JFK lags while RKA grooms grads

High school graduation rates are in and Riverdale/Kingsbridge schools span the spectrum when it comes to how many students walk on graduation day. 

John F. Kennedy High School reported fewer than half its students — 48 percent — graduated in four years, a sharp decrease from 75.7 percent reported in 2009. But graduation rates were on the rise at the David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy, MS/HS 141, which reported 91 percent for the class of 2010, up from 86.2 percent in 2009. 

JFK, which had its Progress Report withheld in November 2010 due to discrepancies in data describing where students who did not graduate ended up, reported one of the lowest graduation rates in the area. Of those who did not graduate by August 2010, 28 percent dropped out and 8 percent transferred to a GED program. 

At MS/HS 141, not a single student transferred to a GED program and 4 percent dropped out. With the exception of the specialized high schools and the Marble Hill High School for International Studies, which had a 92 percent graduation rate, RKA had the highest percentage in the area. 

The numbers were released by the state Education Department on Tuesday. NYSED breaks down graduates by the percentage of students who earned a local, Regent’s and special education diploma and also cites those who transferred to a GED program or dropped out. Citywide, the graduation rate was 61 percent, up from 59 percent for the class of 2009, according to NYSED. 

The city’s Department of Education released a statement on Monday afternoon, avidly praising the “all-time high” 65 percent graduation rate. NYSED and the DOE typically do not agree on the exact percentage.   

On the Kennedy campus alone, the numbers varied greatly from school-to-school. 

The Bronx Engineering and Technology Academy reported that 82 percent of students, compared with Kennedy’s 48 percent, graduated in four years. Three percent transferred to a GED program and five percent dropped out.