The plate for the administration is generally full at Bridgeport High School. Among the largest items on that plate is to make sure students do what they need to do in order to earn their high school diploma.

 

Apparently, that was done fairly well during the 2016-17 school year. Recently, it was announced that Bridgeport High School was one of three schools in Harrison County that saw a graduation rate of higher than 90 percent.

 

Joining Bridgeport with high graduation rates were Lincoln and Liberty. Bridgeport led the way with a near perfect graduation rate of 98.2 percent, while Lincoln (90.7) and Liberty (90.3) also had impressive numbers.

 

“I know this probably sounds a little off the ball, but our goal is to try and graduate 100 percent of our kids. That’s our goal going in for each incoming freshmen class. Sometimes that’s unrealistic, as long as we can keep it up there we’re happy with that,” said DeFazio.

 

While some may believe that the near perfect attendance rate is an anomaly, DeFazio said it’s not the case. However, he did say it’s a high number.

 

“Certainly that’s high, but it’s been that high before,” said DeFazio. “We try to get it into our students’ heads early how important this is to finish high school.”

 

DeFazio said the discussion begins with each freshmen class. From there, it’s mentioned throughout the year to each class as often as possible and he hopes the message is hitting him.

 

“We tell them you don’t necessarily need to go to college, but you need to find a skill to put yourself into the workforce to make a respectable living,” DeFazio said. “If you want to go to college and if you want to get into a profession without college, you’re likely going to need that diploma.”

 

DeFazio said the high number of graduates last year is a testament to many groups. He said without all of them, it can’t happen.

 

“It’s a testament to our school, our teachers, the community and, most important, our students,” DeFazio said. “We challenge them to succeed and get the diploma and we’re getting that message across. We’re happy, but we won’t be totally happy until we hit 100 percent.”