Student Attendance

It's an obvious fact - if a student does not attend school on a regular basis, he/she will not be successful in school. Even in situations with the student who is academically advanced and can still make very high grades regardless of the number of absences, the 90% attendance law maintains that this is not enough. The student still must attend school, unless excused for a valid reason, or make up the absences based on the school's determination. The million dollar question is how do we do the very best we can for each and every student to assist in their success regarding attendance? It's really very simple. Let each student know that when they are absent that they are missed. Just a simple acknowledgement is all it takes to bring many students to school who have a history of absenteeism. And the more people in the school family - students, teachers, administrators, faculty - who acknowledge the absence, the more likely the student will attend school more regularly. But what about the students who are not attending at all? At this point, beyond the daily phone calls, the time must be made for a home visit. It really doesn't take that much time, as 90% of the time no one will answer the door, but by leaving a note it has a huge impact. One of our new students this year was the exception. Eacg day when I knocked on the door, his brother was kind enough to answer with an excuse for his younger brother. After about five visits, my student's older brother started obviously feeling more and more awkward about my visits and finally said, "Look. I will do what I can to help you get him to school." I couldn't ask for more than that. His little brother now attends school daily and shared with one of our teachers, "This is the first school I've attended that anyone even noticed if I was absent." That's sad to me. I have been making home visits to students for many years. Yes, it does become tiresome when I have to repeatedly knock on the same door with seemingly zero progress. And, yes, there does come a point and time when I decide it's best just to quit the consistency of the visits out of concern of harassment, but the seed is planted and the growing often takes place over time. Many times, the student does come back to school and asks for a second chance. And of course, a second chance it granted. It is not up to us, as educators, to decide which students we are going to believe in; which students will finally be successful "this time". It is our duty to believe in each and every one of them until they have reached the age where a Texas high school diploma is not an option. Then, we should encourage a high school equivalency. But, that's another blog for another day. In the meantime, let's let our students KNOW that they are missed.