East High School receives Gene Bottoms Pacesetter School Award for improvements

East High School is a recipient of the 2022 Gene Bottoms Pacesetter School Award, the Youngstown City School District announced Tuesday.

The honor will be presented July 19 at the Southern Regional Education Board’s Making Schools Work Conference in Grapevine, Texas.

Pacesetter School Awards recognize schools that implement one of the Making Schools Work improvement frameworks and meet standards in three areas: student attendance, graduation on time and graduation requirements, a news release states.

A team of school- and community-based organizations called the East High School Success Team improved attendance rates from 71.1% in 2020 to 88.4% in 2021, the release states. East increased the graduation rate from 68.6% in 2017 to 84.7% in 2021.

A team designed individual graduation plans for each senior to ensure they would graduate on time. Seniors and families signed contracts to adhere to their students’ graduation plans, the release states.

“The YCSD is honored to receive the Gene Bottoms Pacesetter School Award,” YCSD CEO Justin Jennings said in the release. “The great diligence of our administrative team, especially in such a short period, is a testament to their commitment to our scholars’ success. Matched with that is the dedication of the scholars who continuously put in the work. Their successes are our successes.”