Lyon County schools announce 2021 graduation rates

Lyon County School District graduation rates have increased for the fifth consecutive year and remain above the state’s graduation rate, district officials announced.

"It is an incredible accomplishment for the Lyon County School District to continually increase their graduation rate over the past five consecutive years,” Superintendent Wayne Workman said in a release from the district Monday. “This accomplishment is even more astounding given the recent pandemic and the considerable disruption to education in Nevada and across the country."
Lyon County’s district wide rate went up to 87.82% in 2020-21 from 86.58% in 2019-20 overall. Last month, the Nevada Department of Education announced the statewide rate dropped from 82.57% to 81.31%, still remaining above 80% for the fifth consecutive rate.
Dayton High’s rate showed the largest year-over-year improvement from 2019-20 to 2020-21, going from 83.36% to 89.86%. Smith Valley increased from 85.71% to 100%, as did Yerington from 85.29%. Fernley High dropped from 86.19% to 84.62%, and so did Silver Springs from 95.45% to 90.54%.

Lyon County is made up of 18 schools, including four high schools, five middle schools, eight elementary schools and one K-12 school across Dayton, Fernley, Silver Springs, Smith Valley and Yerington. It also offers a full-distance option through its LyOnline program and Adult Education.

District interventions to assist students have included remediation, student study teams, graduation contracts targeted to seniors who are credit deficient or have been failing in their courses and the F-Clearinghouse strategy through which Silver Stage High School educators dedicated four school days to recognize students’ success when they pass their courses and assist them in their remediation when they’re struggling.

Yerington High School’s credit recovery begins during a student’s sophomore year and students typically are paired with a graduation coach to make sure they stay on track to finishing.

Smith Valley Principal Duane Mattice says his school monitors student progress through the counselors with meetings with parents being called as needed. Smith Valley’s smaller size provides for more collaboration, he added.

“Our small size allows for us to maintain strong relationships of trust and a hyperfocus on the wellbeing of our students,” Mattice said in the release.

In addition to the LCSD's commitment to helping students achieve as they progress through their K-12 education, LCSD high school students also have an opportunity and potential to graduate with an associate's degree in addition to receiving their high school diploma. LCSD partners with Western Nevada College and the JumpStart program.

In 2020-21, Lyon County School District’s Adult Education program had 94 out of 130 students graduate, a 72% graduation rate. In 2020-21, the state adult education program had an average of a 14% completion rate. Adult education students also can complete the program by passing the High School Equivalency Exam. The students who pass the HSE have completed the program, but they are not considered graduates because they did not earn a diploma. When all forms of student success are considered, LCAE consistently has had one of the most top-performing programs in the state.

Not only has LCSD traditional K-12 seen tremendous growth over the past but so has the LCAE. In 2016-17, LCAE emphasized students taking the HSE, and this practice was primarily due to the Nevada Proficiency Exams being a graduation requirement. When the law changed and HSE was no longer a graduation requirement for Nevada high school students, guidance memos from the Nevada Department of Education indicated that this change also took effect for previous classes. Upon retrieval of this information, although not required, LCSD and LCAE contacted all of the affected former students who now qualified for a diploma based on the new graduation requirements, these entities know the difference having a high school diploma can make for individuals in a competitive job market.