Catching Up

It’s difficult to obtain accurate statistics on the school dropout rate, but one thing is certain. The number of students not making it to high school graduation is growing--and students are dropping out of school at much younger ages.

That’s why it’s so important to have special programs, like the Opportunity School Polaris project being launched in September in the Anaheim Union High School District. The program will put students in the 13- to 15-year-old age group who have fallen behind in school work into an independent study program designed to help them return to class and work their way back into the regular high school curriculum--and graduation.

That’s the kind of realistic prevention program it will take if the rising dropout rate is ever going to be turned around.