View Missoula’s Graduation and Dropout Rates School by School

On the morning of January 16, the Office of Public Instruction released a wealth of information concerning the state's graduation and dropout rates.

The Graduation and Dropout Report, shows a decrease in the state wide dropout rate from 4.3% in 2010-2011 to 4.1% in 2011-2012. 134 fewer students dropped out in 2012 than in 2011 leaving the state with a total of 1,841 dropouts during the school year. This is great news considering the dropout rate has been fairly static since the 2009-2010 school year.

In the Missoula area, Loyola Sacred Heart posted the lowest dropout rate (0.0%) followed by Valley Christian School (1.2%). Hellgate high school had the highest dropout rate (3.7%) followed by Sentinel (2.0%) and Big Sky (1.9%).

The dropout rate for every school in Montana was also made available.

On the graduation front in Missoula, Sentinel High had the highest graduation rate (94.4%) followed by Hellgate (91.8%) and Big Sky (91.5%). Information on the graduation rate Missoula's private schools was not originally available and the Office of Pubilc Instruction has been contacted to find more information. A nearly complete list of graduation rates for the state is available on the OPI website.

In the formal presentation on the state's graduation and dropout rates, Juneau spoke highly of the Graduation Matters Montana initiative and said that she would push for the  "legislature to raise the legal dropout age from age 16 to age 18 or upon graduation, adopt anti-bullying legislation, and provide funding for schools to educate students older than 18 years of age."