MCPS Graduation Rate Up, Local Schools Fare Well

Walter Johnson High School, via MCPSThe four-year graduation rate for Montgomery County Public Schools rose over the last two years. One Bethesda school played a big part.

According to data released by the Maryland State Department of Education on Wednesday, the four-year graduation rate for students who entered high school in the class of 2012 was 87.4 percent, up 1.3 percent from two years ago and 3.8 percent higher than the rate for the state of Maryland.

The state’s graduation rate also rose, by 0.6 percent.

Walter Johnson High School had the biggest one-year increase in the 25-high school system. Walter Johnson’s graduation rate increased by five percentage points for a 96.7 percent graduation rate. That gave it the fourth highest rate in MCPS ahead of Walt Whitman High School, which had a 95.1 percent graduation rate.

A dozen of the 25 high schools saw a one-year increase and 17 saw a two-year increase. The dropout rate for the Class of 2012 was 6.8 percent. The state rate was 10.2 percent.

The numbers also show gaps between black and white students and Hispanic and white students are narrowing. The gap in graduation rate between black students and white students closed by 3.9 percent. The gap between Hispanic students and white students closed by 2.1 percentage points.

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