Attendance
Participation in the school day and extracurricular activities is directly related to academic success for students. Showing up for school has a huge impact on a child’s academic success starting in kindergarten and continuing through high school. Attending school regularly is important to ensure your child is learning the academic skills required for their grade and helps them feel better about school and themselves. We miss your child when they are not at school, and we value their contributions to our schools. Chronic absenteeism, as early as preK and kindergarten, is correlated to lower test scores, poor attendance and retention in later grades, especially if the problem persists for more than a year.
We want to partner with you to make sure your child benefits fully from their education by attending and engaging in school regularly.
Why Attendance Matters
- Children miss out on fundamental reading and math skills and the opportunity to build a habit of regular attendance that will carry them into college and careers.
- Children who are chronically absent in kindergarten and 1st grade are far less likely to read proficiently at the end of 3rd grade.
- By 6th grade, chronic absenteeism becomes a leading indicator a student will drop out of high school.
- When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and likelihood of graduating.
- Students may fall behind even if they miss just one or two days every few weeks.
- Absences can impact the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.
- Attending school daily provides opportunities for your child to learn valuable social skills and to develop meaningful relationships with other students and school staff.
-
Attendance is an important life skill that will increase the likelihood for your child to graduate from college and keep a job.
What Can Families Do
Don't Permit Missing School
-
Students should miss no more than 9 days of school each year to stay engaged, successful, and on track to graduation.
-
By 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three warning signs that a student may drop out of high school.
-
By 9th grade, regular and high attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.
-
Missing 10 percent, or about 18 days, of the school year can negatively impact a student’s academic success.
Research collected at Attendance Works
Estes Park School District Attendance Partnership Plan
At Estes Park School District, our vision is to provide excellent educational experiences to every student every day. Our mission is to engage all learners in authentic learning for global application. We believe that family partnership is critical for student success. The first step to learning is being present, we rely on families to get students to school. Therefore, this plan outlines our response to chronic absenteeism and truancy that are consistent across the district.
Our goals
-
Partner with parents to support 90% and above attendance for every child
-
Maintain consistent response practices throughout all schools in the district
-
Communicate to all members of the EPSD community our expectations and response to chronic absenteeism and truancy in our schools
State Law: “It is the obligation of every parent/guardian to ensure that every child under their care and supervision receives adequate education and training and, if of compulsory attendance age, attends school.”
Habitually Truant A student is considered habitually truant when they have missed 4 total days of unexcused absences from school in any one month, OR 10 total days of unexcused absences during any school year. If a child becomes habitually truant, the school can begin a truancy case. These cases follow the process laid out in CRS 22-33-108.
Chronic Absenteeism A student is considered chronically absent when they have missed 16 total absences in a school year, whether the absences are excused or unexcused.
We believe
-
Every day matters
-
Being at school improves academic learning and social and emotional development.
-
We are all partners in supporting good attendance
-
School should be an engaging and welcoming community
-
Families should prioritize school attendance
-
Good attendance leads to a more successful future
-
Attendance is important for habit setting and developing responsibility and ownership
-
Every child and staff member contributes to our positive school environment, therefore it is important for everyone to be here every day
-
To be respectful to the learning community, we need to be on time and present
-
A restorative approach to supporting truancy and attendance is effective