8A • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • OCTOBER 3, 2018
CGHS
from A1
things,” said Cottage Grove
High School Principal
Mike Ingman.
Instead of having those
unique classes, check-ins
and other schedule bumps
throughout the week, stu-
dents and teachers will
be able to focus solely on
coursework Monday, Tues-
day, Thursday and Friday,
providing uninterrupted
class time for those four
days and dedicated mid-
week jolt.
It’s part of the evolution
CGHS has experienced
since Ingman stepped in
as principal after a domi-
no effect sent him from his
principal’s seat at Kenne-
dy High School to replace
for CGHS principal Iton
Udosenata.
Ingman, who described
the position as his dream
job, has been facilitating
changes for just under a
year and he’s about to get
his report card.
The state of Oregon De-
partment of Education re-
leases a yearly report for
each school in the state in
regard to everything from
student attendance to
state test scores to col-
lege readiness.
The practice was ini-
tiated in 1999 by the
state legislature and
underwent a redesign
in 2013.
The
percentage
of students attend-
ing school regularly,
meaning they make it
to classes 90 percent
of the time, jumped
10 percentage points,
something Ingman at-
tributes to two things:
Kids wanting to be in
school and Chris Wells.
Wells, in addition to his
teaching duties, handles
truancy for the school and
his adhering to the same
policy that has always been
in place.
“It's not that the policy
changed, it's that there is a
coordinated and consistent
effort that's being applied
to it and making it well-
known,” he said. “
The state of Oregon re-
quires students between
the ages of six and 18, who
the cultural norm around
attendance. Students know
that if they miss a period,
there's an adult who will be
“We’re really working on
connectivity and
encouraging students
to be more involved and
making things more
relevant.”
— Chris Wells, CGHS teacher
haven’t completed 12th
grade, to attend school. Ac-
cording to state law, eight
unexcused absences in any
month of the school year
is considered truancy and
comes with the possibili-
ty of a fine that can reach
$500.
“As a school, we are
working to actively change
talking with them about it,”
Wells said. “Last year, we
had at least 930 face-to-face
conversations with stu-
dents and 120 communi-
cations with parents about
their specific student's at-
tendance. Teenagers get a
bad rap sometimes, I have
found that our students
are driven to do the right
thing, it just takes an adult
to highlight that they are
important and that we are
a better school with them
here.”
To keep them in
school, CGHS has
added several new
clubs and Ingman has
focused on fostering a
school spirit to combat
the stereotypical dread
some kids may have of
having to go to school.
“Chris Wells has
done an amazing job
with enforcing the tru-
ancy policies that we
have and the second,
which I think is way
more important, is that
we’re really working on
connectivity and en-
couraging students to be
more involved and making
things more relevant. We’re
making people follow the
rules and encouraging
people to be here,” he said,
noting that one of the new
Wednesday periods was
recently used to encourage
students to explore the dif-
ferent clubs CGHS has to
offer.
And CGHS isn’t just do-
ing better at keeping kids in
school, they’re improving
when it comes to getting
them out too.
CGHS has consistently
seen graduation rates in the
90th percentile for the last
three years, falling in the
top five graduation rates
around the state.
The rate at which kids are
going to college has also
jumped — 10 percentage
points in a year — thanks
to senior nights aimed at
informing students about
community college, uni-
versities and trade schools.
The state report card is
scheduled to be released
today and can be viewed
online by visiting ode.state.
or.us.
While Ingman is positive
CGHS did earned a good
grade, he said he contin-
ues to stay focused on the
future.
“We’re not there yet,” he
said. “We want to know
how we can keep getting
better.”
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