FACTS ABOUT ATTENDANCE
Attendance in preschool.
What is-Preschool is a great time to start building a habit of good attendance. Studies show that poor attendance in preschool can predict absenteeism in later grades.
But we need a vacation or my children have appointments.
Families should avoid extended vacations that require your children to miss school. Try to line up vacations with the school’s schedule. The same goes for doctor’s appointments.
Your absence affects your class.
Too many absent students can affect the whole classroom, creating churn and slowing down instruction.
Ages 6-18.
Under Pennsylvania law, all students between the ages of six (6) and eighteen (18) must attend school every day.
Attendance in kindergarten.
What is attendance matters as early as kindergarten. Studies show many children who miss too many days in kindergarten and first grade can struggle academically in later years. They often have trouble mastering reading by the end of third grade.
Routines and sleep hygiene elementary students.
For younger children, you can set a regular bedtime and morning routine. Make sure they get 9 to 11 hours of sleep. You can lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.
Your first and important job is...
School is your first and most important job. You’re learning about more than math and reading. You’re learning how to show up for school on time every day, so that when you graduate and get a job, you’ll know how to show up for work on time every day.
Easy to get in, hard to get out.
What is getting involved with the various systems like Truancy Court, DHS, Family Court, and all connected systems.
Excused or unexcused absences.
What is t doesn’t matter if these absences are excused or unexcused. They all represent lost time in the classroom and a lost opportunity to learn.
Routines and sleep hygiene for middle school and high school students.
For older children, you can help set homework and bedtime routines that allow for 8 ½ to 9 ½ hours of sleep. Make sure that when the lights go out, so do the cell phones, video games and computers.
I don't want you to stay home because...
School only gets harder when you stay home too much. Sometimes it’s tempting to stay home because you’ve got too much work or you don’t understand what’s going on in class. But missing a day only makes that worse.
SAIP
What is- Student Attendance Intervention Plan
Number of days of missed school it takes for your children to suffer academically.
What is -your children can suffer academically if they miss 10 percent of school days or about 18 days. That can be just one day every two weeks, and that can happen before you know it.
School social worker, teachers, deans, administration.
You can turn to the school for help. Many schools offer services for the whole family.
A great reason for you to attend school is....
Students who attend school regularly are more likely to graduate and find good jobs. In fact, a high school graduate makes, on average, a million dollars more than a dropout over a lifetime.
SAIP
What is a plan/contract parents/caregivers agree to that provides steps they will use to improve their children's attendance.
The leading warning sign?
By middle and high school, chronic absence is a leading warning sign that a student will drop out.
What showing them looks like
Above all, set an example for your child. Show him or her that attendance matters to you and that you won’t allow an absence unless someone is truly sick. Don’t ask older students to help with daycare and household errands.
Keep missing school and you will end up being a
By middle and high school, chronic absence is a leading warning sign that a student will drop out.
Your child continues to be absent after you completed a SAIP.
What is a referral to the DA's office.