In the Wright City R-II School District, being labeled an ‘at-risk’ student is increasingly a temporary hurdle rather than a permanent track.

According to Wright City High School Principal Dr. Jason Theodorakos, that fact is due to the time and effort of the district’s staff to aid students who face educational difficulties.

During his annual ' at-risk academic report’ to the school board during its May meeting, Theodorakos said that a shift in district culture has led to a drop, nearly across the board, in at-risk student categories.

“This year, as of May 8, we had eight students (receive) long-term suspension, that is 10 days or more, with a referral to the superintendent,” Theodorakos said. “Of those students, one has graduated, two transferred, two moved to homeschool, and two are currently enrolled. It’s pretty mild. We’ve seen a large decrease in (behavior problems). Kids have done a great job and teachers have done a great job in keeping kids accountable.”

One teacher Theodorakos singled out was Ken Brown, who runs the district’s Missouri Options program – a program that helps students at risk of dropping out or failing to graduate due to severe credit deficiencies.

The principal said that Brown has gone above and beyond to see students achieve their goals.

“He just does a phenomenal job,” said Theodorakos of Brown. “Not just handing a paper and saying ‘here we go, do your paper’ but in connecting with the kids, making sure they’re there and pushing them day in, day out.”

While Brown has proven to be a fantastic point person for the program, he’s been backed by a schoolwide effort focused on student success.

“This year, we had 32 students enrolled and 19 kids completed all the requirements through that program,” Theodorakos said. “That is huge. Five of our students are still enrolled in the program and we plan for them to graduate next year. Our counselors get a lot of credit for this.”

While Missouri Options has done a lot to help students nearing the end of their high school years, progress in helping this year’s freshmen start high school off strong has also gone very well.

The freshman failure rate was 2.0 Fs per course, down from 2.18 last school year and the continued a downward trend over each of the last four school years.

The overall failure rate this school year was 4.0 percent, which is down from 5.4 percent last school year. He added that EOC test results will provide more data when they are released.

“We’ll see when the EOCs come out if we’re striking a balance of rigor and kids learning the material,” Theodorakos said. “I’ve always had a personal goal of five percent or less. I think it shows a certain amount of rigor. Historically, it’s been around five percent.”

One flaw with providing the report during the May meeting is that it presents an incomplete picture of the school year, Theodorakos said.

“I did not include this semester’s failure rates, I projected that,” Theodoarkos said. “I think that moving this (report) to late summer or fall would make sense.”

Board member Kyle Lewis agreed.

“I think that the reflections you’ve given us have been great,” Lewis said. “Moving this (report) to late summer or fall to get a full year of data would be a great idea.”

Other reflections about the at-risk report Theodorakos offered included: continuing to build positive relationships and a strong sense of belonging for all students within the school environment; continuing the current strategy of HiSET testing preparation, as it is proving successful; exploring additional career and hands-on learning opportunities to help students feel connected and engaged in school; providing continued support for credit recovery and graduation tracking to help students stay on pace toward graduation and identifying students early who may need additional social-emotional, behavioral, or academic support before concerns become larger issues.