On Jan. 30, the New York State Education Department released its 2018 graduation data. “Once again, it is my pleasure to report that Yonkers Public Schools’ graduation rate is 86 percent with our August graduates and our students surpassed the statewide August rate of 83 percent,” said Yonkers Board of Education President the Rev. Steve Lopez.
“The trustees commend the outstanding work of our Superintendent Dr. (Edwin) Quezada, his instructional team, school administrators, teachers and, most importantly, the diligent effort of our students.” “I am extremely proud of the work that is being accomplished in our high schools,” said Quezada.
“Yonkers outperforms urban school districts across the state and our students’ ontime graduation rate is aligned with the statewide average. It is the August on-time graduation rate which truly reveals that our students continue to demonstrate they are on the positive path toward graduation, as well as college and career readiness.
“By giving our students an additional two months of support to achieve graduation requirements, they make significant progress. Yonkers’ on-time graduation rate was able to increase by 6 percentage points to 86 percent from June to August. Even more impressive is how this extra time escalates achievement for our subgroups resulting in graduation rate increases. Yonkers’ English language learners graduation rate is 56 percent, and our students with disabilities attained a 58 percent rate.
“These subgroups achieved higher on-time graduation rates than all other large urban communities in New York,” continued Quezada. “Similarly, on-time graduation rates for black students is 79.6 percent and for Hispanic students it is 85.6 percent; they also surpassed all large urban communities. This trend continues through the work that we do to ensure our students remain in school. Yonkers’ dropout rate for the 2014 cohort was 3 percent, as compared to 6 percent for New York State.”
“We are proud our Yonkers Public Schools students continue to achieve despite the chronic underfunding to education by New York State,” said Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano. “While it seems we’ve reached our capacity of success, I can only imagine what our students could accomplish if our district was provided the funding they so desperately need and deserve. I congratulate the dedication of the Yonkers Board of Trustees, the superintendent and the wonderful administration, staff and teachers who commit themselves each day to the successes of our schools and who work tirelessly to ensure our students reach their fullest potential.”
Overall graduation numbers for YPS show the 86 percent graduation rate unchanged, graduating 1,559 students in the class of 2018 – 3 percentage points higher that the statewide average of 83 percent. Also, the 3 percent dropout rate is lower than the statewide average of 6 percent.
English language learners graduated at a 56 percent rate, 22 percentage points higher than the statewide average, and a significant 24.1 percentage point increase between June and August 2018. The dropout rate for English language learners fell to 7 percent, a decrease of 5 percentage points from last year, and 21 percentage points lower than the statewide average For students with disabilities, the YPS graduation rate of 58 percent aligned with the statewide average, and the 5 percent dropout rate decreased 4 percentage points from last year, and is 6 percentage points lower than the statewide average.
Economically disadvantaged YPS students graduated at an 85 percent graduation rate, the same as last year, and 12 percentage points higher than the statewide average. The 3 percent dropout rate was a 1 percentage point reduction from last year and 5 percentage points lower than the statewide average. Black and African-American YPS students graduated at an 80 percent rate –10 percentage points higher than the state average, and the 5 percent dropout rate is the same as last year and 3 percentage points lower than the state average.
Hispanic and Latino YPS students graduated at an 86 percent rate, a 1 percent increase from last year and 17 percent higher than the state average. The 4 percent dropout rate is the same as last year, and 6 percentage points below the state average.
Graduation rates for each high school are: Gorton High School, 83 percent; Lincoln H.S., 88 percent; Palisade Preparatory School, 78 percent; Riverside H.S., 85 percent; Roosevelt H.S.-Early College Studies, 78 percent; Saunders Trades & Technical H.S., 95 percent; Yonkers Middle/High School, 94 percent; and Yonkers Montessori Academy, 93 percent
