said. “There was a time when students knew they could leave high school and get a job at the mill and make more money. That’s not the case anymore, and that’s the message: Graduation is important,” Rewerts said.

Rewerts, who is retiring his post at LHS at the end of the school year, said it’s been a long process that involved not only changing the mentality about graduation to students, but to their parents as well.

“Some of our students have parents who didn’t graduate,” Rewerts said. “It’s different now than when their parents were here.”

In addition, district educators have done more to keep students in school, like LHS Counselor Mark Kreuz, who has taken an increased role in promoting post-high school education.

“A lot of the time we spend conveying the importance of that piece of paper (diploma),” Kreuz said. “The thing we try to do is make students career- or college-ready. Some students go into the military, vocational training or a two- or four-year college. We just want them to continue learning.”

In addition to a more hands-on approach with a student’s education, Rewerts said the district has begun programs that include behavior intervention, academic intervention, core and study skills and instituted a math booster program.

“This is really a good thing,” Superintendent K.W. Maki said. “To be at where we are when we were at 78 percent five years ago is fantastic.”

Maki also credited district teachers and specifically mentioned the staff at the district’s alternative center, Central School.

“We had 14 graduates at Central School. Without them we’d be back at 75 percent. Every piece is critical,” Maki said.

Behind Libby’s 92.9 percent graduation rate is No. 2 Frenchtown at 92.4, Corvallis at 92 percent, Park at 91.7, Anaconda at 90.6, Polson at 87.7, Stevensville, Fergus and Laurel at 86.9, Hamilton 86.7 to round out the top 10.

The top large schools include Missoula at 90.3, Bozeman at 86.5, Helena at 83.1,  Flathead at 82.8 and Butte at 78 round out the top five.