Philomath High School’s four-year high school graduation rate continues to rise far above statewide averages, according to data released Thursday by the Oregon Department of Education.
PHS achieved a 93.5% four-year graduation rate for the Class of 2025, significantly higher than the state average of 83.0%. The school graduated 116 students out of an “adjusted cohort” of 124.
Those numbers are down a bit from the Class of 2024’s graduation rate of 98.0%. PHS Principal Mark Henderson said the latest numbers are still good.
“I think the data is great and all that but if you’re a student and you start here in ninth grade and you stayed with us all four years, we’re 100%,” Henderson said. “I mean, we’re getting you through.”
The Class of 2025 cohort began with students who first entered high school during the 2021-22 school year. The cohort also includes students who transferred into Oregon’s public K-12 system from homeschooling, private schools, or from outside Oregon who were determined to have started high school that same year. ODE said students are removed from the cohort if they have a documented transfer out of Oregon public schools, emigrated to another country, or are deceased.
Henderson indicated that diving into those adjusted cohort numbers can be complicated.
“What it looks like is 124 kids started with us in ninth grade (2021-22) but only 116 finished with us because those eight went somewhere else,” Henderson said. “Maybe the state doesn’t know where they went and so that’s a negative or maybe they dropped out and that’s a negative — I’m not sure. Or, maybe they ended up being five-year graduates at another institution. That’s how it was explained to me.”
Through the entire district, the rate was 89.2% with 140 graduates among 157 students — a higher percentage than 2023-24’s 87.3%. Beyond PHS, the 2024-25 data shows Philomath Academy with 18 graduates out of an adjusted cohort of 26 for a 69.2% graduation rate. Four students earned a General Educational Development diploma. Kings Valley Charter School graduated six of seven students in its adjusted cohort for an 85.7% grad rate.
ODE defines a graduate as a student who earns a regular or modified high school diploma.
Oregon also calculates a five-year completion rate that tracks the percentage of students who earn a credential within five years of entering high school. Eligible credentials include a regular diploma, modified diploma, GED, adult high school diploma, or extended diploma.
The Philomath district’s five-year completion rate reached 94.7% with Philomath High at 99.0%.
Henderson points to an effective high school success program that’s in place. A team of educators meets regularly to analyze student progress — weekly for freshmen and monthly for sophomores, juniors and seniors.
“It just allows us to keep eyes on every kid, no kid slips through the cracks and we’re able to find out what’s going on with them and what we can do to help,” Henderson said.
The student success team puts students into one of three tiers. Tier 1 students represent about 85% to 90% of the population, Henderson said, with those who “don’t have any issues and are going to be fine if we just leave them alone.”
Roughly 10% to 15% fall into Tier 2 and they attract focus from educators each week.
“Our student success teams work primarily with those Tier 2 level of students where there’s one or two Fs or two to three Ds and maybe they’re in that 80% to 90% attendance zone,” Henderson said.
Tier 3 students have three or more Fs with attendance typically being a primary issue, Henderson said.
“What we try and do is we’ll make home visits and really try to work with the families to make sure that we’re eliminating any barriers from their attendance,” Henderson said.
In specific student populations, the school district had a four-year graduation rate of 88.9% among Hispanic/Latino students, compared to 79.9% statewide. Students experiencing poverty graduated at 80.0% in the Philomath district and 71.3% across the state. Students in special education had a grad rate of 78.3% in the Philomath district and 72.2% statewide. And students participating in Career and Technical Education programs, Philomath had a 94.8% graduation rate compared to 91.3% statewide.
Overall, the district, PHS and KVCS all had four-year graduation rates and four-year completion rates above the state averages. The district and PHS were also above state averages in the five-year cohort grad rate. And the district, PHS and Philomath Academy had five-year cohort completion rates above state averages.
Henderson has confidence in the system at PHS but there are always tweaks happening to try to improve outcomes. For example, the principal mentioned that the high school could be looking at adding an Algebra 1 intervention class.
“Algebra 1 really is the gateway to the rest of the math,” he said. “The kids that struggle in Algebra 1 tend to have a much more difficult time throughout their (school) career in math.”
PHS staff recently attended a high school success workshop with information on what a neighboring school district is doing in that area.
“That’s a possibility but we’re still evaluating it but I think along with our confidence in our current system, we’re always looking to refine,” Henderson said. “If we can find a better way or more efficient way to do something, we’re going to try and do that.”
Teacher efficacy is a major ingredient in the school’s overall success, the principal added.
“We’re just constantly working on trying to improve our methods of instruction,” Henderson said.
Statewide, the high school graduation rate reached an all-time high of 83% for the Class of 2025, marking the state’s best performance in over a decade and surpassing the previous record of 82.6% set by the Class of 2020.
The milestone represents approximately 40,300 graduates statewide, an increase of about 1,546 students over the previous year. It was the first graduating class since the pandemic to complete all four years of high school in person.
“This graduating class shows what’s possible when students are supported and expectations are clear,” said Charlene Williams, director of the Oregon Department of Education.
The gains come amid concerns about trends in other educational metrics. Student proficiency in key subject areas remains low since the pandemic, and chronic absenteeism continues to challenge schools statewide.
In a news conference Tuesday ahead of the data release, Williams acknowledged the disconnect between rising graduation rates and flat assessment scores, attributing it partly to Oregon’s inconsistent testing participation. The state allows parents to opt students out of state assessments, resulting in some of the nation’s most variable participation rates.
