Red caps and red gowns. Big smiles and big laughs. With a diploma in one hand, students breathe a sigh of relief as it is finally over.

They have finally received their high school diploma, feat that is hard to accomplish.

The nation’s rising rate of graduations is gradually continuing to skyrocket as years go by. Most recently, President Barack Obama announced that the average graduation rate has improved from 80 percent to 83.2 percent in 2015-2016. This is a record high since the 2010-2011 academic school year, being a nearly 4 percent growth.

Looking at the bare numbers given, there is no denying the great news this is. However, it does not recognize the low income family students who are approximately 14 percent behind those are not low income.

It is easy to say that “staying in school and graduating should be the utmost importance to young people our age today.” However, when placed in these low income schools, it is easy to find school to be a burden when other responsibilities build up at home.

However,  one cannot deny that

attending college often determines how successful one is in the future, but nonetheless, these new

statistics are promising and reflect the ideals we have worked so hard to achieve.

When looking into our very own district, it is also surprisingly higher than many expect. This comes from the misconception that American students are not very smart and have no direction.

The Fairfax County School Division has bested both the national and state averages. Among the nation’s 50 largest school districts, FCPS is also at the top for graduation rates. According to the 2015-2016 statistics, 92 percent of students graduated high school on time.

When taking a deeper look at the statistics, Annandale High

School has also improved. Our school year has improved to a over 90 percent. The school system has

much to celebrate over bettering its numbers from the previous school years.

Even with over 50 percent of our students receiving free and reduced lunch, our graduation rates are steady.

However, another gap is evident in the statistics. The gaps between minorities and Caucasin people are still high.  This is another statistic we need to improve.

With these improving statistics, school officials have no doubt finally found a way to keep kids in school. They know exactly where their best efforts must be aimed at.

We have to make sure that these rates continue to go up.

With graduation rates being up across the board, they represent the achievements and the hard workings of the teachers and students.