Native high school near Turtle Mountain Reservation sustains near-perfect graduation rate

Principal encourages teachers and staff to listen to student needs and build relationships inside and outside of the classroom

A high school in the Turtle Mountain Reservation border town of St. John, N.D., has achieved an unprecedented graduation rate. Educators say the key to sustained success is leveraging academic performance through interpersonal relationships.

Charles “Chip” Anderson, the principal at St. John High School, encourages colleagues to listen to students’ needs: “Building relationships – anybody can do that,” Anderson claims.

For the last 10 years, this school has kept up a 95-100% graduation rate, which is uncommon in Indian Country. A part of the St. John pre-K-12 public education system, the secondary school with a 95-percent Indigenous student body of 125 received a 2022-23 Distinguished School Award.

In North Dakota, Indigenous students are less likely to graduate high school than other students. According to North Dakota Compass, the Native American graduation rate for the 2019-2020 school year sat at 72.7% compared to 92.2% for white students.

By emphasizing relationships and understanding that sometimes the classroom isn’t a student’s top priority, St. John High School educators came up with a system that works for them. Whether it’s talking one-on-one with students, using a credit recovery program, accommodating for absences, or applying standardized tests, the staff and administration will do what they can for their students.

Anderson said the biggest issue is always attendance because it’s hard to help students when they aren’t there. Sometimes it’s necessary for them to bend old rules so that they can accommodate students and provide the resources for them to succeed.

A student who has surpassed the number of absences allowed but has been keeping up with homework will not fail, Anderson said. Stressors at home or in personal life are worthy considerations.

Melvin Laducer, the principal at the Turtle Mountain Community High School in Belcourt, about 10 miles from St. John High School, said some parents don’t get involved in their child’s education due to the historical trauma stemming from federal and Catholic Indian boarding schools. He said that some end up disconnecting to a point where a student’s only hope for finding educational support is from their teachers.

Parents “definitely don’t want to come to school around a bunch of educators who intimidate them,” said Laducer. “So they send their kids to us, expecting us to do everything and not understanding their role as a parent [in their child’s education].”

With an 80% graduation rate, the Turtle Mountain Community High School is doing better than average, yet he is keeping an eye on St. John. It earned the Distinguished School Award from the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators due to “exceptional student performance and academic growth.” ESEA stands for the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The staff at St. John High School has team spirit, maintaining communication among instructors and discussing needs to better assist the students. “Everybody in our high school supports each other, whether that’s the math teacher, the English teacher, the special education teacher, or my classroom,” said Dawn Moberg, the educator in charge of the alternative high school curriculum. “We just work well together.”

St. John’s credit recovery program allows students to work with Moberg to recuperate some of the credits lost during the semester. Students who fail only a few weeks of a semester are able to make up those credits within a matter of days during the summer. The credit recovery program has efficiently helped students graduate on time with their class.

In addition to this system of accommodations, the school has deployed a suite of state-of-the-art digital tracking and teaching aids.

It is using STAR assessments, a proprietary package of standardized testing programs for screening and monitoring students’ individual progress. Used by one-third of U.S. schools, it supports instructional planning.

Teachers also use Freckle, an online learning platform that allows students to practice Math and English Language Arts, or ELA, at their own level. Freckle continuously adapts to individual skills, so each student receives appropriate stimulation, whether working at, above, or below grade standards.

These computer-administered teaching devices are products of the Renaissance Learning company’s acceleration tool kit. If students are struggling with comprehension or the ability to make inferences, Moberg said, Freckle will target those deficiencies.

Another program called CREAM, College Readiness for English and Mathematics prepares students for higher education and prevents them from taking remediation courses in college. Rather than adding to the student’s schedule, St. John incorporates CREAM throughout classes during the school day.

Laducer is also interested in using CREAM to prepare his Turtle Mountain Community High School students for the long run. “I’d rather not see our kids take a remedial English course when they get to college, that doesn’t count. If we can do the CREAM and they can pass that, that’ll get them into English 101,” Laducer said.

St. John’s good reputation has contributed to an influx of new students. One of the main concerns now is the need for more teachers. “We’ve had discussions as our school continues to get bigger,” said Anderson. “We have one English teacher, one social studies teacher, and one science teacher. If we hire an additional one in each area, we can have more sections of English 12 and English 11.”

However, the upper-class wing of the school building, now housing all ages of students, is already full. Educators have to find a strategy to maintain their records. “I do think that starts from the top, and it trickles down; I think that that has an impact on our success as well,” Moberg said.