Mission Viejo Graduation Rates Among Highest in Orange County

Mission Viejo's two school districts are second and third in the county when ranked by graduation rate.

At Capistrano Unified, 96.8 percent of students who started school in 2008-2009 graduated. Saddleback Valley Unified did only slightly worse, with a graduation rate of 95.2 percent.

The only school district in Orange County with a higher graduation rate is Laguna Beach Unified (97.6 percent). The statewide graduation rate is 78.5 percent.

Students from Orange County Patch towns have some of the best graduation rates and lowest dropout rates in the county.

The state released graduation and dropout rates for the Class of 2012 Tuesday. Orange County’s average graduation rate of 85.3 percent was better than the statewide figure of 78.5 percent, but schools in Patch towns were all in the 90s.

The difference between graduation and dropout rates was the number of students who were still in school, were non-diploma special-education students or elected to take the GED.

By district

Statewide

The state superintendent's office said 78.5 percent of students who started high school in 2008-2009 graduated last year, up from 77.1 percent the year before.

Among African-American students, 65.7 percent graduated with their class in 2012, up 2.9 percentage points from a year earlier.

Among Hispanics, 73.2 percent graduated in 2012, up 1.8 points from the year before.

There was a corresponding decline in the state's dropout rate.

Overall, 13.2 percent of California students who began high school in 2008-2009 dropped out, down from 14.7 percent the year before.

The dropout rate among African-American students fell 3.1 percentage points to 22.2 percent. Among Hispanic students, the dropout rate fell 2.1 points to 16.2 percent.

Another 8.3 percent of students were labeled as neither dropouts or graduates. They include special education students, students who passed the GED exam and those who are still in school.

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson said the trend is positive, but California schools still need to do more. He said he'd like to see the graduation rate top 80 percent in the near future and reach 90 percent by 2020.

He commended local school officials for improving education despite recent budget cuts and California ranking 49th in the nation in education funding.

"As I travel up and down the state, I see great things happening in California schools every day," Torlakson said.