The Class of 2021 in Henry County’s public schools had one of the highest graduation rates in the history of the district according to data released Oct. 21 by the Georgia Department of Education.

Last year’s rate of 87.6 percent of students meeting the requirements needed to graduate in four years was only 1.2 percentage points lower than the previous year, while remaining 3.9 percentage points above the state’s average of 83.7 that also fell slightly from 2020. According to district officials, Henry County seniors last year earned the fifth-highest graduation rate among the 10 largest districts in the state.

“Our Class of 2021 seniors put forth so much hard work during their time in our district, and we are proud of their accomplishments as recognized with these recently announced graduation rates,” said Henry County Board of Education chair Holly Cobb. “We know that the value held in an HCS diploma is special and represents hard work from their time in our schools. There are so many opportunities that now await our graduates as a result of them graduating from a Henry County Schools high school.”

Overall, three out of 10 schools in the district saw increases in their graduation rates from the previous year. Hampton High School had the largest increase of 5.2 percentage points, moving their graduation rate up to 92.5 percent. Other schools increasing their graduation rate include Eagle’s Landing High School and Stockbridge High School. Nine of the county’s schools had graduation rates above the state’s rate by an average of 4.6 percentage points.

For last year’s class, there were four high schools in the district with graduation rates surpassing the 90 percent mark: Dutchtown (91.0 percent), Hampton (92.5 percent), Ola (94.0 percent), and Union Grove (90.8 percent).

Henry County Schools had the seventh-largest class of eligible graduates amongst the 10 largest districts in the state with 3,681 students, while graduating the sixth-largest number of students amongst the same group of large school districts. In total, 3,224 students earned a diploma in four years.

“We are proud of the many accomplishments of the most recent group of seniors to graduate from Henry County Schools,” said Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis. “Our commitment is to ensure they have the best educational experience and that they leave our school district college, career, and life-ready, equipped with one of the greatest achievements in life, that of an important high school diploma.”