By Vanessa Zamora
Staff Writer
This year, the graduation rate at SRHS is at an extreme low: less than 70% of seniors are on track to graduate. Several factors can affect a student’s academic success and, in turn, prevent them from graduating.
Santa Rosa High School requires all students to complete A-G courses necessary for University of California admissions. Students need to complete 220 credits in order to graduate from SRHS. If classes do present a challenge, there are many programs and policies in place to ensure that students can make up for missing credits. They’re also encouraged to attend free after-school tutoring sessions. “Talk to your school counselor, and they can tell you [about] the tutoring options and the different programs that are out there. Check in with your teachers, too, and see if they’re offering extra support,” said Tracy Batchelder, our school’s College and Career counselor.
The Santa Rosa City Schools District offers Cyber High courses for credit recovery. In Cyber High classes, students can spend two periods a day attending these virtual classes and can earn up to 40 credits per year. Summer school is also an option; applications are due in the spring, and students can earn 10 credits in eight weeks. Our neighboring school, Ridgway High School, is another alternative. Students who are 16 or older may meet with their counselor to discuss attending. Students may also turn to the Santa Rosa Junior College, which offers a variety of courses, and it’s beneficial since one semester of classes there accounts for one year of classes at SRHS. Students are permitted to take up to 11 units with no charge other than any books they may need. If none of these options suit a student, there are always third-party online courses available, but they may have fees.
With all of these options in place, it’s hard to understand why so many seniors are finding themselves ineligible to graduate. Could it be that the fault may fall on students’ lack of willingness to try in classes? Despite this, our administration continues to come up with new programs to ensure that these failing students have the opportunity to graduate on time. It can be immensely frustrating to students who worked hard to graduate on time to see others be excused from graduation requirements or given easier classes to make up for missing credits.
Of course, having make-up credit opportunities is necessary, but why aren’t there more programs available for dedicated students? There are a handful of honors and AP classes for students seeking a challenge, but these classes tend to be overcrowded. There are very few academic clubs on campus. It doesn’t seem fair that students who are falling behind have plenty of assistance to get back on track, yet students who are overachievers struggle to find opportunities to academically challenge themselves or get involved in extracurricular activities. After all, these are the students who are bringing up the school’s GPA, attendance and test score average, but their education is being degraded by those who don’t put in effort. They deserve more in-school opportunities. Naturally, there are numerous extracurricular activities and challenging courses outside of SRHS, but many of them require applications and charge fees.
My hope is that the school continues to advocate for their students, both those who are finding difficulty in their classes and those who are pursuing more rigorous courses. Administrators could consider creating more honors and AP classes or offering after-school academically-driven clubs, such as Robotics or Model United Nations. All students deserve to feel supported by their school, regardless of their circumstances.
