[ ♪♪♪ ] [ children laughing ] MILLER: For 13 years, OPB followed 25 students since they were in kindergarten.

CHILDREN: Party!

Party!

Party!

[ children chattering in background ] They were facing really high expectations.

Next year's class of kindergarten is a benchmark.

They are the class of 2025, and 2025 is the year we've set to have 100% high school graduation in the state of Oregon.

Oregon probably has one of the most ambitious goals in the country.

Over the years, the support structures meant to help the Class of 2025 reach those goals fell apart.

We are, nationally, in Oregon about middle of the pack in what we spend per student, but our outcomes are near or at the bottom.

And a global pandemic made things worse.

You don't want to go to school until you don't go to school for, like, two years.

And I was freaking out, because I thought I wouldn't be able to handle it.

It's the job of the public school system to help all students transition into adulthood.

Are these students going to graduate?

I'm Elizabeth Miller, education reporter for OPB.

This is Class of 2025.

[ brakes squealing ] WOMAN: Folks, your tassel goes on the right!

It's spring 2025.

[ students chattering ] Seniors from Portland's David Douglas High School are visiting their elementary school.

It's an annual tradition: the Grad Walk.

KAYLIE: I remember, like, seeing the seniors do the grad walk when I was in kindergarten.

[ people cheering ] In elementary school, you think high schoolers are so cool and everything, and so it shows them what they can do.

Not too long ago, the Class of 2025 were the young kids looking up to the big ones.

There's Kaylie... I don't want to move to 4th grade.

MANNING: How come?

I don't want to grow up.

I still want to be a kid forever.

I feel like it's getting really scary how close I am to the end of high school.

Osvaldo... I think I will graduate, I think I will get a job.

I've been thinking about after high school, work and job opportunities, and getting a job right now.

Josh... My mom bought me this little scientist notebook.

I would draw things I want to build, like a robot.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a scientist.

I had my mom buy me this big, like, journal thing, it was, like, scientists on it, and I would write about, like, a whole bunch of nothing in it, basically.

Anais... MANNING: And why do you wanna be a doctor?

Because I helped my little brother.

I did.

What kind of student am I?

The one that wants to go home.

[ laughs ] Dale... I like to read animal books.

My grandmother, she's taught me a lot of important life lessons.

And, you know, she means a lot to me.

Rayshawn... I probably want to be a zoologist or cryptozoologist.

I would say, like, a manly goal for, like-- to be a man myself is to, like, be who I needed when I was younger, you know?

And Ava... ♪ Maybe we can find a way ♪ ♪ There's got to be A solution ♪ I really want to be something in between a writer or a singer.

MANNING: Fantastic!

Thank you.

MANNING: You can be a singer who writes your own songs.

Mm-hmm.

I might be able to do that.

♪ We love you Conrad Oh, yes we do ♪ [ ♪♪♪ ] These seven students are part of the cohort OPB has followed since kindergarten.

But the idea for the project didn't start at school.

It started in Salem.

I want to live in a state where all children are ready to learn when they come to school, where 80% of them get at least two years of post-secondary education and 40% get four or more.

And 20% would at least have a high school diploma or GED.

100% graduate.

This plan, 40-40-20, became law.

Ben Cannon was one of the legislators who voted for it.

It was inspiring to me as a vision for what we could become.

It reflected a vision of the state's future, a future economy that would, um-- would benefit from having, you know, well-educated Oregonians.

So was current Oregon Governor Tina Kotek.

I remember a lot of pushback.

People were like, "You can't set these goals.

How are we going to get there?"

And I remember thinking, "Well, I'm not totally sure how we're going to do it, but if you don't have goals, then you're not going to get where you need to go."

Kitzhaber's plan to get to 100% started with hiring a chief education officer to get schools, colleges, and businesses all talking to each other.

Kitzhaber proposed a 10-year budget to support the goal.

He also wanted to see schools meet broader community needs.

But it's not just about where these kids are headed.

It's about where public education in Oregon is going.

OPB's Rob Manning began the Class of 2025 project to track progress towards Oregon's 100% graduation goal.

He started at Earl Boyles Elementary in southeast Portland... You first come in, you sit at your table and you talk to your friends, right?

...because teachers there were trying everything to help a mostly low-income student body.

We would have a note-taker, we would have parents... Ericka Guynes was the principal then.

GUYNES: You want to have a goal, a target, and so to put that out there, it makes it tangible and real, and then you can reference it throughout their whole career.

"Oh, my gosh, you're the class of 2025, you're going to graduate!"

But soon after Kitzhaber announced the goal, things started to fall apart.

Governor Kitzhaber resigned in 2015 due to an unrelated scandal.

The chief education office was cut back.

Without these supports in place, it fell back onto local schools, teachers, parents, and the students themselves to try reach Oregon's new goal.

TEACHER: Read them for me, Osvaldo.

The Class of 2025 was in second grade.

"Gail, bat, bait."

TEACHER: Good.

Read them for me, Kenya.

[ children chattering indistinctly ] "Frogs are a kid..." "A kind..." "A kind of animal."

In 3rd grade, Osvaldo showed signs of dyslexia.

Math is easy for me.

The only really hard thing in school is reading.

Research shows you can predict whether a kid will graduate high school by how well they're reading in third grade.

By the time you get to third grade, you really start getting into content.

And so you hope that they have that fluidity in reading by the time they get there...

"Or."

"Or," good.

...so that they're able to read for content, go in deeper into that critical thinking skills, be able to apply it to different concepts.

But unfortunately, a lot of our children aren't there yet.

[ teacher speaking indistinctly ] In third grade, the Class of 2025 took standardized tests for the first time.

On the last one we had to write, like, a short story with information.

We do it, like, for an hour, and, yeah, it's hard.

Most of them failed to meet Oregon standards for English.

Half failed to meet math standards.

They keep getting harder and harder for me, so, like, I keep getting confused.

Osvaldo was put on an Individualized Education Program for his learning disability.

At home, his mom Andrea was like another teacher.

I'm always telling him, "Go get a book, read a book."

Can you read me just how it opens?

OSVALDO: "The Republic is at... sup..." [ Osvaldo sounding out words ] "Palp...atine.

Palpatine."

MANNING: Mm-hmm.

ANDREA: I am both confident and worried because I know he's so smart.

I know him, and he's extremely intelligent.

I'm worried because of his reading.

[ girl speaking indistinctly ] GUYNES: We are a community of high needs, I would say.

We are at 80% free and reduced lunch.

In turn, I think that's what brings its richness too, because when we come together, we have a lot of resources here.

And I feel like our families are very connected with our school.

[ ♪♪♪ ] Like Josette, Anais' mom.

If you would've asked me 15 years ago to volunteer somewhere, I'd have been like, "Yeah, that ain't happening."

I stepped up.

I'm like, " You know what, I'm going to be there, where they're at, all the time."

And it's been a nice experience to be part of the school.

There's a lot of barriers that can stop a child from graduating.

So many families go through homelessness, hunger, domestic violence, drug addiction, sexual abuse.

And to see our kids go through that and to succeed and go forward means a lot.

My name is Alicia Smith, and I am Kaylie's mom.

Kaylie has Hirschsprung's disease, which is a disease of the intestine.

Mama, am I going to have to get shots?

ALICIA: The first year she was in the hospital about seven months.

[ Kaylie crying ] Do the rest?

No, just a little on that side.

KAYLIE: 'Cause last year it was worse 'cause I had to go way more times than I usually do.

I like to miss part of school, like recess.

I like playing, but not so much.

I like to learn a lot at school.

Third grade is the best thing that ever happened to me because, like, I have a great teacher and great friends.

At home, Josh had a lot of support from his parents.

But at school, his mom Sharnissa said there was a lot of focus on his behavior.

He was seen as a Black boy with behavior problems and not this amazing kid who is sweet.

And he was very bubbly and very energetic.

I have a little struggle with messing around and stuff, but I've been-- I kept it hard, I kept going and I never-- I never stopped.

[ people chattering ] SHARNISSA: There was so much focus on his behaviors that it just took away from who he was.

I feel like I'm working better at not getting in trouble or trying to stay on track and not, um... Not try to give up.

[ ♪♪♪ ] So your cat broke your science project?

Yeah, so I had to then make another one.

My favorite thing about fourth grade was the STEAM fair.

My solution was making a rubber-band car.

I liked the projects there, and my project.

I guessed about, like, from here all the way to the wall over there.

Wow.

Is that farther than you can throw?

No.

So how did it feel to win second place?

Good.

Yeah, that's pretty good.

Dale started at Earl Boyles in kindergarten with the rest of the Class of 2025.

Did you try it once and it didn't work and you had to try it again?

Yeah.

This is about my 60th setup.

But as Dale continued in elementary school, his situation at home became challenging.

He and his sister, both from the time they were little, spent a lot of time with me.

Since 2018, Dale has lived with his grandmother, Carolyn.

CAROLYN: His mother started some bad habits, and it caused a lot of issues with her and with the kids, and child services got involved.

WOMAN: Trauma makes it harder for students to concentrate.

Trauma makes it harder for students to regulate their emotions, and so all of this can impact students' engagement in school, their grades, it can lead to higher likelihood of dropping out.

When Dale's living situation changed, his school changed too.

He was in fifth grade.

The principal of the school worked with him and things improved.

DALE: She just wanted good for me, I guess.

Even if I wasn't doing a whole lot of work, she wanted me to at least be there for my attendance.

Welcome to Reed!

Every college kid that you see walking around on your tour today used to be a fifth grader just like you.

In fifth grade, the Class of 2025 visited Reed College in southeast Portland.

The future seemed far away.

MAN: --your roommate would live on the other side of that wall.

My favorite part of this visit was going by the creek... and then the baby rats.

I want to do zoology when I grow up because I know a lot about animals and I want to discover, like, what's in them, like how many bones they have and stuff like that.

By 2019, Oregon's graduation rate had increased to 80%, a huge improvement.

[ people chattering ] AVA: I've had a lot of great memories here, and I'm really sad that I'm leaving soon.

JOSH: I'm going to miss the school because it was a good school and they actually had some good teachers that help us out.

[ people cheering ] Please stand up, ladies and gentlemen.

Fifth grade, stand up!

Give them a hand, let's hear it for the Class of 2025!

[ people cheering ] [ students chattering ] They were showing us about the lockers, and, like, I'm kind of nervous about that because I might forget the combination numbers.

In sixth grade, the Class of 2025 was worried about more than just academics.

TEACHER: Every year, kids don't listen.

I've done this for a while, okay?

RAYSHAWN: Like, everybody now just wants to start drama, and kind of just being mean to each other.

Well, you have no idea.

I may mispronounce your name... JOSH: At the start, I would talk to each teacher with my mom and just see what we could do to get through the rest of the school year.

TEACHER: Look on your schedule.

On "A" day, what do you have period three?

By seventh grade, students were starting to settle in.

KAYLIE: The only bad thing that happened today was getting up in the morning, 'cause I don't like doing that.

That's why I'm late a lot.

TEACHER: Class!

Whoa, geez... Middle school meant new classes and new opportunities.

AVA: I definitely want to continue choir, because there's really friendly people in the class.

[ students chattering ] JOSH: Now, like, I've improved.

I'm more mature.

I like to do-- I like to do work now and I know that I want to get good grades in all my classes.

Ready, set, three notes, go.

[ all play three descending notes ] OSVALDO: Seventh grade is like you're in the middle.

Like, you know the school, and, like, there's nothing to do.

It's not like you're getting ready for high school, so it's like you're just not doing nothing really, so... [ girls laughing ] But schools and students across the country were about to face their biggest challenge in a generation.

The United States is officially under a national emergency.

The COVID-19 pandemic has now infected some 1,700 Americans and claimed the lives of nearly 50 people.

The best thing we can do for the health of our children and for thousands of educators across the state is to give everyone certainty by announcing the decision today to close in-person classes for the remainder of the school year.

The Class of 2025 spent the rest of seventh grade at home.

ANAIS: We just found out, like, "You guys aren't gonna be able to go to regular school.

You're going to have to do online."

And I was freaking out, because I thought I wouldn't be able to handle it.

[ ♪♪♪ ] [ heart monitor beeping ] In eighth grade, only a fraction of students came back to school in-person.

About half of our students have decided to come back into hybrid learning.

Right now, we have 200 students in the building compared to about 850 students on a regular day.

So thinking about a middle school being calm is totally new and different... [ teacher speaks indistinctly ] JOSH: Yes.

...but kids who have been back have loved it.

Our teachers have been great welcoming kids back with all the newness that comes with the protocols.

Ava and Josh went into school a few days a week.

AVA: It's been really trippy, and I honestly did not imagine eighth grade being like this, but I adjusted quickly and it's not as bad as I first thought it would be.

TEACHER [ over computer ]: Part eight, moving on, let's go.

Osvaldo stayed home.

My mom just wanted to, like, until we got vaccinated, to be extra safe because my sisters, they have asthma.

You have to go to your class.

[ sister whispers indistinctly ] TEACHER: It's going to say, like, "Do you have a pet?"

or something, yes or no.

Helena, Helena!

TEACHER: --and you know the drill.

[ music playing over computer ] Okay, just do what you can.

[ music continues playing ] OSVALDO: I didn't really think of COVID.

It was, "Oh, we don't have to go back to school, yay."

And then it's just, like-- It's gone on for too long.

It's like, you don't want to go to school until you don't go to school for, like, two years.

So that is it, so, uh, grab that ankle... CONTRERAS: A lot of our kids are behind.

They haven't gotten a full typical year of schooling, and so they're going to be really behind where a typical ninth grader would be.

[ horns honking, music playing ] It's June 2021.

Amazing!

Thank you!

The Class of 2025 is celebrating eighth grade graduation... [ people cheering ] ...COVID-style.

JOSH: Middle school was fun.

I think I had a lot of ups and downs, but now that I'm leaving, I'm kind-- I'm going to miss it.

Most of the students we're following are moving on to David Douglas High School in southeast Portland.

But not Dale.

After sixth grade, he moved on to another new school on the Oregon coast.

DALE: Switching schools to Taft, I just never really wanted to be there.

I'm a visual learner.

It's hard for me to be there on paper doing all the paper stuff.

But then COVID shut down his school too.

CAROLYN: Their online system that they had set up during the COVID period was not adequate for what these kids needed.

And Dale never really went back.

And it wasn't just Dale.

I know that there was a lot of kids that then didn't go back.

Oregon's public school enrollment dropped by more than 20,000 students.

[ birds chirping ] [ ♪♪♪ ] It's the first day of freshman year at one of the biggest high schools in the state.

[ people chattering ] So you got your nametag.

Yeah.

How you feeling?

Um, I feel pretty good and nervous, too, at the same time.

MAN: We'll be able to tell everyone's in the right place when all the freshmen are seated.

[ crowd applauding ] Good morning.

Thank you.

Welcome to David Douglas High School.

We're so excited to have you here.

Freshman year is one of the most important years in your high school career.

High school means higher academic expectations.

They're gonna be pushing you a lot harder, a lot more, 'cause they want you to graduate.

MAN: You are now one of 2,600 versus being one of a couple hundred at their middle school.

So they're being held accountable grade-wise, there's more social pressures than there has ever been on them before.

Coming in as a freshman, it's pretty pressure-packed.

[ students chattering ] Before the pandemic, Oregon was seeing some downward trends in reading and math achievement, and we were also seeing stagnant college enrollment and some below-average high school graduation rates.

So we were facing a lot of challenges before the pandemic.

The share of David Douglas ninth graders on track to graduate dropped after the pandemic from 87% to 77%.

MAN: I think especially with COVID, with everything that's happened, like, I love the goal.

It's a great idea, but if we're being completely realistic, it's probably not gonna happen.

Freshman are officially off track if they fail any of their required classes, including math.

So these were-- Were supposed to be two points, two points, two points, two points.

KAYLIE: I've always kind of struggled in math, especially in middle school.

And so I'm still, like, trying to come back from that and really trying to, like, get my math knowledge up so I can do better for the next year.

A few months into freshman year, Rayshawn was caught with an Airsoft gun.

He got suspended for the rest of the year.

Black students are more than three times as likely to get suspended as white students.

He enrolled in an alternative school.

RAYSHAWN: I go to Rosemary Anderson, the East campus, and it's just smaller, more like one-on-one with the teachers.

Rosemary Anderson serves students who have things going on other than school: pregnancy, work, discipline, or academic issues.

At the small school, staff like Ronnie Wallace can get to know kids like Rayshawn.

My man!

What's going on, baby?

How you doing, man?

Why you ain't in school yet?

You caught me.

Yeah, why you ain't in school yet?

Basically, I just really would love for them to get their education, graduate, you know, and for me to keep them off the streets and keep their mind right.

If I can literally sit up here and talk to 'em, if I can get one not to be in the streets, I did... You know, I did my job.

Okay, man.

Get to class.

All right.

WOMAN: When he first went to Rosemary Anderson, we were very apprehensive.

Both of Rayshawn's parents went to alternative schools and got their GEDs.

We were worried because we knew Junior wasn't a bad kid, but we knew that there was a lot of troubled kids that went to Rosemary Anderson.

Like I said, I was kind of a troubled kid, so I definitely was against it, but we kind of didn't have a choice.

RAYSHAWN: Going from one school to another felt kind of, like, weird.

Yay or nay.

So he can either pass the law... RAYSHAWN: And then just normal after that.

...or veto it.

[ ♪♪♪ ] Little bit of applause, celebration.

It's over, you did it!

With students fully in-person... [ sighs ] I am so, so proud of you.

...Heidi Willis saw her freshman math class make progress.

I'm proud of how hard you've worked.

I'm proud of how much you learned, especially considering, guys, the last full year of school you had was in sixth grade.

And you showed up at high school and worked your butt off and didn't give up.

Freshman year has been great.

I've made lots of new friends.

I feel like I'm matured more and, you know, just, in a better state of mind now.

Yay, I'm closer to being finished with this school.

[ ♪♪♪ ] [ marching band playing fanfare ] OSVALDO: The football game was fun.

It was crazy.

[ cheerleaders chanting ] [ crowd cheering, applauding ] The best part of coming to school for me is, uh, I like to see my friends.

I should've dressed up better.

This is my baseball coach.

I don't know what he's wearing, though, but... [ Osvaldo continues indistinctly ] You going to the dance?

It's kind of fly.

You going to the dance?

Yeah, I'm going to the dance.

Are you going?

Yeah, I'm wearing this.

That's why I'm wearing this!

We ended up losing.

I thought we were gonna win.

That was-- That sucks.

I don't miss that much school, especially in baseball season.

My goal right now, I wanna hit a home run.

And I think I'm around the level where I can.

Sports do play a big role, 'cause you have to have a certain grade-point average and attendance to play.

And the coaches really ride you about that.

MAN: I think all of the extracurricular activities that we and other schools offer, I think that helps engage them.

But I think more than anything, what helps students come to school and be there on time and stay there is that they feel comfortable with the adults in the building.

OSVALDO: I feel really good about my coaches and I'm happy that they're here to help me do this process of high school.

[ ♪♪♪ ] Josh's sport is basketball.

I feel like I'm better than what I was last year.

I'm getting more opportunities, I get to start, so that's great.

Being involved in sports paid off for Josh.

He won an attendance award his sophomore year.

[ birds cawing ] [ woman chuckles ] MILLER: We're here at your house.

Tell me how your parents and how your family kind of influences you.

Yeah, they're very encouraging people.

They all want me to do very well, and, you know, growing up around that environment is, you know, what I live for.

Uh-huh, all those teachers who thought-- I told you guys, you know what I'm saying?

Like, he just had to mature, and now he's here and doing wonderful.

Sharnissa's concerns about how Josh was perceived back in elementary school carried over to high school.

He was still a Black student in a school staffed mostly by white adults.

Because I'm not there day to day, I don't wanna say that they're not serving him.

I know when we went to the first student conferences, they all seemed attentive.

Interestingly, they called him quiet 'cause when he-- When he was a young guy, he was not that quiet in classes.

So the teachers was like, "We don't even know that he's here."

Having teachers of color in school has been shown to benefit all students, with stronger outcomes for students of color.

Now I think that there's this independence there.

He's being his beautiful Black young self.

JOSH: She doesn't ever win.

Like, she's never won against us.

♪ We love you Conrad Oh, yes, we do ♪ ♪ We love you Conrad And we'll be true ♪ Ava was cast for three roles in the musical "Bye Bye Birdie."

I like having a bunch of different costumes and not just sticking to one character.

[ girls singing ] TEACHER: Thank you for the arms, you guys!

I need this, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

They build relationships within a group.

That's huge.

Like, "How do I rely on you not just as a friend but as a coworker?"

They learn how to manage themselves in a stressful situation.

[ all screaming joyfully ] I've had a lot of trouble focusing this year, but I just try my best to surround myself with people that I feel comfortable with.

What keeps kids from graduating?

[ all singing ] Life keeps kids from graduating.

School is part of society.

And society has lots and lots of problems.

And our society is not fair.

And school happens inside of that.

And so I think schools then must reflect what's happening in the rest of society.

[ student speaks indistinctly ] [ chuckles ] Activities can motivate students to show up to school.

Tie your shoes.

Okay.

But it doesn't work for everyone.

It's hard to graduate if you're not here.

Poor attendance is one of the biggest reasons students may not graduate on time.

We have students that are roaming the halls during the day and we're constantly trying to track them down.

And what I think it takes, it's the relationship, one.

And the second thing is, it's me taking the time to say, "Where are you coming from and where are you going?"

And then walking with them all the way there through those next steps.

All right, you're in.

Thank you.

Yep.

See you later.

Especially if it's a student that's had attendance challenges in elementary and middle school, it just compounds in high school where you're not there to get that extra help to maybe get you across the line to graduation.

Anais missed a lot of school sophomore year.

Her attendance rate was 80%.

Anything less than 90 is a red flag.

She was sick a lot.

Plus she went through her first big breakup.

So right after that, I haven't, like, been showing up in school and stuff.

And honestly, I really do regret it.

Because I feel like it shouldn't have that impact on me, but, like, it did.

She enlisted some extra support to help her keep going.

This is Kyle.

We all love him, especially my friends.

More than me, probably, because they always try kidnapping him.

Kyle is like an emotional support animal.

[ laughs ] In the years after the pandemic, chronic absenteeism-- missing more than 10% of school days-- soared.

The Class of 2025's sophomore year, Oregon was the state with the worst chronic absenteeism in the country.

Sophomore year was ups and downs.

My math teacher, she left halfway through the year, and I-- That sucks 'cause I liked her a lot.

Toni Fujiwara was Osvaldo's math teacher.

Last winter, she reached a breaking point.

I thought I was having a heart attack.

And I think it was just my body saying, "You're doing too much."

And ultimately, um, I burned myself out.

The biggest challenge that changed things was COVID.

Many of the instructional assistants didn't get filled, and that left me and many teachers in unsupported classrooms where we have these high-needs students and we don't have any support.

So when I say after 17 years, the system broke me, it's because the... the weight of everything continues to fall on teachers.

[ ♪♪♪ ] Kaylie's attendance suffered in her first couple of years of high school.

Some stuff happened and it just kind of all went down the drain.

Kaylie ended the year with a 44% attendance rate.

ALICIA: We were going through a lot this year.

I was really, really sick and was hospitalized for over a month.

And I just want her to know that I love her and care about her.

I only want what's best for her.

She's my baby.

[ chuckles ] [ students cheering ] You've overcome huge hurdles, you've had a pandemic, you've had homeschooling, and here you are ready to get this thing done to graduate on time.

[ students chattering ] "Half-Grad" is an invite-only event for juniors who have completed half of the 24 credits required for graduation.

Tight, tight, tight.

No way!

Yes!

It's over now.

It's over.

This year started off a little tough.

It's a little tougher this year, but I'm getting through it.

What?!

Nah.

It's an easy one, come on!

My tough class is math, and I'd say English too.

Oh, my God!

Ooh!

[ overlapping chatter, laughter ] Okay, if I can have your attention, please.

AVA: In English, we're learning about a lot of heavy and deep topics, and I feel like my teacher, Ms.

Apple, she makes everyone feel included and she really expresses that our voices are important.

I just want to introduce these topics to you guys.

Then we can move-- Does anybody else want to add?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

AVA: Freshman year felt like a tutorial and an introduction to high school.

And then sophomore year was where you really just got into it.

So junior year feels like you're finally figuring out what's right for you.

The only thing I'm really worried about is college.

None of my family has actually been to college before, so I want to be one of those people to do it.

When we're really looking at success, we have to look at the individual student and their needs.

Ava's English teacher says coming back from the pandemic, she's seen a troubling trend: an attitude that school isn't worth the effort.

Because the kids get overwhelmed, they can't keep up, and as soon as they hit something that doesn't make sense, they're just like, "I can't do it.

I'm not going to."

One of the things that terrifies me about this inclination of students these days to just quit is what's going to happen out in my community when they try to open a small business and they keep running into red tape?

Is that person going to quit because they can't find the resources or are they going to push through?

Junior year, Kaylie's dad stepped in and made her move from her mom's house in Portland... Hey, Kaylie, how are you?

I'm good.

...to live with him and her stepmom in rural Estacada.

KAYLIE: I would describe Estacada as calm and quiet.

I never hear police sirens here like I did in Portland.

Since I've moved in with my dad, my grades have gotten a lot better and I've been staying on top of my work a lot more.

I have mostly all A's except for forensics and photography.

But the rest are A's and two B's.

Oh, hold on, what's that one on the bottom?

Advisory.

That's a new one.

That one's hard to fail.

[ chuckles ] KELLY: Moving in with me has impacted her grades because I hold her accountable.

'Cause I didn't graduate high school either.

I got my GED.

And I'm not pushing her.

It's whatever she wants.

I want to get my diploma instead of my GED, just because it's like my mom didn't graduate high school, so I want to be able to show her that I can.

[ ♪♪♪ ] KELLY: I said, "Eventually, like, somewhere down the road, you're going to thank me.

Like, you're going to remember all this and why I did it."

KAYLIE: Come on.

Come on, Lady.

Kaylie continued to make the 45-minute commute to David Douglas every morning.

But her attendance improved.

She retook classes in Day Academy, a credit-recovery program.

Kaylie is being provided an opportunity to make up a credit that she missed out on sometime earlier in her career.

If she's like some of our others, she may have multiple classes to make up in here, but that's what we provide, a second chance.

So basically what we gotta do is find out... The work habits you develop in high school will follow you the rest of your life.

And so I'm trying to kind of get the good attendance, good study habits, that sort of thing, going with them so they can carry that into their future.

So you know how to do this one, right?

Yeah.

All right.

[ ♪♪♪ ] [ Anais mock screams ] Hard work in stagecraft!

[ laughs ] Anais has been taking stagecraft since sophomore year.

We get to work on things, so we get to make props, as you can tell.

For me it's more of having an open mind, being able to follow directions without messing up... ha!

Anyways... [ chuckles ] And, like, I'd say more teamwork if anything, because you do really need to work with someone, or at least more than, you know, just yourself to be able to get through the whole entire thing.

[ giggles ] You're gonna break your arm!

[ gasps ] [ laughing ] You know what, you need to stop.

You're gonna-- I can't with you.

You're... You're done.

Anais comes from a big family.

They've struggled with mental-health issues and addiction.

I was four credits short from getting a high school diploma.

And I do regret not getting that.

Her other four siblings have GEDs.

People look down on people that have a GED.

They feel they're not going to be successful.

So I want her to have her diploma.

I don't want her being judged.

[ chuckles ruefully ] My sophomore year, I really did mess up.

So I don't want to be, like, slipping up so much to the point I'm behind everyone else.

Anais is serious about wanting to graduate, but it's junior year, and she's not on track.

To be able to see her graduate... I think it'd be amazing.

Just don't want her to move out... because she's my best friend.

[ sniffles ] She's like that one person that you could really go to to talk to.

Like, I'm very lucky to have my mom.

[ laughs ] Wow!

I can try.

[ laughs ] [ music playing, people chattering ] WOMAN: We've got two lines.

AVA: Prom was super fun.

[ music blaring over speakers ] I always liked the concept of prom because I'm just dancing with a bunch of people that I love.

ALL: ♪ I don't care, I love it ♪ [ playing jazz tune ] ANAIS: I got to hang out with friends, I got to dance with them.

I got to take pictures and have some drinks, you know?

Safe, child-friendly drinks.

Apple cider.

It's Josh's senior night, and his family showed up for him.

Whoo!

We love our boy, we love Josh.

We love Josh!

[ marching band playing fanfare ] JOSH: It would be hard to get through school without basketball, 'cause it gives me something to, like, look forward to, something to drive me.

Josh's mom Sharnissa is happy for Josh... [ whistle blows ] [ crowd cheers ] ...but wanted more from the school.

What I know is that if the parents aren't advocating for their students, their students will, um, fall through the cracks.

[ people whooping ] [ Josh chuckles ] When I grow up, I want to be a mad scientist.

A mad scientist, yes, but a mad scientist that doesn't harm.

You got this, Os!

ANDREA: Here we go, kid!

[ players yelling indistinctly ] ANDREA: There we go!

[ scattered applause ] I think showing up and trying to work as hard as you can every day with a group of guys, it's really nice.

Osvaldo's mom Andrea says her son has changed a lot over these 13 years.

He just really has taken charge of his education and what he needs and working with his teachers.

MAN: Oh, nice pitch!

[ crowd applauds ] ANDREA: You know, it doesn't come easy to him.

And that... That hurts my heart.

OSVALDO: What's worked for me the most is, like, the individualized learning.

[ ball cracks on bat ] Me sitting down in class for an hour and 30 minutes straight isn't realistic, but me sitting down for an hour and 30 minutes with a 10-minute break halfway through is realistic.

Just because a student doesn't look like he may be struggling in school or look like he is having difficulty learning doesn't mean that it's not true.

And that lots of kids learn lots of different ways, and it's not always because they're lazy or because they just don't want to do it.

I only have like a month and two weeks left, and then I'll be done with school forever.

So I just have to keep on reminding myself of that so I can actually get through it.

[ crowd cheering, applauding ] Thank you, Kaylyn, so much.

Get some good sleep.

Take care of yourself.

You're awesome.

I love you.

You too!

[ giggles ] Senior year, Ava moved from actor to director as part of the school's One Acts festival.

AVA: I feel like it's more of a leadership role compared to being an actor.

GIVLER: Ava is such a special kid.

[ laughs ] She has found her mature center.

Um, I see her standing up and carrying herself like a young professional.

AVA: Mr.

Givler has really influenced a part of my life where for a while I've been scared to socialize with people, but now I feel like it comes out naturally.

Way to go, yay!

Yay!

Oh!

I was giggling so much.

Do you guys have, like, something that you can write down for these?

Make sure you write notes.

Yeah.

It felt like a fantasy in elementary school, being a singer/songwriter, but now it feels realistic.

And I know that if I keep pushing towards that goal and I don't give up, I can really pursue my dream.

[ ♪♪♪ ] When I grow up, I want to be a NICU nurse.

Kaylie was back on track to graduate, with extra room in her schedule to start preparing for her future.

I work in a nursing home as a certified nurse's assistant, so I help everybody with their daily living activities.

She moved back to Portland to live with her mom.

But she's still retaking some classes she failed sophomore year.

It feels a little weird because I'm a senior now and I have to be stuck in a room with a bunch of sophomores.

I've noticed that I feel like a parent now, because when they're talking about it, I just think in my head like, "Oh, you really shouldn't do that.

I've been through that, and you should go to school.

You should not skip the class."

And so I feel old.

[ ♪♪♪ ] Rayshawn continued at Rosemary Anderson.

Alternative school, with its small classes and extra support, was working for him.

RAYSHAWN: You can be more real and, like... Like, really be you at a smaller school.

The teachers really, really liked him.

I mean, he has his rough patches too.

They call me and like, "Hey, I need you to talk to him now."

They're not just kicking him out of the school.

They just take the time with him.

[ chuckles ] Just be doing anything.

See, that's what I'm saying.

She just be doing anything, her and the dog.

But senior year, Rayshawn had to deal with horrific loss.

Two of his best friends were killed in car accidents.

Cameron and Noah, those are my best friends.

They just recently passed away.

Cameron and Noah went to Rosemary Anderson with Rayshawn.

School's just not it no more, like... Nah.

Like Noah-- I already know wasn't fitting to be the same after Noah, 'cause the first day, bro, I heard nothing and, like, the hallways were empty and silent, bro.

I was like, "Nah, it's not going to be it."

But then... I don't know, after Cameron, I was like, "Nah, it's never going to be the same."

Older people, you know, they're supposed to die before you, but, like, you don't expect it to be your best friends.

Like, that's what's crazy, bro.

It's like you're missing something.

That's what it really is, like you're missing something.

It's like you forgot your phone, but you know you have your phone.

Like... that's just what it feels like.

But, like, hey, they're gonna let me know that they're still with me and... they're here.

[ people cheering, applauding ] A couple of weeks before graduation, the David Douglas seniors piled into school buses... [ Anais laughing ] I know.

Well, we were so tiny.

...to visit their elementary school.

[ ♪♪♪ ] I'm not missing this for nothin'.

[ chuckles ] [ rattles shaking ] [ young children chattering ] Mommy!

Hi, Mama.

The week before graduation, Anais got bad news.

She didn't have all the credits to graduate.

What's going on today is that I'm in credit recovery because I managed to miss a class, kind of failed it.

When I found out I wasn't passing that class, I had a full-blown, like, mental breakdown throughout the weekend.

What happens if I don't finish by Wednesday is that I will not be able to walk on the stage with everyone, unfortunately.

Which of these would be convincing somebody of something?

If I'm able to finish on time, I'd... That'd be so great.

Just no longer crying about that and just crying about, "Oh, my God, I finished."

But if I don't, I'll probably be crying some more because of that, but... I mean, it seems like either way, I'll just be crying.

[ laughs ] The end one's a cherry tree, and there's, like, five, six apple trees.

As the Class of 2025 prepares to graduate from high school, Dale will not be graduating with them.

There's a lot of people out there that ask that question, that ask why I don't go to school.

Or, like, "Haven't you finished school?"

I'm like, "It's not for everybody.

And it's not... Not everybody learns the same."

I like it down here a whole lot more than up in the valley.

You know, it's nicer, as you can see.

Um, greener, a lot more nature and stuff I like to do out here, so there's-- CAROLYN: A lot more work too.

Yeah, that too.

[ revving ] Dale works, doing a little bit of everything.

DALE: I don't know.

I hate to say it, but I think my favorite thing to do is, honestly, septic tanks.

[ Carolyn laughs ] [ chuckles ] DALE: With these systems, there's three different lids, and one of them's a smaller, 18-inch cylinder.

You know, it's pretty much sewage, but we're not in the sewage.

It sounds worse than it actually is.

But if somebody does get in the sewage, it's usually me.

[ laughs] But I got-- I wear muck boots and all that for a reason.

This is what I wear.

This is what I work in.

[ laughs ] So... I'm still supportive in that he still has many opportunities he could explore.

I myself encouraged him to try to at least get his GED.

When Dale was in first grade, we asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up.

When I grow up, I want to be a lifeguard because I like boats.

I think that was, you were just starting to learn how to swim, I think is why the lifeguard thing came in.

I don't know.

Ten years later, Dale still wants to work on boats.

I kind of want to see myself getting out there on the fishing boats.

If it's charters out there in Depoe Bay or out in Newport on the commercial boats, doing shrimping or crabbing.

I want him to be happy, I want him to feel confident, and I think he's getting there.

He's not the kid that you remember from kindergarten and first, second grade anymore.

[ people chattering ] All right!

You the man.

[ conversation continues indistinctly ] It's Rayshawn's graduation day.

He wears bracelets to honor his friends.

RAYSHAWN: Got Noah's, Cameron's.

[ crowd cheering, applauding ] WOMAN: Rayshawn Lewis.

[ loud cheering and applause ] His friend's family receives an honorary diploma.

[ indistinct conversation ] Yeah.

He's here.

He's here.

I agree, he's here.

[ ♪♪♪ ] RAYSHAWN: At the end of the day, I still got to live it for them.

Like, I still gotta see everything that they didn't-- Like, they didn't get to, you know?

I have to be 55 so they can turn 55.

WOMAN: Way to go, chicken wing.

[ ♪♪♪ ] [ crowd cheering ] WOMAN: Class of 2025, your story is one that has literally been watched and witnessed by more than just your families and friends.

What started as a look at a graduation goal became something much deeper.

A tribute to how young people grow and change through love, support, hardship, and hope.

[ crowd cheering, applauding ] [ cheering ] [ whistling ] The Class of 2025 students crossed the stage with their elementary school principal, Ericka Guynes, looking on.

And Anais?

She earned her last credit the day before graduation.

[ all cheering, exclaiming ] In the end, 20 of the 25 students in OPB's Class of 2025 graduated on time... 80%.

[ indistinct conversations ] Waited for this moment.

MAN: Yeah.

And I was thinking every year... Every year about him.

Eighty percent is around where the state has been for the last few years.

More students might have graduated if not for the pandemic.

Oregon saw, you know, two or three times the learning losses as other states in the country because of the pandemic.

Oregon students stayed home far longer than students in other states.

It's emblematic of Oregon's culture as a whole, moving too slowly, and with a lack of accountability from the state to local schools.

When we are nationally in Oregon about middle of the pack in what we spend per student in our K12 system but our outcomes are near or at the bottom, that's a disconnect we have to fix.

Fourteen years ago, Oregon legislators signed Governor Kitzhaber's plan into law that by 2025, 100% of students would graduate.

I believe there's good intent all the way around, but if you don't have goals and you don't track the goals and you don't track how the money supports those goals, you will not be successful.

First, what Oregon needs to do is hold schools accountable for their results.

HODARA: Our kids, our communities are not meeting goals around educational attainment and economic mobility.

And so the whole state suffers.

Next, teachers and parents build relationships.

I'm proud of you.

KAYLIE: The only place that, like, I got support from that got me to graduate is my parents.

AVA: The positive things that have influenced me are teachers that really engage with students.

Find someone you can really, like, connect with and, like, really supports you, you know?

Lastly, make school the place students want to be.

Getting involved in something positive, whether that's sports, whether that's theater, whether that's band, having a connection to your school is huge.

Oregon schools measure success by how many students graduate.

But for students, this isn't the end.

I just would love for kids to be heard and seen more for what the perspectives they can offer.

I want them to learn they have a powerful and important voice.

[ students chattering softly ] I wanna be a teacher, an artist, and a ballerina.

OLDER AVA: In five years, I see myself as someone who's grown as a singer/songwriter.

An astronaut.

OLDER OSVALDO: I see myself with my own apartment and a stable job.

When I grow up, I want to be a football player.

OLDER RAYSHAWN: With my own business.

I like boats.

OLDER DALE: Most likely on commercial boats.

A policeman.

OLDER JOSH: Like, in a lab, like, mixing a whole bunch of chemicals and just exploding things.

I want to be a doctor.

OLDER ANAIS: I'm praying that I'm financially stable.

I have my own place.

I want to be a singer or a dancer.

OLDER KAYLIE: Hopefully I will be able to get a good job as a nurse.

[ ♪♪♪ ] I'm Elizabeth Miller, reporter at OPB.

And I'm Rob Manning, editor and creator of the Class of 2025 project.

We've finished following the Class of 2025.

A 13-year journey that was only possible because of OPB members.

Thank you.

Become a sustainer with an ongoing monthly contribution now and support all of OPB's essential programs at opb.org/video.