Written by Jennifer Sass, Assistant Principal
Yogi Berra stated, "School success is 90 percent showing up; the other half is mental." Hmm...seems easy enough until a quick check of attendance rate at any school nationwide. According to a study through the Alliance for Excellent Education, about 1.3 million students will not graduate from high school with their peers as scheduled. One of the overwhelming common traits in these students was they did not have good school attendance through middle and high school.
Good attendance is a growing concern among schools everywhere, but Portage High School has taken a proactive approach to improve attendance. After attending the WorkOne Education Summit in the fall, having numerous conversations with local employers who continually said that attendance is a major concern in the work place and looking closely at student attendance, an Attendance Design team was formed at the high school. Our goal was to look at ways of improving attendance that would make a positive impact on school attendance that will carry over into the workplace.
We have implemented a new attendance policy that is in direct correlation with what the state of Indiana has deemed as the minimum standard. Ninety-five percent attendance is the minimum standard which translates into a student not missing more than 4 1/2 days in a semester. Of course, medical reasons, court appointment, funerals, etc. would be accepted as excused with proper documentation. Truancies (unexcused absences) will carry a consequence of any or all of the following: parent contact, Wednesday Class, in school suspension, Out of school suspension, social suspension, invalidation of learner's permit or driver's license, and/or alternative placement.
We have designated an attendance adviser to meet with students to help overcome any obstacles in their way preventing them from coming to school. As we focus on improving attendance, we will be helping students create positive habits that will carry over into their careers. We plan to build in positive incentives to maintain the focus on the importance of good attendance.
PHS has made some positive strides to improve attendance, but this is a problem that affects the community, so what can we do? The community can model good attendance and offer support to schools and families by stressing the importance of good attendance at school and work. Many businesses offer an incentive to employees who have good attendance. Employers can ask "student" employees to present their attendance records for the semester and reward or motivate them through positive words and/or incentives. As community members, we can reach out to families in need and stress the importance of getting children to school daily.
A parent plays one of the biggest roles of all in establishing good attendance. Please encourage routines and good habits at a very young age. These habits will stay with your child. If your child is older, it's never too late to start a routine. Remember to always set the stage that attending school is non-negotiable unless they are truly sick. Modeling good attendance is also extremely important. Don't call in sick to work when it's really a personal business day. Our (adult) actions speak much louder than words!
So, as adults, let's all show students that we need to "get up and get going" to be the best we can be! We all have a job to do and it starts with getting out of bed and getting where we need to be on time every day.