Tips for Improving School Attendance

1. Remember that good attendance benefit’s your child’s education.  Students who miss a day of school not only miss instruction, but must make up work and catch up with the new material at the same time.

2. The bus is a consistent way to ensure your child arrives at school in a timely manner.  Arriving late can be disruptive for your child, the teacher, and other children in the class. 

3. Try to schedule doctor and dentist appointments in the beginning or end of the day so that your child will only miss ½ of a day of school.

4. Children will get coughs and colds during the winter, but it does not mean that they need to miss school.  Collaborate with the school nurse if your child needs medication or cough drops to be comfortable during the day.

5. Monitor your child’s attendance through Parent Portal to keep track of absences.  If an absence is marked unexcused and you gave your child a note, please contact the school attendance secretary as soon as possible.

6. Remember that there are 180 school days out of 365 total days in the year.  Families are encouraged to take vacations during the ten weeks of summer vacation, two weeks near the holidays, or over the week break in the spring.

7. Keep in mind that patterns are formed early.  It is more difficult to break a bad habit (children begging to stay home from school “just this once”) than saying “no” in the beginning.

8. If there are reasons why your child is not coming to school (school phobia, relationships with peers, academic difficulties), please contact your school counselor so that the underlying issue can be addressed.