8 Nashville High Schools Termed “Dropout Factories”

A new report calls eight Nashville High Schools “dropout factories” because their graduation rates are 60-percent or less.

Johns Hopkins researchers released its dropout rate study on behalf of the Associated Press today.

In it, Glencliff, Hillwood, Hunters Lane, Maplewood, McGavock, Pearl Cohn, Stratford and Whites Creek high schools are all cited for poor graduation rates, as is Rutherford County’s Oakland High School.

Glencliff Principal Tony Majors says the resources to keep kids in school, like extracurricular activities, mentoring, and tutoring are working. He says reducing risky behavior is the barrier now.

“Unfortunately in today’s culture, there are so many different things that can take child away from the path they were on and get them heading in a negative direction that a lot of times it’s going take adult intervention to change those kids lives.”

The Johns Hopkins study comes on the heels of another recent study showing the majority of children attending public schools in Tennessee are poor. Among the high schools with high dropout rates, more than half were also named as poverty-stricken.