By KIM KILBRIDE South Bend Tribune Staff Writer WSBT-TV

12:02 a.m. EST, February 7, 2012
graduation rate for all five high schools, rose to 76.9 percent in
2011, up from 73.6 percent in 2010.

Sue Coney, a spokeswoman with the district, said Rise Up Academy,
South Bend's alternative high school, had the lowest graduation rate,
coming in at 13.2 percent in 2011.

Adams had the highest rate, 86.5 percent, in 2011, followed by
Washington's 83.9 percent, Riley's 81.4 percent and Clay's 81.2
percent.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the county, Penn-Harris-Madison School
Corp.'s graduation rate edged up to 92.3 percent in 2011 compared with
87.5 in 2010. That rate includes Penn High School, as well as Pennway,
the district's alternative school.

Steve Hope, principal of Penn High School, said teachers have worked
harder than ever in the past year to engage youths by personalizing
classrooms and attempting to make learning relevant rather than
abstract.

"It's a lot of little things," he said, "that all add up."

School City of Mishawaka's graduation rate, which includes traditional
high school students, as well as students of the on-site alternative
school, and a handful of students at the Family & Children's Center,