QUALITIES OF LIFE: ALTERNATIVES REDUCE DROPOUT RATES

The vast majority of Cape Girardeau Central High School graduates complete their course of study in regular classrooms. However, some students need alternative routes to make skill mastery and high school diplomas achievable goals.

According to a special study released by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, those special routes have helped to improve the number of high school graduates in the school district.

"I think we're making a tremendous difference," said Deanna Simmons, coordinator of the district's Alternative Education Center. "Without the alternative school a lot of students don't get a second chance."

The alternative school was one of two alternative graduation methods showing results in the Quality of Life Indicators of Progress report. The report studies trends in various aspects of life in Cape Girardeau since 1990 so that areas of concern may be identified.

The report demonstrated the school district has maintained about a 90 percent graduation rate during the 1990s. The graduation rate was calculated by dividing the number of graduating seniors by the number of ninth-graders who were enrolled four years prior.

In 1991, the district bottomed out with only an 87 percent graduation rate. In that year, a special committee was created to determine what factors caused students to drop out.

The committee found that most Central High School students who dropped out did so because of pregnancy. Others who had failed one or more years also were more likely to drop out, along with students who held down part-time jobs, come from a single-parent family, had low self-esteem, were frequent drug or other substance abusers, or had frequent absenteeism.

Helping these students meant developing special programs, different teaching techniques, or a combination of other activities.

One program that has long existed in the district is the GED program offered at the vo-tech school. The program has had varying degrees of success over the years, but school officials said it's working because each person who successfully completes the program has the skills necessary to find a job and be self-supporting.

""We have seen some very good results from that," said Dr. Ferrell Ervin, president of the Board of Education. "I'm a very strong supporter of the alternative school and the GED program because both are helping our local residents to improve their quality of life."

The alternative school has helped improve the school district's graduation rate since it was opened in 1996. The school has advanced from 28 participants and one graduate in 1996 to eight graduates and 43 participants this year.

The school maintains a waiting list of students wanting to apply for openings in the full-day program.

All students considered for the program are deemed at-risk because of failing grades, pregnancy, or discipline problems that resulted in long-term suspension, among other factors.

"Evidently this is a very successful project because there are other alternative schools around the state that are opening up," Simmons said. "We were one of the first ones, so I think that alone should say we're doing something good down here."

Simmons doesn't take her school's success lightly. The combination of positive influences from teachers and parents and a growing number of students who want to beat their odds and graduate is what makes the school work, she said.

She dislikes disparaging comments like "it's not a real school" by people who are unfamiliar with the program.

"Just because you come down here you're not guaranteed a diploma," she said. "You have to meet the criteria laid down by the public school. I think we are definitely a real school because there's real education, real learning going on down here."