Dear Parents, Guardians, and Community:
Thank you for your continued support of the students and staff here at school. I want to share an important area where we need your help as we embark on the 2024-25 school year.
Chronic absence has become a national crisis. Data show chronic absence nearly doubled by the end of the 2021-22 school year. It now affects nearly one out of three students. Chronic absence is typically defined as missing 10% of the school year - or just two days each month - for any reason. Regardless of why your student may miss, studies indicate students who are chronically absent from school often read below grade level and struggle to understand math concepts. To tackle this challenge, all hands are needed. We have set an average daily attendance goal of 95% for this school year. As we look at data from this past year, we had numerous days where we fell significantly short of that 95%. We know we can do better with your help and a renewed emphasis on our part.
Things to Consider:
● Absences: Please communicate all absences, each day, to the front office to avoid unexcused absences when possible.
● Appointments: Please attempt to make appointments early or late in the day to reduce missed classroom time. Remember to bring a note from the provider to the main office so it can be logged in the attendance record.
● Plan Around School Breaks: In education, every minute matters. Please make every effort to plan vacations, trips, and student absences around school breaks.
● Role Model the Importance of Education: Students learn about the importance of being on time and accountable at school, work, and other obligations by watching the adults in their lives. This is
an essential life skill we can all teach them together.
● Monitor How Sick Is Too Sick: It will always be important to keep children home when they are not feeling well, but we hope we can cut down on the amount of school missed for other reasons. Reminder: If your student has
accrued fifteen (15) medical parent excused (MPE) days of school, we will notify you that subsequent MPE days
will require medical documentation in order to be marked as excused.
● Tardiness: Please ensure your student is getting to school on time so they can begin the day in a productive manner. School starts promptly at 8:30 AM.
Addressing chronic absenteeism and tardiness is a team approach. Our school attendance team, which includes Rye McIntosh, elementary school social worker and Meagan Basye, early childhood community counselor, this year will identify attendance and tardy concerns and provide information and resources directly to families to improve student attendance.
Together, we can get back to an average daily attendance rate of 95% or higher, which helps individual and overall student achievement. Please help us achieve this critical goal. If you have any questions about your child’s absences or you want to brainstorm some strategies with me, please do not hesitate to contact me. Hopefully we can count you in towards working together to show that every school day matters.
