24 Ways to Improve Your High School Graduation Rate

How One California High School Built a Culture Where Every Student Matters

Summary for Educators

Based on:

Author: Vicki Davis, featuring an interview with Cara Vienna
Source: Cool Cat Teacher Blog – 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Episode 1024
Published: November 5, 2026
Original Article: Read the full article and listen to the podcast

THE BIG IDEA

What would it take for every student entering ninth grade to eventually walk across the graduation stage?

At Los Alamitos High School in California, educators have demonstrated that exceptionally high graduation rates are possible when academic interventions, mentoring, counseling, and school culture operate as an integrated system.

In a conversation with educator and podcast host Vicki Davis, principal Cara Vienna describes 24 strategies that contributed to the school's remarkable results. The school graduated all 733 members of its Class of 2023 and achieved a 100% graduation rate for two consecutive years, followed by 99% in a third year.

Rather than relying on a single program, Vienna emphasizes relationships, early identification of struggling students, peer support, and collaboration among educators, families, and community partners.

Her central message is that improving graduation rates begins long before senior year.

It begins by ensuring students never become invisible.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Begin Graduation Prevention Efforts in Ninth Grade

Students who struggle during their freshman year often face mounting academic difficulties.

Los Alamitos identifies incoming students who lack organizational, study, and executive-functioning skills.

These students receive targeted assistance through small skills-lab classes of no more than 20 students.

The curriculum explicitly teaches practical strategies such as preparing for examinations, organizing assignments, managing responsibilities, and communicating with teachers.

Leadership lesson: Ninth-grade success should be a schoolwide priority rather than the exclusive responsibility of freshman teachers.

2. Use Successful Students as Peer Mentors

One of the school's most innovative practices is replacing some traditional teacher-assistant assignments with structured peer mentoring.

More than 85 successful juniors and seniors serve as mentors, typically supporting three or four younger students.

Mentors work in skills labs and academic classrooms, providing encouragement, academic assistance, and positive role modeling.

Because students may feel more comfortable discussing problems with classmates, peer mentoring creates an additional pathway for intervention.

Leadership lesson: Students themselves represent an underutilized resource for improving school achievement.

3. Identify Academic Problems Before They Become Crises

Every six to twelve weeks, teachers and administrators review lists of students earning Ds and Fs.

Rather than waiting until students fail courses, educators coordinate immediate interventions.

These include student-support meetings, family conferences, tutoring, counseling, and opportunities for remediation during the school day.

The school's Griffin Lab offers free academic assistance involving teachers from multiple departments.

Leadership lesson: Early-warning data become valuable only when educators act on them promptly.

4. Make Every Student Feel Connected

Vienna emphasizes that students need meaningful relationships with adults who know them personally.

Each student should have a trusted adult on campus who can provide encouragement, assistance, and advocacy.

The school also addresses barriers to attendance, including transportation difficulties and family circumstances.

Instead of immediately directing struggling students toward alternative programs, the school emphasizes keeping students connected to their regular school community while providing additional support.

Leadership lesson: Belonging is an essential component of successful graduation initiatives.

5. Integrate Mental Health and Academic Support

Recognizing the relationship between emotional well-being and academic success, Los Alamitos created a dedicated wellness program.

Its student-designed Well Space, called The Loft, provides students with opportunities to receive support from a wellness counselor.

An adjoining outdoor area, The Oasis, offers another environment for relaxation and emotional regulation.

Counselors also conduct individual meetings with students to review academic progress and future plans.

Leadership lesson: Effective graduation strategies address students' academic, social, and emotional needs.

6. Give Students and Teachers a Voice in School Improvement

Los Alamitos uses surveys of students, families, and staff to evaluate well-being, engagement, and belonging.

Results inform professional development, school committees, homework policies, and scheduling decisions.

Teachers also participate in student-shadowing experiences to better understand a typical school day from the learner's perspective.

Importantly, the school repeats surveys to determine whether changes are producing improvements.

Leadership lesson: Sustainable school improvement depends on listening to stakeholders and using evidence to guide decisions.

WHY IT MATTERS

Graduation rates are often discussed as statistical indicators, but behind every percentage point are individual students whose futures may depend on effective school intervention.

The Los Alamitos experience suggests that successful graduation initiatives require coordinated systems rather than isolated programs.

Importantly, Vienna acknowledges that her school benefits from considerable community resources and entered this improvement effort with graduation rates already in the high 90s.

Its accomplishments are therefore best understood as an instructive example rather than proof that the same strategies will produce identical outcomes everywhere.

Nevertheless, the underlying principles—early intervention, personalized relationships, academic assistance, and student belonging—are adaptable to schools with widely different resources.

LEADERSHIP ACTION STEPS

1. Conduct a ninth-grade success audit. Examine attendance, course failures, disciplinary referrals, and academic performance among freshmen. Identify students who need immediate intervention.

2. Establish a peer mentoring initiative. Recruit academically successful upperclassmen and train them to support younger students who are struggling.

3. Create a graduation early-warning system. Review grades, attendance, and credit accumulation regularly. Assign responsibility for following up with every identified student.

4. Guarantee every student a trusted adult. Use an advisory program or mentoring structure to ensure that no student progresses through high school without meaningful adult support.

5. Survey students about belonging and support. Ask students whether they feel connected, know where to obtain assistance, and believe adults care about their success. Use the findings to establish measurable improvement goals.

LEADER REFLECTION

If every student in your school were personally known, academically monitored, and connected to a caring adult, how many additional students might graduate?

The most important question may not be whether your school can achieve a 100% graduation rate.

It may be that your school has developed a system that prevents even one struggling student from being overlooked.

Source: Vicki Davis, “24 Ways to Improve Your Graduation Rate,” Cool Cat Teacher Blog, November 5, 2026. Cool Cat Teacher Blog

Original Article

 24 Ways to Improve Your Graduation Rate appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher 

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Prepared with the assistance of OpenAI's AI software. (2026). ChatGPT (5.2) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com