At 97.2 percent, Carroll County School’s graduation rate is the highest in the state among districts with three or more high schools, data released October 8 by the Georgia Department of Education shows.
For the seventh year in a row, over 90 percent of seniors in the Carroll County School System graduated last year, and all five high schools in the system have school graduation rates above 90 percent as well.
Bowdon High School – 92.1 percent graduation rate
Central High School – 99.4 percent graduation rate
Mount Zion High School – 98.3 percent graduation rate
Temple High School – 98.8 percent graduation rate
Villa Rica High School – 95.7 percent graduation rate
The state average for all districts is 85.4 percent. Only two systems with two high schools rank ahead of Carroll County in the overall scores.
“I am so proud of the work our system has done over the past several years to improve our graduation rate,” Superintendent Scott Cowart said. “Since the 2010-2011 school year, our graduation rate is up a full 30 percent. An increase like that doesn’t just happen, and it isn’t just credited to one change. This has been a combined effort requiring the attention of everyone in our district.”
Associate Superintendent Dr. Jessica Ainsworth said students are challenged to focus on their future, and that has led them to look past graduation to what comes next.
“I think whenever you get students to look beyond a milestone like graduation, they no longer question if they will graduate, but what they want to do next,” Ainsworth said. “We are intentionally challenging students to set a course for what comes after graduation and helping them make decisions now that will lead them to their destination.”
For the 2024-25 school year, the system is encouraging students to exceed graduation requirements with a new certification called G+ which recognizes extra preparation for post-secondary enrollment, employment or military enlistment.
“Our mission is to prepare students to graduate ready to be enrolled, enlisted or employed,” Ainsworth said. “That hasn’t changed, but we’ve created G+ to better describe our work to prepare students to excel in their chosen path after graduation.”
Students who decide their desired path after graduation are given checklists and specific goals to achieve G+ certification, Ainsworth said.
The system also emphasizes involvement in arts, athletics and activities.
“We know that students who are involved in something outside the classroom perform much better in the classroom,” Cowart said. “If we can find something that excites a student – be it band, robotics, agriculture or something else – we can get them engaged and motivated to come to school and do their best. That student will perform at a high level, graduate on time and be ready for what’s next.”
