Helping high school students find success.
For a long period of time, Park High School suffered an unacceptable dropout rate. But change began to occur in 2012 when Park registered a 74.7 percent graduation rate at a time the state average was 83.9. The Community Foundation learned that the State of Montana had a program called “Graduation Matters” to address this problem. It was Park High School’s responsibility to create its own local version of this program to help reverse the destructive trend here in Park County. But the school needed community involvement and support to create change. The Community Foundation helped facilitate the school’s action plan by convening meetings of various community groups and developing funding for “Graduation Matters” activities. With great focus and effort, the Graduation Matters Livingston effort moved the graduation-rate “needle” to a state-wide high of 91.2 percent in 2015, compared to the state average of 85.4 percent. The result is that Park High School went from having a graduation rate below the state’s average to having its highest.
