Southland College Prep sees 100 percent graduation rate
Southland College Prep Charter High School’s first graduating class will see a 100 percent graduation rate.
Every single student is going to college.
They were enrolled at the Richton Park school, which opened in 2010, not based on academic performance but by lottery from within the attendance boundaries of Rich Township High School District 227.
Parents in the district demanded an alternative to Rich Central, Rich South and Rich East high schools because they felt too many of their students were failing to receive the education they deserved.
Blondean Davis, the school superintendent in Matteson School District 162, was frustrated to see the performance of her graduates trailing off in the high school system. Today, Davis still heads District 162 but also serves as chief executive of Southland College Prep.
She vowed four years ago that everyone one of the charter high school’s students would go to college, although more than 60 percent are considered economically disadvantaged.
Ninety-five percent of students at the school are black, 1 percent Latino, 1 percent Asian and 1 percent white. 2 percent identify as “other.” Richton Park is a suburb just south of Chicago.
Such a bright future these students have!
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