September is Attendance Awareness Month. While we want to be aware of attendance in September, it is essential that parents are aware of attendance ALL year. When students are out of the classroom, achievement is significantly impacted.
Below are a few statistics concerning attendance that are very important:
- Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year. Half the students who miss 2-4 days in September go on to miss nearly a month of school.
- Chronic absence appears to have doubled by the end of the 2021-22 school year. We estimate that it now affects nearly one out of three students (or 16 million vs. 8 million students in the 2018-19 school year).
- Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by the end of third grade or be held back.
- By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school.
- Research shows that missing 10 percent of the school, or about 18 days in most school districts, negatively affects a student’s academic performance. That’s just two days a month and that’s known as chronic absence.
- When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and chances for graduating. (attendanceworks.org)
Please work with WWPS to ensure that your child is on time and at school every day. This greatly impacts the success of your child.