PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 28, 2022
LIFE
McNary's class of 2021 received their diplomas on Wednesday, June 9 at Volcanoes Stadium. FILE PHOTO, Keizertimes
McNary earns top graduation rate in the district
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
While the rest of the state experi-
enced a slight decrease, McNary High
School's class of 2021 posted one of the
best graduation rates in the state, con-
tinuing the notable recent success for
the school.
McNary's 2021 four-year senior
cohort received the top mark in the
Salem-Keizer School District with a
graduation rate of 96.23%, over 16%
higher than the state average and more
than fi ve percentage points higher
than last school year.
It is the fourth highest graduation
rate in the state among schools that
had 100 kids or more in their graduat-
ing class.
“It's a great feeling to have the
This is a K-12
accomplishment.
Our Keizer schools
played a big part in
this. This is a win
for Keizer.
— ERIK JESPERSEN
McNary Principal
success that we did. It evokes a tremen-
dous sense of pride. The eff orts from
staff to navigate some of the roughest
stretches in recent history has been
incredible,” McNary Principal Erik
Jespersen said. "Not only did they give
kids all their educational needs, but
also social and emotional needs.
“This is a K-12 accomplishment. Our
Keizer schools played a big part of this.
This is a win for Keizer.”
Jespersen said that one of the key
reasons for the school's success was
safely bringing in select students for
in-person learning at a time when the
entire state was participating in school
virtually.
In November 2020, it was estimated
that nearly half of the nearly 13,000
high schoolers in Salem-Keizer Public
Schools (SKPS) were failing at least
one class. During a two-day period,
McNary hosted a total of 300 students
in 56 cohorts for in-person instruction.
The aggressive approach paid divi-
dends for McNary, who was able to cut
their failing grades down from 38% to
17% before the month of December.
“School was signifi cantly altered,
but we fi gured out how to get kids in
the building during distance learning.
I think that made all the diff erence,”
Jespersen said. “That was our teachers,
our (instructional assistants) our peo-
ple doing whatever it took to help our
kids. It was about face to face contact.”
Building
and
developing
relationships is a priority for Jespersen
and his staff , and it's how McNary was
able to overcome multiple challenges
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in
regards to school.
Before students returned to school
for hybrid learning in April 2021,
McNary staff members organized hun-
dreds of home visits with kids that were
either struggling with school or lacked
the resources to get their assignments
done in a timely fashion.
“Our home visits really worked. I was
a little bit hesitant to do it at fi rst, but
kids responded really well to us leav-
ing our desks and showing them that
we cared,” said Aris Astorga, the com-
munity school outreach coordinator for
Feel -Good
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