James Craig, Superintendent of the Cardinal Community School District, says the numbers for the 2023 graduation and dropout rates were released last week and it puts a positive light on Cardinal.
Last year, Cardinal graduated 100 percent of its senior class, a number matched only by the Seymour Community School District for area schools. Cardinal’s three-year graduation rate is 97 percent. Among similarly sized school districts in Iowa, Cardinal ranks third behind Denver and Osage. Craig says the credit for a high graduation rate doesn’t go to just one person.
Cardinal Superintendent James Craig
- “It’s a collaborative effort with everybody involved and while the kids have to do the work, we have to support them. It really is a group effort and I couldn’t be happier for the students and all of our staff.”
With a high graduation rate comes a low dropout rate, according to Craig and Cardinal espouses one of the lowest in the state. Cardinal’s dropout rate was zero in 2022. It rose slightly in 2023 to 0.75. Still, the five-year dropout rate at Cardinal (0.44) is the fourth lowest in the state among school district of similar size.
Cardinal Superintendent James Craig
- “This also speaks to our Visions Program which allows students to find an alternative way to graduate and get the requirements they need to go out and and be successful as well. It really is a team effort from our alternative program to all of our classrooms to the kids. We’re really getting it done together.”
The commencement ceremony for the Cardinal Class of 2024 will be held on Sunday, May 19 at Cardinal High School.
