As part of our ongoing series spotlighting the current news of Palisade high school through insight with admin, we sat down with principal Bollinger. Talking with Bollinger felt less like an interview, and more like opening a door to the heartbeat of Palisade High School. During the start of his career at Palisade, the graduation rate was at 68%. After 21 years of effort, principle Bollinger’s efforts have paid off. His steady leadership and focus on student success created opportunities that didn’t exist before. Currently, the graduation rate for Palisade students sits around 92%, it is in fact, the highest rate Palisade has ever seen. It doesn’t stop there, Bollinger still seeks for ways to improve.
Most recently palisade has implemented “Warm ups” and “closures” into many classes. “It’s difficult for some students to seamlessly transition from class to class, eight times a day.” Bollinger explains warm ups can help simplify what the class content holds for the day or are simply a reminder of what happened in the class yesterday. This helps refresh the mind, and +sade on its Pathways Program, sponsored by Mrs. Green. Palisade is obviously driven by academic success, but one special thing about Palisade is that it provides programs to gear students towards success for when they graduate, into the working world. Some pathways include, fire fighting, police teaching, and many more. These pathways really help students find their passion, and encourages them to get the most out of their high school education and finding purpose within that. Although academic success is very important to have a successful school, Bollinger sees that a truly successful school environment focuses on how the students feel. This includes feeling like they belong, feeling engaged in class, feeling like coming to school the next day, and enjoying it. Everyday, little by little, the admin looks to progress Palisade High school forward.
