Closed Georgia online charter school graduates last class of 360 students

Graduation Achievement Charter High School, which operated as an online charter school serving students throughout Georgia, closed at the end of the school year. PHOTO / JASON GETZ

Credit: Jason Getz

Credit: Jason Getz

Graduation Achievement Charter High School, which operated as an online charter school serving students throughout Georgia, closed at the end of the school year. PHOTO / JASON GETZ

A now-closed Georgia online charter high school graduated 360 students in its final class.

Graduation Achievement Charter High School reported the graduation numbers after its final graduation. More than 2,000 students attended the school, according to a spring semester enrollment count.

The school closed at the end of June after failing to meet state academic standards. School officials raised concerns about the void the closure would leave in Georgia, since Graduation Achievement served a large number of high-risk students who had academic and discipline problems at their previous schools.

Graduation Achievement Superintendent Monica Henson reported this week that school counselors conducted an end-of semester survey of 677 students.

Slightly more than a third of those students graduated from the school, while nearly a quarter have enrolled in a similar virtual school to pursue a diploma. She reported that 18 percent of those surveyed plan to return to the school district where they live, while 5 percent plan to pursue a GED.

About 17 percent of those in the survey sample did not respond.

Graduation Achievement enrolled students from throughout the state and operated learning centers in Atlanta, Augusta and Savannah. The school opened in 2012.