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Galesburg alternative school helps increase district graduation rate

Students in Galesburg are graduating high school at the highest rate in more than 20 years, and the district is crediting its alternative school for helping get...

Students in Galesburg are graduating high school at the highest rate in more than 20 years, and the district is crediting its alternative school for helping get that number higher and higher each year.

It's only November, but seniors Shelby Morss and Darren Rodriguez are already looking forward to getting their cap and gown for graduation.

"It seems like it's been longer than four years," Morss said.

"I have no words," Rodriguez said.

They're at a loss for words because graduating seemed impossible before coming to Galesburg High School North.

The alternative school helps students who struggle in a regular high school environment.

Morss and Rodriguez are loving school now, but it wasn't too long ago when they were ready to never come back.

"Without North, I probably wouldn`t be here, to be honest," Rodriguez said.

"We`d probably be a part of the drop-out rate, to be honest," Morss said.

Teachers at North work hard to connect with the students, looking to get them excited again about learning.

"We use the term `All In` and my staff is all in for these kids, and the kids, if they`ll buy in to what we`re doing here, are going to be successful," GHS North Principal Jason Spring said.

The school has helped increase the district's graduation rate from 76% in 2009 up to 86% last year, while also helping bring down the drop-out rate.

"Kids come here and it`s a safe place for them. It`s a home. They just feel comfortable here and they have an opportunity to experience success," Spring said.

"You can`t just tell someone about it, they won`t understand it. You have to just go do it and experience it to get to know the feeling of what it`s like to be here," Rodriguez said.

Morss and Rodriguez are now ready to join around 40 of their classmates at graduation, excited to seek out a college education and career.

Spring says that the school is looking out for their students beyond high school as well. He says they've helped get about $500,000 worth of college scholarships since the school opened in the Fall of 2009.

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