Prince George’s County Maryland Celebrates Rising Graduation Rate

A congratulatory bus tour rolled through Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland on Wednesday. The school district’s CEO Kevin Maxwell led the celebration that recognized eight schools that achieved at least a 90 percent graduation rate, the Washington Informer reports.

“We want to congratulate the schools with the successes they have had in raising graduation rates,” Maxwell stated. “Behind those numbers are graduates who walk across the stage with a diploma that gives them opportunities they were not getting three years ago. We are thrilled.”

Prince George's County Schools celebrate record-high graduation rates. @pgcps @PGCPSCEO @fox5dc https://t.co/GMlEHGWvEu

— Bob Barnard (@barnardfox5dc) February 9, 2017

According to the news outlet, the school system, achieved an overall 81 percent graduation rate last year—the second highest graduation rate increase in the state. Black students in the county, which the U.S. Census Bureau reports as 64 percent African-American, graduated at a rate that increased from 81 percent to 85 percent.

Among other programs, Maxwell credited the county’s Early Warning System for help at-risk freshmen before they stumble.

Khadijah Abu, a senior at DuVal High School in Lanham, told The Informer that some of the new rules school administrators implemented puzzled her and other students.

“Then you look back at it and they are doing it for our own good,” she stated. “If they would just let us just roam around the halls and do whatever, then we wouldn’t be graduating at a 93 percent rate.”

Abu won a $23,000 scholarship from Quinnipiac University. The 17-year-old student, who wants to study law, has been accepted into five colleges, The Informer said.

SOURCE: Washington Informer

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