Attendance Matters

October 5th, 2022

Wildcat Family,

As we move out of COVID pandemic, we are looking at our school data. One of our big concerns is our student attendance. One of our goals with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is to have students at school 90% of the time. When we looked at the data from last year, our student attendance at school dropped from the 2021 numbers. Not only does DESE report the data, but our state funding is based on attendance numbers.

As everyone knows, attendance at school for students is extremely important for multiple reasons as well. Here is a top ten list of positive influences in attending school each day: 

  • School teaches social skills

  • School helps students build confidence

  • School encourages critical thinking

  • School introduces students to future goals

  • School gives students a variety of opportunities

  • School builds communities

  • School teaches the importance of the learning process

  • School reduces poverty

  • School is good for gender equality

  • School benefits the whole country

With COVID, we went away from celebrating perfect attendance. This year we will celebrate Excellent Attendance, which will be students that reach the DESE goal of 90% attendance in each quarter.

We are asking parents, guardians and community members to help us improve our attendance at school by encouraging our students to attend school and get to school on time. We also ask that you make dentist and/or doctor appointments on Mondays when possible. If you have any questions, then please contact us.

Sincerely,

 

Scott Gemes, Superintendent 

Please use link to see the letter: https://5il.co/1iytj