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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2018)
A18 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018 FROM A1 GRAD RATES continued from Page A1 One factor in the low rates, Spoo said, was the 2016 dis- solution of the Innovative Learning Center, Hermiston’s alternative school. Those stu- dents were absorbed back into the high school. “We’re still seeing the ramifications of the ILC dis- solving,” Spoo said. The graduation rate for Hermiston High School this year, including alter- native school students, was 72.5 percent. Last year, with those students in a separate category, the high school graduation rate was 87.6 percent. However, the dis- trict-wide graduation rates between the two years were roughly the same — with a 65.82 percent rate for 2016- 2017, and 65.68 percent for the previous year. Those rates include students who take classes online. Interim superintendent Tricia Mooney said many students from surrounding areas come to Hermiston to earn a GED, which counts as a completion but not a graduation. “We know that counts against our graduation rate, but we feel it’s the right thing to do,” she said. Mooney and Spoo both said they are trying to focus on improving the graduation rate over the long term. “It takes several years to see the results of what we are doing,” Spoo said. He pointed to the newly-hired graduation coach, Omar Medina, who works with students, mostly freshmen and sophomores, to help them get back on track. Spoo said he and assistant principal Scott Depew also meet one-on-one with strug- gling juniors and seniors, checking in with them regu- larly to help them get back on track. “Research shows that once you bring an adminis- trator in, there’s a little more STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Sophomore Alejandro Gutierrez, right, gets counseling for his class schedule from graduation coordinator Omar Medina on Wednesday at Hermiston High School. those kids to come back in,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of control over that. Those habits have already been created — and that’s a frus- tration for us.” a four-year graduation rate of 80.95, down from last year’s rate of 84.62. Their dropout rate was 3.45 per- cent, slightly below the state average. Echo Superintendent Raymon Smith said with a school district as small as theirs, percentages are eas- ily skewed. “The difference between 84 and 100 percent may be two kids,” he said. But Smith said they would continue to work on things that affect grad rates. One thing that has helped, he said, is revising their attendance policy. “If a student misses more than nine days, for any rea- son, they have to make it up hour for hour,” Smith said. “That’s helping us keep bet- ter track of students.” Echo School District Stanfield School District Other schools in the area attributed their rates to con- tinued efforts at all levels of schooling. Echo School District had Stanfield School Dis- trict made a small gain this year, with a rate of 86.67. Last year they had a gradu- ation rate of 85.29 percent. STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Family members and friends take photos of the 2017 Hermiston High School graduating class during Saturday’s graduation ceremony in the gym. of an impact, a sense of urgency,” he said. Hermiston’s dropout rate is also nearly two points higher than the state average — 5.6 percent to the state’s 3.8 percent. Spoo said the district hopes to study those numbers further, but said there were some challenges with dropouts. “The district will make phone calls and try to get BY THE WAY BTW continued from Page A1 • • • A mixed bag of Dr. Seuss fun is featured in an upcoming production at Hermiston High School. Drama and music stu- dents will present “Seus- sical: The Musical” Feb. 9-10 and Feb. 16-17 at 7 p.m. and a matinée show Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. All performances are in the school’s auditorium. Tickets, which are $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens and $5 for stu- dents, can be purchased in advance at the high school bookkeeping office. For a full story and pho- tos about the production, see next week’s Hermiston Herald. • • • Several area farmers continued from Page A1 “We’re to the point of construction and we’re very excited about that,” city planner Clint Spen- cer told a group of down- town business owners at an informational meeting Monday. The project will put the sidewalk and lanes of travel on the same level, separat- ing pedestrians from vehi- cles using trees and short posts called bollards instead of a curb. During events such as farmer’s markets or arts festivals, the street — which will feature dec- orative brickwork, land- scaping, lighting and other elements — can be blocked to vehicle traffic. Representatives from Moreno & Nelson answered questions about access to building entrances, cleanup and other concerns Mon- Discover the world’s best walk-in bathtub from 5 Reasons American Standard Walk-In Tubs are Your Best Choice Backed by American Standard’s 140 years of experience $ Ultra low entry for easy 1,50 enterinQ and exitinQ SAVING 0 S ® 3 Patented Quick Drain fast water removal system 4 Lifetime Warranty on the bath AND installation, INCLUDING labor backed by American Standard 5 44 Hydrotherapy jets for an inviQoratinQ massaQe 1 2 Includes FREE American StandardRiQht HeiQht Toilet Limited Time Off er! Call Today! 855-462-4180 Receive a free American Standard Cadet toilet with full installation of a Liberation Walk-In Bath, Liberation Shower, or Deluxe Shower. Off er valid only while supplies last. Limit one per household. Must be fi rst time purchaser. See www.walkintubs.americanstan- dard-us.com for other restrictions and for licensing, warranty, and company information. CSLB B982796; Suff olk NY:55431H; NYC:HIC#2022748-DCA. Safety Tubs Co. LLC does not sell in Nassau NY, Westchester NY, Putnam NY, Rockland NY. FREE IN-HOME EVALUATION! SHOP ONLINE 24/7 FORDCOUNTRY.COM were recently recognized as being outstanding in their field during the 2017 National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Yield Contest. Kristen Corpus of Hermiston achieved a win- ning yield of 310.7090 bushels per acre in the irrigated category with DEKALB DKC62-05. Also, a trio of Boardman farmers swept the No-Till/ Strip Till Irrigated divi- sion with Vern Frederick- son taking top honors for his DEKALB DKC62-05, which yielded 315.7699 bushels per acre. Nolan Mills placed second with Pioneer(r) P0805AM(tm), with a yield of 308.7628 bushels; and Emily Rea’s 258.6239-bushel yield, which came in third, was with Pioneer(r) hybrid P0157. The NCGA Corn Yield Contest is an annual com- petition among corn pro- ducers with the goal of pro- ducing the highest yields. Growers compete in six corn production classes. For more about the association, including a link to a list of all contest winners, visit www.ncga. com. • • • Echo has joined the list of local schools to offer a robotics program to its students. Superintendent Raymon Smith said the program was introduced this year, and is run by sci- ence teacher Don Walker. Smith said the school is sending four teams to an upcoming competition. You can submit items for our weekly By The Way column by emailing your tips to editor@hermiston- herald.com or share them on social media using the hashtag #HHBTW. YOUR LOCAL TRUCK HEADQUARTERS NEW 2017 FORD FUSION S NEW 2017 FORD ESCAPE S NEW 2017 FORD F-150 SUPERCREW XLT 4X4 Auto, Air, Rearview Camera, Remote Keyless Entry, SYNC ® w/Applink TM Auto, Air, Cruise, Tilt, PL, PW, Rear View Camera, Keyless Entry V8, NAV, Sport Appearance Pkg, Rearview Camera, Remote Start SAVE $5,301 off MSRP SAVE $7,698 off MSRP day, and said they hoped to make construction as pain- less as possible for nearby businesses and First United Methodist Church. While the sidewalks in front of businesses like Scrubs Life and Brickhouse Cof- fee & Bistro will be miss- ing for part of the construc- tion phase, contractors plan to lay down gravel and take other steps to make it easier for the public to access the buildings. They said the best thing people can do is spread the word that though there will be work going on during the day Monday through Friday businesses are still open. The same portion of Second Street has been closed to vehicles the last three Decembers for the city’s Christmas tree and light display. Future phases will extend the festival street farther down Second Street in both directions and add a water feature to the munic- ipal parking lot across from city hall, but Spencer said the timeline for those would depend on future funding opportunities. As parking spaces are removed from one side of the street but changed to diagonal spots on the other, Spencer said the first phase should end up with the same number of total parking spaces as before. He said the city was look- ing for a place to move the cardboard collection station in the parking lot to free up a couple of extra spaces there during construction. “Substantial” com- pletion of the project is planned for Memorial Day, with any final punchlist items finished by June 15. The city hopes to use the completed festival street for annual events like Fun- fest in addition to adding some new, small events such as live music during First Thursdays to help draw people downtown. 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In an email, Stanfield Secondary School Coun- selor Kirsten Wright said the district has a strong col- lege-going culture, and tries to show students how their schooling relates to life after high school. She added that the dis- trict continues to work with students with disabilities — the area that needed the most improvement with gradua- tion rates — and keep an eye on students in lower grades for signs they may be strug- gling, like absenteeism or failing core classes. “Staff at SSS are meeting every six weeks to review our list of kids that we have identified for intervention as part of our ‘on-track prog- ress monitoring’ for gradua- tion,” Wright said. Umatilla School District Umatilla School Dis- trict saw a jump of nearly 10 points in the rate of its four- year cohort, with a gradua- tion rate of 81.7 percent. Last year’s rate was 72.2 percent. But the district’s dropout rate was 6.53 percent. Superintendent Heidi Sipe credited staff members’ commitment to following through with students. “I think that’s one of the things [Principal] Bob Lor- ence provides really well at the high school,” Sipe said. “He follows through, and makes sure students are meeting those expecta- tions. When he first started, the kids weren’t very thrilled about the level of expecta- tion and accountability. But kids need boundaries.” She said Umatilla High School staff have been dili- gent about checking in with struggling students. They also have benefited from resources from the Inter- Mountain Educational Ser- vice District. “There are a host of ser- vices through the ESD at the K-12 level, which are essen- tial to our collective success as a region,” she said. She cited monthly meet- ings between all the superin- tendents in the ESD, where they share ideas and discuss things that are successful for their respective schools. Hermiston is not a member of the ESD. 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