GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay Area Public Schools are seeing a graduation-rate increase of 4.4 percent from the previous year.
83.8 percent of Green Bay public high-school students graduated during 2015-2016, that’s up from the previous year of only 79.4 percent.
Green Bay Public School District Superintendent, Michelle Langenfeld, tells WLUK it all stems from the efforts of staff members and the community.
“I think of a program called ‘Be Great Graduate’ which is part of the Boys and Girls Club, or the Department of Instruction does ‘Gear Up’ and these are all opportunities for students to extend their learning.”
And although the increase may be exciting, graduation rates for Green Bay is still under the state average of 88 percent.
Langenfeld said that’s because Green Bay sees a lot of mobility.
“Sometimes they’ll leave and come back, sometimes it’s where the daycare is and sometimes it’s more convenient for the family and family needs to be closer to work, for example. But we do monitor that.”
The superintendent says although enrollment stayed steady over the years, demographics have changed.
“I think we have to recognize the fact that a number of our students come to us from other countries who may not have acquisitions in the English language. So they need to learn that in addition to the content.”
According to the Brown County LIFE Study, Green Bay served more minorities and low-income students than any other Brown County school district.
“Some of our students take longer to graduate and so we don’t just look at four years but also five,” Langenfeld said.
She doesn’t expect the increasing graduation trend to stop.
