PRINCE ALBERT — Recent data released by the provincial government shows the Prince Albert Catholic School Division continued to meet or exceed graduation rates in comparison to the rest of Saskatchewan.
École St. Mary High School's graduation rates and achievement results continue an upward trend of graduating more students than the provincial graduation rates. Director of Education Lorel Trumier said there was an increase in almost every category year over year. She said that the division was excited to see these trends continue in each category.
“We also improved our results in almost every category from last year to this year, so that's a very exciting thing, but we are very excited,” Trumier said. “We always say and attest that it is the students who have done this work and obviously our staff have worked very hard to support them and so did their families. (We’re very excited about sharing these results.”
The province monitors graduation rates for Non-First Nation, Métis and Inuit (non-FNMI) students, First Nation, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students, and all students combined.
The graduation rates for Ecole St. Mary High School have met or outperformed the provincial results in all categories since the province started a growth plan in 2020 focused on eliminating the disparity between FNMI and non-FMNI students.
Roughly 67 per cent of Prince Albert Catholic School Division FNMI students graduate within three years of starting high school. That’s well above the 47 per cent three-year graduation rate for FNMI students across the rest of the province. For non-FNMI students, 98 per cent graduate within three years in the Prince Albert Catholic School Division, while the provincial rate is 92 per cent.
“When we look at the provincial averages for First Nation, Metis students, three years, it's under 50 per cent,” Trumier said. “It's 47 per cent that are graduating, but in our school division, we have 67 per cent, so we're graduating 20 per cent more. When you look at that category or any other category, really in numerical terms the positive impact of the graduation rates will impact not only the lives of those students, but our community.”
For FNMI, the division saw 92 per cent graduate while the province saw 83 per cent.
Of the PA Catholic FNMI students who do not graduate within three years, 78 per cent graduate in five years. For the rest of Saskatchewan, that number is 57 per cent.
"We have strategic plans about improving our graduation rates all the time and one of the more recent endeavours that we're working through is trying to provide some programming that really supports our students,” Trumier said.
She said that having new options like online classes and new programs like High-Performance Athletics for volleyball, basketball and hockey have helped.
“We have also very dedicated staff in the arts, so we're really seeing a large group of students who would love to do that kind of work, whether it's the drama production or the musical,” she said. “We have more students engaged.”
She said that student engagement is key to having students be successful in school.
"If they are enjoying what they're doing, they get to expand their strengths and exercise their ability to use their strengths, and then we have success all the way around,” she said.
The data provided by the province also compared historically to the year 2012-2013. In that year PA Catholic saw 75 per cent of all students graduate in three years compared to 71 per cent in the province. In FNMI the division saw 45 per cent while the province saw 41 per cent. In non-FNMI the division saw 92 per cent graduate and the province saw 83 per cent.
For the five-year graduation rates in 2012-2013 in the combined category 82 per cent graduated in the division and 81 per cent graduated. In FNMI, the division saw 71 per cent while the province saw 54 per cent. In non-FNMI the division saw 92 per cent graduate and the province saw 88 per cent.
"Just congratulations to all our students once again. Their persistence and hard work have paid off. We are proud of them as a school division and we're very appreciative of the work that our staff do with our families to make that happen,” she said.
When all graduation rates are combined for this year, 80 per cent of Prince Albert Catholic Division students graduate. The provincial rate is 78 per cent. The five-year graduation rate for the Catholic Division is 88 per cent while the provincial rate is 83 per cent.
"It is with a sense of pride for the students who achieve this milestone. The students, staff and families should be proud of this achievement. As a Board of Education and staff of the Prince Albert Catholic School Division, we strive to support our students with the aim of graduation,” board chair Suzanne Stubbs said in a release.
“Prince Albert Catholic Schools has consistently demonstrated its capacity to meet and surpass provincial benchmarks across graduation rate categories over the last 13 years. This achievement underscores the dedication and commitment of our staff and the pursuit of academic achievement exhibited by our students."
