Jenna Lile and Megan Ruffin want students to know they’re missed when they are absent from New Hope High School.
All Lowndes County School District schools share that message year round, but it will be emphasized in September, which is Attendance Awareness Month.
At New Hope High, Lile and Ruffin, who are members of the school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) team, said creating a reward for perfect attendance and letting students know their reward is a great source of motivation. Last year, students with perfect attendance earned a field trip to Tupelo, where they had an opportunity to go ice skating and spend an hour and a half in the mall.
This year, Lile and Ruffin said New Hope High students with perfect attendance at the end of the semester will go to All in 1 Adventures, which used to be called Hype, a 93,000-square foot facility that has trampolines, climbing walls, a rope course, a jump tower, batting cages, speed racing Karts and more. The facility is located in the mall in Meridian.
“Hopefully them knowing from past years that there is a reward – because the students enjoy going on the field trips – gives them something to work toward and motivates them to come to school every day,” Ruffin said.
Last year, Lile and Ruffin said the school recognized students for perfect attendance in October and November. This year, they said they will work toward offering more rewards for smaller windows of achievement for perfect attendance because they feel recognizing more students will help build momentum to perfect attendance or more regular attendance.
On Aug. 14, the Mississippi Department of Education released the 2023-24 Chronic Absenteeism Report and issued a reminder that September is Attendance Awareness Month. The 2023-24 report showed the state’s rate of chronic absenteeism is 24.4%, which is an increase from 23.9% in 2022-23.
Last school year, the LCSD had a chronic absenteeism rate of 20.64%, which is up slightly from 20.3% in 2022-23.
New Hope High had a chronic absenteeism rate of 30.89% for the 2023-24 report.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more (18 days) of a school year for any reason. Chronic absenteeism differs from average daily attendance, which is the average number of enrolled students who attend school each day.
Lile and Ruffin acknowledge students are going to get sick and miss school. They also understand parents may be more willing to let older kids stay home if they aren’t feeling well, which could help explain higher percentages of chronic absenteeism at district high schools compared to elementary schools.
Still, Ruffin said it is important to talk to students so they know people are aware they’re missing school. To that end, she said NHHS has someone monitor attendance in each grade. If a student accumulates multiple missed days, someone from the attendance committee will hold a meeting with that student to discuss why the student is missing school and to sign an attendance contract. She said having someone ask a student why they were absent may motivate them to try to make it to school because they realize someone is missing them.
“We try to make a point to catch kids when they reach a certain limit – three or five absences – and talk to them about why it is important to come to school,” Ruffin said.
One of the goals of the PBIS team is to support students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional and mental health, to create a safe and effective learning environment and to promote good behavior and safety by teaching students about behavior expectations and strategies.
“Not only is it important to be here because of the attendance policy, but it is important because of the lost instructional time,” Lile said. “We do our best to emphasize this to students and parents.”
In addition to the field trip to Meridian at the end of the semester, Lile and Ruffin said the school would like to have an event at the end of the year, which would be similar to the “A-Day” event NHHS had last school year to celebrate its earning the highest grade in the state’s accountability model, which includes factors such as state test scores, ACT scores and graduation rate.
“Attendance is key and plays a crucial role in maintaining the school’s ‘A’ rating,” Lile said.
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