In a virtual graduation ceremony today, the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) honored 60 high school students from multiple Community School sites. The graduates all earned diplomas through SCOE’s Senior Extension Program, which helps re-engage students in jeopardy of dropping out. The program also helps those who have been out of school and want to return to complete their diploma requirements.
“Keep working hard. Just look at how hard you had to work to complete this school year and to complete your high school education. Hard work and further education are the keys to a bright future. So, step up, step out, and continue to make us all proud,” said Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David W. Gordon in a recorded address.
The keynote speaker was Ray Green from Sierra Health Foundation. He is also the coordinator of the Sacramento chapter of My Brother’s Keeper, a local organization that works to improve outcomes for boys and young men of color. “Acknowledge that you decided to overcome the circumstances, remove the barriers that tried to break you, that tried to take from you. You made the choice to overcome those things, and you made the choice to allow that to fuel your passion for you to finish. Acknowledge that you made that choice,” he said.
Senior Extension Program Helps Students Complete Their Education
Each of SCOE’s Community School sites for at-risk students serves as a hub for the Senior Extension Program, which involves a combination of independent study and classroom work. Students earn credits while still fulfilling work and family obligations—things that would otherwise have prevented them from completing their high school education. Senior Extension is offered at the following SCOE sites: Cordova Lane, Elinor Lincoln Hickey Jr./Sr. High School, Gerber Jr./Sr. High School, and North Area Community School. Services are also offered in Galt.