Souhegan Boasts Super-Low Dropout Rate

Souhegan students are not keen on dropping out of high school, according to data from the New Hampshire Department of Education.

The latest numbers show that there were zero dropouts out of the 859 students enrolled at the high school during the 2011-12 school year. Five early exit non graduate students went on to earn their GED during that time.

Few high schools in the state had zero dropouts during this time. New Hampshire state totals show that 778 out of the 61,667 students enrolled in high school had dropped out.

The highest dropout numbers come out of the Nashua and Manchester school districts. The Manchester School District alone had 197 of its 5,543 students dropout.

One Souhegan student did dropout during the 2010-11 school year, and also during the 2009-10 school year.

A majority of high school "completers,” which includes students that were issued a standard diploma, as well as those who received a certificate of attendance or a non-standard diploma, went on to a four year college or university.

A total of 78.7 percent of the 221 graduates during the 2011-12 school year went down this path, while 12.7 percent went onto colleges under four years. That year also saw 4.5 percent of graduates employed and 2.7 percent unemployed.

Only a few, a total of 0.4 percent, went on to join the armed forces.