Kaimuki Students Scramble to Graduate
In January, it looked like almost half of Kaimuki High School’s senior class would not graduate this May.
“At the end of the first semester, there were only about 60 percent of the kids who we were really sure had all their credits,” said principal Penelope Tom.
But this is actually a success story.
It all started with a new English curriculum, a senior project and a sociology class.
“It was a transition year, because a number of things changed,” Tom said.
For one, the school reformatted its English course to squeeze all the composition requirements into one semester instead of spreading them over two. Many students had trouble writing so much in such a short time period and fewer passed the class.
It was also only the second year Kaimuki students tried to tackle , which are required for seniors seeking the Hawaii State Board of Education‘s honors-type Recognition Diploma.
The recognition diploma is voluntary. Many students who did take on the senior project, however, were intimidated by the amount of work required, said senior adviser Chelsey Kadota. Many thought one of their sociology class assignments was part of the senior project — not a core requirement.
As a result, 30 of the school’s 257 seniors failed the required sociology class in the fall because they psyched themselves out.
That made this year extra precarious, said the principal, even though she and her faculty are “always in scare mode.”
The school’s faculty and staff scrambled to design a rescue plan that would bring the seniors up to speed.
The curriculum coordinator came up with an anthropology course for students who needed to make up the sociology credit. Staff worked to match students with tutors. The school has offered a number of . , a church that meets at the school on the weekends, also rallied its members to help tutor the kids trying to catch up. (Full disclosure: Your reporter attends One Love but did not participate in the tutoring.)
Now, thanks to the credit recovery classes, weekend library hours and tutoring, about 75 percent of Kaimuki’s seniors are on track to graduate — up from 60 percent in January. Because Hawaii does not keep data on the percentage of seniors who graduate — neither number can be compared with last year’s recorded graduation rate or the statewide rate. Hawaii only tracks the number of ninth-graders who graduate four years later.
This is just one school’s experience with curriculum changes. Each school handles changes differently. But Kaimuki faculty and administrators have already gone extra lengths to make sure 11th-graders are better prepared for next year.
Even more Kaimuki seniors may qualify to graduate by next month, when administrators will have to determine if they are eligible to walk for their diplomas.
“Every day it’s changing because they’re finishing their credit recovery classes,” the principal said. “They’ve really stepped up to the plate and they’re all doing what they need to do.”
