Plainview Graduation Rate Almost Perfect

Of the 373 members of the , all but one graduated this June.

That alone, is remarkable.

Even more astonishing, is the number of heading to prestigious four-year institutions in the fall.

The Board of Education received this stellar report card at their July meeting last week. By put the numbers in perspective, the statewide graduation rate is under 75 percent, according to the most recent state education figures. Only about 30 percent of those graduates earn "advanced Regents diplomas," one of the benchmark standards educators use to determine a student's overall proficiency.

This year, 266 Plainview graduates earned advanced Regents diplomas, including 140 with honors. That rate works out to about 71 percent.

The state's five biggest cities, including New York, fared worse, although complete 2012 numbers are not available. In Nassau and Suffolk counties, 87 percent of students graduated on time in June 2011, according to state data.

The Plainview numbers include:

• 64 percent of college bound students (240) are going to New York State colleges.
• 32 percent (120 students) are headed to out-of-state colleges. A wide array of presigious institutions will be attended by Plainview students.
• About 50 students will attend community colleges, the vast majority of these heading to Nassau Community College in Garden City.

The remaining handful are undecided, headed for a job or the military, or Young Judaea.

School Board members praised administrators, faculty and staff for the performance but had one question of . Ginger Lieberman, the board's new vice president, described the feat as "absolutely amazing...to get these kids to this level of achievement."

Board members also wanted to know about the one student who didn't make it yet:

"We're working on it with the student," said Murray.