Attendance Awareness
Cityscape Schools acknowledges the importance of showing up every day! September is known as Attendance Awareness Month and we are dedicated to helping our families understand how being in class every day impacts their children’s learning.
Recent surveys have shown that some of the reasons that students are absent include: 48%, short-term illness, 10% chronic illness, 2% bad weather and 1% unreliable transportation.
A research made by Attendance Works stated that 10% of missed school days missed due to absence for any reason, even if it’s excused or unexcused, can translate into students having difficulty learning to read by the third grade, achieving in middle school, and graduating from high school.
Students at Cityscape Schools are required to not miss more than 28 school days, that includes both excused and unexcused absences. In addition, our campus leadership team is responsible for applying those consequences to those students who don’t meet the required days of attendance, those consequences may result in expulsion, suspension or required summer school.
Over the past few years, the misconception on chronic absenteeism has created a division between families and schools. While for some administrators absenteeism can be easily confused with lack of interest in education by families, research has shown to them that the difficulty to connect with schools is among the top reasons why students are absent.
We Are Here To Help!
Our team at Cityscape Schools prides itself on staying connected with families and keeping that communication intact as it’s the first sentence of our Mission Statement, “Cityscape Schools exists to work in an educational partnership with families.”
Chief officer of Culture and Climate, Dr. Billy Ferrell says Cityscape knows the importance of keeping our families close when it comes to their children’s education.
“There are so many ways to stay connected and be engaged with our families,
We are also adding new techniques for students to be excited to show up to school, like adding rewards. It makes them excited and makes us excited!” said Dr. Ferrell.
Our schools have each developed a plan to communicate with parents and in recent events, such as school orientations, our principals have spoken about each of their ways to manage attendance.
Parents engage with their children’s principals through their school’s newsletters where they advocate the importance of attending school.
For example, Buckner Preparatory has “Attendance H.E.R.Os (Here Everyday Ready On-time) and they voice their success with attendance by announcing their Average Daily Attendance every morning during announcements as well as displayed on the Campus Bulletin Board.
“Grade levels learn about the campus goal each day and incentives are provided every nine weeks to classes who meet or exceed our campus ADA goal!” saysBuckner Principal, Ms. Wade.
At the Early Childhood Center, Principal Dr. Treviño, hosts a Perfect Attendance and No Tardy party each nine weeks for students who have no unexcused absences and zero tardies.
“At the ECC we promote an energized and positive arrival, we call parents after 3 absences and I personally am present almost everyday to remind parents of the importance of an on-time arrival,” says Dr. Treviño
How Can Parents Help
When an absence is made, it is crucial for parents to communicate with their children’s school and provide a written excuse within 24 hours.
Talk to their teachers to make sure the missed work is completed and that their kid doesn’t fall behind. As well as attending parent-teacher conferences and establishing a relationship with administrators.
Deputy Superintendent And Chief Academic Officer, Elda Rojas, says families can help by establishing strong routines for students that ensure good school attendance and on-time arrivals.
“Planning ahead is the key,” says Mrs. Rojas. “Creating a structure is important for our students to not fall out of routine. Once students get more into the habit, it becomes easier for them to follow this.”
Cityscape Schools advises families to help by creating a regular night and morning routine. Students are healthy, have a good plan to get to school, schedule appointments when school is not in session and follow a healthy nutrition plan.
Our Pre K and Kindergarteners need to rest in order to wake up with energy and ready to learn! Pre-K aged children should ideally get 10-13 hours of sleep, including naps. Since our Eagles nap during the day, Dr. Treviño recommends 8 P.M. to be an appropriate time for our student’s bedtime. .
“A good bedtime routine might look like light playtime, conversation and reflection of the day, cuddles, a bath, teeth brushing, a bedtime story,” says Dr. Treviño. “Most importantly the goal is to begin to relax.”
Helping our Young Learners Adjust
Learning about attending school starts from a young age, and studies have shown that pre-schoolers who were constant in their attendance to school are most likely to succeed.
Dr. Treviño says regular school attendance is essential for a student to make the most of his or her education – to build on the previous day’s learning, and to grow as individuals.
“Teachers teach lessons in a developmentally appropriate, sequential order. – absences disrupt this progression and can hinder the students’ academic success. Especially at the PK level, students need routine for a sense of belonging and safety – it becomes an intricate part of their child’s identity. We love seeing our ECC Eagles every day!”
Mrs. Rojas says the first two weeks are essential for our young students who are new to a school-structure environment and being away from home.
“It’s important to not give up, it takes time for our children to adjust to a new environment but Cityscape Schools is fully prepared with teachers who spend weeks preparing and modeling routines and procedures that are special for our young new learners.”.
Cityscape Schools thanks all of our parents for encouraging all of our students to continue contributing to their education and attending school, because showing up matters!
