It was a boost that put a smile on Jim Shank’s face.

Shank, the superintendent of the Coupeville School District, reported a 93.5 percent graduation rate by the Class of 2016 at Monday night’s school board meeting.

The increase, revealed in a finalized report from the state, was nearly 9 percent greater than the previous year and the best graduation rate since at least when Shank took over in Coupeville in 2013.

“It’s typically around 84 percent, or 85, depending on the year,” said Shank, noting last year’s graduation rate was 84 percent. “We had a big jump this year.

“We did some things purposely to try to make an impact on how many kids we were graduating. The Open Den program is one of those.”

Open Den is a separate school in the district focused on students at least 16 years of age who are behind in credits and looking for an alternative environment to traditional school. Students take courses online but meet face-to-face with an instructor at school for at least two hours per month.

Coupeville started the pilot program in 2014 with six students. That number has grown to 33 this school year.

Aimee Bishop and John Luvera, who run the school, were praised by school board president Kathleen Anderson for their efforts.

Other factors having an impact were work by the high school staff, the summer school program and a program called Senior Saturday School where students could get help from teachers on the weekend.

“That was a big deal,” Shank said.

In another development with the school district, high school cheer coach Cheridan Eck has been placed on administrative leave, Shank said. Assistant Principal Melissa Rohr has been supervising the cheer team in her absence.

Assistant cheer coach Lisa Ford resigned from her position on Sept. 29.