Graduation is the thing every DPS student strives for, whether they are just getting started in school or finishing their last class as a senior. It’s also the very thing that Abraham Lincoln High School senior Marco Rodriguez missed out on this Spring by just a few credits.
“I felt like I let everyone down,” Marco said. “It wasn’t until the last two months when it really clicked in that I was not going to graduate with everyone else.”
Marco admits he was working too many hours and staying up too late. His schoolwork did not get the same kind of attention, and his senior year was a struggle.
His counselor delivered the bad news: he would not be graduating with his classmates in the spring.
“[Not graduating on time] was something that I had never even considered as a possibility. I have always been a good student and gotten good grades. I really felt like I let literally everybody down," he said.
Fortunately, disappointment was not the end of Marco’s story. Instead, Marco graduated after making up his missing high school credits during DPS's summer credit recovery, which was offered through the APEX Learning credit recovery program.
The program - offered at regional sites in Denver Public Schools - offers students an opportunity to catch up and get back to grade level, or in Marco's case, meet all of their graduation requirements.
It is, quite literally, a second chance at graduating high school without staying behind for another year.
"The patterns would be the same if we didn't give these students the opportunity, and a little support, to get going in the right direction," said Michael Ross, a math teacher at Abraham Lincoln High School. "I'm so grateful DPS provides these kids with the opportunity to do this, because where else would they go?"
Additionally, several students who were already high school graduates took remedial courses this summer through Western State Colorado University. The program ensures students have a strong foundation with those critical, fundamental math skills before heading into college, while also decreasing a student's financial burden.
It also gives students a much better shot at graduating, as high school graduates who are behind in math as they enter college are traditionally less likely to finish college.
"It allows them to get caught up, to get back on track, to get ahead of schedule, and to achieve all of the goals they've set out to achieve," said Abraham Lincoln High School Teacher Justin Jeannot. "They have to be self-motivated in a lot of ways, but as the summer session rolls on you see the gratitude they have for what being caught up on school means for their future."
18 авг 2015
