This year, our very first newsletter asked you to help positively impact your student’s learning by sending your child to school if your child did not have a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea.
And this month, as we reviewed our attendance data, we discovered something wonderful. You did it. Our attendance rate has dramatically increased! Our goal is 95%, and if you keep it up, we can get there this year. You’ve never seen a group of people so giddy over a discussion of seeing your kiddos in class as Mr. Werfelman, Mrs. Legare, Mrs. Sorensen, Mrs. Reger, and I were last week at our Attendance Team Meeting.
We have especially seen improvement in our pre-kindergarten grades. If you’ll recall, generally, preschool students miss more school than any other grade, but kindergarten students are not far behind. Why does it matter?
- Missing just two days of school each month can make a child fall behind.
- Being late to school may lead to poor attendance and a student falling behind.
- Absences and tardiness affect the whole classroom in a negative way.
- Elementary school students who are chronically absent (miss more than 18 days a year) are more likely to drop out of high school.
Make attending school a habit! Last year, we asked for parent feedback about attendance:
“If my preschooler is throwing a temper tantrum, I feel like I’m doing the teacher a favor keeping him home.” Not true! No matter what’s going on in the morning, we want your little one in school. Building the habit early helps them learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important.
“It’s so hard for us to get out on time! We’re always missing a shoe/have to pack lunch/running late.” Set a regular bedtime and morning routine, lay out your clothes, shoes, and backpack before bed. If you don’t have time to pack a lunch, no worries, lunch is FREE at Diven for all students.
“I don’t have reliable transportation, and we have no way to get there every day.” Contact us for help! You are not alone, and we have solutions.
“My doctor/dentist/family schedules appointments/trips during school.” If you must schedule an appointment during a weekday, ask if there are appointments available on days when school is not in session. If you must schedule an appointment on a school day, try to do one late in the afternoon to minimize the time your child misses school.
Visit attendanceworks.org and reachoutandread.org for more tips and info about how much attendance matters. Thank you for all that you do!