Alexy Ramirez is among the high-school seniors across the country who needed help getting across the finish line after falling behind because of schooling from home during the pandemic.
Schoolwork was never a problem for Ramirez, who always had good grades until the coronavirus pushed her inside for online school, affecting her discipline. She was distracted during the day, and she was working at a job, so she procrastinated on homework during the fall 2020 semester.
“I was really disappointed with myself,” Ramirez told DISD’s The Hub. “My homework was piling up, and I wasn’t achieving anything close to my potential. That’s a bad feeling.”
She received help from the district’s reconnection centers, which help seniors graduate on time. Now she expects to graduate with a high-school diploma and associates degree from Trini Garza Early College High School this month. She won a $300 scholarship from Education is Freedom and plans to attend the University of Texas at Arlington and become a teacher.
DISD has a goal of graduating 90% of high-school seniors this month. In April, the district estimated that 66% were ready to graduate, and in May the number jumped to 76%.
Dallas ISD is using multiple strategies to meet this 90-percent graduation goal. In addition to students taking advantage of the Reconnection Centers and Evening Academy, individual graduation committees are monitoring seniors progress to ensure they get back on track, and district leaders are constantly monitoring data to help develop plans to increase the number on-track seniors.
