Graduation rates increased across the state this year and local schools were no exception: all schools but one increased their rates, some dramatically.

Mt. Zion High School increased its graduation rate by 17 percentage points, to 83 percent. Villa Rica High School went up 15 percentage points to 85 percent. Bowdon went up by 13 points to 89 percent. Central and Carrollton high schools both increased by 2 points, to 76 and 84 percent, respectively.

Temple High School’s graduation rate fell less than 1 percentage point and remains at 79 percent.

All the high schools beat the state-mandated graduation rate of 75 percent, and Central was the only one that didn’t beat the state’s average of 78.9 percent.

Bowdon High School Principal Travis Thomas said the school works hard to make sure the school’s juniors are well-prepared for the graduation test so that they can concentrate on accruing credits their senior year.

“We spend a lot of time with tutorials for the graduation test for our juniors,” Thomas said. “Their senior year they can focus on their classes and earn the units instead of worrying about the graduation test. ... It really does make their senior year a little bit easier and us breathe a little easier if we’ve got most of our juniors that passed the graduation test.”

The school targets students who may need a little extra help and involves the parents in helping the students. The teachers meet with students in danger of not graduating and their parents to keep them on track. In addition, the students are required to meet regularly with their graduation coaches to make sure they were making progress. Last year, the school started an informal mentoring program in which teachers would meet with one or two students individually on a regular basis to create a more personal relationship.

“I think that means a lot,” Thomas said. “That’s something the kids really do appreciate, and I think that helps us with our test scores and our graduation rate. Because I think the kids realize that we have some folks that care about them.”

Mt. Zion High School Principal Tracey Barrow agreed.

Knowing that their teachers care can be a motivation for students to try harder, she said, and motivating students can be very hard.

“We’re over 65 percent free and reduced lunch, so our students that are economically disadvantaged is a large portion of our students,” Barrow said. “Sometimes, it’s just they don’t see education as being the most important thing at this moment in their lives.”

Those students are often concerned with things at home. They may be working to help support the family or helping out at home and feel overwhelmed. In those cases, having teachers who care and keeping tabs on the students can help focus those students on their future.

Last year, Mt. Zion altered its schedule to add a seventh period to the day. That allowed the school to enroll students who needed it into a study skills class and to give seniors who had not passed the graduation test to bone up on the subject they needed to retake, without cutting into their other class time.

“Really that’s one of the big things that really helped us, was having that seven-period day,” Barrow said. “It gave them an extra period in the day to focus on those graduation tests.”

The school also included seniors who needed to retake a portion of the graduation test in the week-long tutoring session for juniors who were preparing to take the test for the first time, she said.

“We’re just really excited about the gains that we have made and hope we can continue,” Barrow said.