Whitnall High School's Graduation Rates Still Among Best

Even with a mandatory change in the way school districts calculate the number of students who graduate with regular high school diplomas, Whitnall High School remains one of the best in churning out graduates.

The state’s Department of Public Instruction released the 2010 graduation rates on Thursday. The change, which Amy Hetzner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covered in more detail in a story yesterday, calculates only those students that have graduated by the summer of their fourth year in high school.

Under the old system, only two non-charter high schools in the four-county Metro Milwaukee area had a higher graduation rate than ’s 99.57 percent: Port Washington (100 percent) and Waukesha North (99.67).

Under the new system, Whitnall’s success rate dipped to 97.41 percent, but only Pewaukee (98.90), Oak Creek (98.81), Port Washington (98.55), Cedarburg (98.41) and Homestead (97.53) finished higher.

, meanwhile, ranked last among non-charter high schools in the same metro area (excluding high schools inside the City of Milwaukee limits) with a 90.48 graduation rate under the old system.

Under the new system, however, South Milwaukee (82.89), St. Francis (83.10), West Allis Central (84.79) and Brown Deer (85.28) all slipped below Greenfield’s percentage of 87.16.