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Beacon High School reports 91.3% graduation rate; foundation awards 12 educator grants totaling $15,555
Summary
Principal Dwyer told the Board Beacon High had an official graduation rate of 91.3% for the 2021 cohort and reviewed Regents and AP outcomes, enrollment in CTI and Bard early college, academic supports and the Bryte reintegration program. The Foundation for Beacon Schools reported 12 educator grants totaling $15,555 and a Snacks for Success fundraiser that exceeded its $1,500 goal.
Beacon High School Principal Dwyer presented an academic and program update to the Beacon City School District Board on Nov. 17, highlighting graduation, assessment, enrollment and student-support initiatives.
Dwyer said the high school's official graduation rate for the 2021 cohort was "91.3 percent." He provided a diploma breakdown for the cohort — 79 students earned an advanced Regents diploma, 103 earned a Regents diploma and seven earned local diplomas — and noted that 11 students remained enrolled working toward graduation while seven dropped out during the four‑year cohort period. He described recent Regents results, including declines in geometry that the school is addressing with adjusted teaching assignments and curriculum alignment, and strong AP results, including a 96% pass rate on AP biology credited in the presentation to Laura Thomas.
Dwyer also outlined career and dual‑enrollment participation: 22 seniors were in their second year of a Duchess BOCES Career and Technical Institute (CTI) program, the school recorded 326 AP enrollments and 522 DCC enrollments, and the Bard early‑college pathway included several juniors earning Bard credit. He described academic supports: a freshman seminar, English and math lab classes, Regents AIS classes and piloted intervention curriculum (Read 180). Dwyer said 57 students attended summer workshops run by an outside vendor and that the school is expanding support for ninth‑grade transition.
Dwyer reviewed Bryte, a reintegration program now serving 10 students who have returned to school after hospitalization or who experience school‑avoidance; he described an entry process that uses a student concern team, family meetings, a signed contract and staged re‑entry plans led by social worker Jenny Kaplan and teaching assistant Caitlin Holder.
Separately, Kate Burke Smith, co‑chair of the Foundation for Beacon Schools, presented the foundation's educator grants: "with your approval, awarded 12 grants for a combination of $15,555," she said, and reported the Snacks for Success fundraiser had already exceeded its $1,500 goal and will provide recurring snack support for students.
Board members praised recent extracurricular work, capital improvements (a new media studio and new science labs), and student civic projects; several asked for further data on post‑graduation pathways, longitudinal outcomes and the budgetary implications for proposed priorities.
