How an Arizona high school designed an initiative to help potential dropouts get back on track
January 10, 2024
Every year, more than 1.2 million students in the United States drop out of high school. That equates to one student quitting every 26 seconds or 7,000 students daily. But for more than two decades, Eastpointe High School has been helping to prevent at-risk Arizona teens from becoming a statistic.
Now, thanks to a Covid-era initiative designed by Eastpointe, a national model could be emerging for getting teens and young adults back on the path to high-school graduation.
With the help of a Governor’s Office grant secured in 2022, James and Chris Meehan, brothers and co-owners of Eastpointe, launched Elevated Education. This concentrated community outreach campaign connected with nearly 2,000 Arizona teens, 779 of whom enrolled in the program and got back on track to graduate thanks to dedicated mentoring and the development of individualized learning plans for each student.