Where do grads go after DV?

By Anya Tikka
WESTFALL — Delaware Valley Central School has a great reputation, with its high school regularly included on the Washington Post’s list of America’s best and most challenging high schools. But where do these ready-for-anything graduates go after they get their sheepskin?

Wanda Holtzer, the chair of the guidance department, recently gave a presentation to the board of education listing statistics of where recent graduates go to after finishing DV. But since she recently took over the job, she didn’t have figures going back many years, she said.

“In 2014, 79 percent went to some form of post secondary education — 86 percent if you include the military,” she said. “A lot of them will take college classes in the military. It’s helps to pay for college when they come back too."

Of the rest, 14 percent either already have jobs or are looking for work.

In 2013, 85 percent went to some form of post-secondary education, not including the military, she said. She listed among them technical colleges, two-year and four-year institutions, and community colleges, but she didn’t have the breakdown of the total number.

“2014 was a little lower than in the past,” she acknowledged. “It’s usually around 85 percent.”

She believes hard economic times are the reason for the lower registration in education.

The numbers are based on information the district gets when the seniors leave. After that the school sends out follow-up surveys. But since replying is entirely voluntary, it’s impossible to keep track of the actual figures of what students do after leaving, she said.

In 2014, the graduates continued to the following places:

Drexel University
Ithaca College

Lafayette College
Lehigh University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (one student)

New York University
North Western University

Rochester Institute of Technology

Temple University
University of Massachusetts at Amherst

University of North Carolina
Culinary Institute of America

Penn State at University Park and branches

“I think the kids are doing very well,” Holtzer concluded.