Mosaic putting $1M into Regina private school to boost graduation rate

The Mosaic company is putting $1 million into a program to boost performance at Mother Teresa Middle School but the government will pay it back if enough students graduate from high school on time.

• Premier Brad Wall keen on 'social impact bonds'

The province calls the fund a "social impact bond" and has used the model once before with a non-government social agency in Saskatoon that helps single mothers.

This will be the first time the bond approach isbeing tried at a Saskatchewan school.

"It's an expensive program we couldn't afford to do it everywhere across the province," said education minister Don Morgan.

"If it does exactly what we want and hope to do we can move forward with some taxpayer fundingdollars."

Mother Teresa hasa high percentage of indigenous students who historicallyhave had lower graduation rates than non-Indigenous students.

A variety of strategies are being employed to try to boost those rates with the Mother Teresa students.

It said all of the students in its initial grade 6 class in 2011, are still in high school and on track to graduate.

The deal

The middle schoolis for grades sixthrough eight, but the program lastsfor five years and is designed to follow the approximately 88 students into high school.

If 82 per cent of them graduate from Grade 12 on time, the province will pay the Mosaic Company Foundationback all its money with 1.3 per cent annual interest added.

With a 75 per cent graduation rate, three-quarters of the money is repaid and there's no interest.

Below 75 per cent, the province doesn't refundthe money.

The province will pay Mosaic if the graduation rate is achieved in 2022.

The potash company said it will help and supportthe studentsby having employeesvisit the school and even act as mentors.

"Wemadeachoice to reallygo all-in with a a focused impact in a place we thought would be a good test model." said Mosaicseniorvice president of potash BruceBodine.

Initial class on track to graduate in 2018

Draydin Cyr was in the first class at Mother Teresa in 2011.He's now in grade 11 at Notre Dame in Wilcox.He said Mother Teresa School set him on a path to graduate.

"They expected me to do more. Come to school more, work harder in classes. Push me to do more introduced me into sports. Got me into playing football, wrestling and pushed me to want to do more," Cyr said.

Cyr said he would like to attend post secondary school and play football.

Cyr's former classmate Tameeka Severightis also in grade11 at Notre Dame. Her mother died in the fall of2011.

"The first week in I had lost my mom. I wasn't doing myschool work. I wouldn't participate with the kids,". said Severight. The principal told me you're just digging yourself a hole. It's going to get deeper and harder to climb out of. I let that sink in and it kind of changed everything,"

Severight said she wants to be a veterinarian.

The school was founded in 2011 by businessman Paul J. Hill with the support of partners Harvard Developments, the Regina Catholic school board,CampionCollege, and theJesuits.