The staff at the Irving School in Derby are making strides in their efforts to reduce absenteeism among students.
About 27 percent of Irving’s 340 kindergarten through fifth grade students didn’t miss a day during the first marking period this year.
It is quite an accomplishment given the fact 14 of the students with perfect attendance were considered “chronically absent” at the school last year.
Schools consider kids chronically absent if they miss at least 10 percent (18 days) of the school year.
Irving School Principal Jennifer Olson was a guest Dec. 14 on “Valley Navel Gazing,” the Valley Indy’s weekly podcast/radio show.
She explained the stats weren’t a fluke. The school community has made reducing absenteeism, and especially chronic absenteeism, a high priority.
The full Dec. 14 episode is posted below.
Olson’s interview is at the start of the broadcast. This article is culled from information conveyed during the interview.
Later in the same show, Derby High School Principal Martin Pascale appears to explain how Derby High School students are transitioning to online learning with the help of laptops, software — and desks designed to embrace modern tech-assisted learning.
Click the play button to listen.
Last year Irving’s average daily attendance rate was about 94 percent, but Olson said there was room for improvement.
Olson said that during the first marking period last year, the chronic absenteeism rate hovered at 17 percent.
The reasons behind the absentee rates are complex.
The Irving School is one of two elementary schools in Derby, the state’s smallest city.
Irving is in west Derby, and the poverty rate among its school community is high. About 70 percent of the students receive free or reduced lunches at school, Olson said. About 34 percent qualify for English as a second language programs.
The Irving School also has a high transient population. That is, families are constantly moving into and out of Derby’s large number of rental apartments.
So far during this school year, 54 new students have enrolled at Irving (not counting the new kindergarten class). Another 41 have moved away.
All those factors play a role in absenteeism rates, the principal said.
The stats are indicative of a school where the “need” is high, Olson said.
The school qualifies for an array of grants that try to bolster the budget in a cash-strapped community. Among those grants — the state’s relatively new “alliance district” grant, where the lowest-performing schools present turnaround plans in order to receive more money from the state.
The district as a whole has received more than $1 million from the alliance program.
Since Olson’s arrival in Derby, the Irving School created and began putting its turnaround plan into place. Click here to read a previous story from the Valley Indy on the school’s early efforts.
More recently — thanks to a requirement attached to the grant money — Irving hired Maria Bowers, a former Derby paraprofessional of the year, as an attendance monitor.
The position pays $19,500.
In the old days, perhaps, an attendance monitor was a glorified babysitter armed with a clipboard. No more.
Olson said Bowers is a key player in the battle against absenteeism. She focuses on the issue daily, and if a family of a consistently absent child needs help, Bowers is there.
Recently she teamed with Danz Magic in Derby to bring in a dance team during an assembly that celebrated high attendance rates.
“She’s the right person for the job,” Olson said of Bowers. “She’s enthusiastic. She gets the kids excited about being here.”
In addition, the adults in the school stress the importance of being present. It’s as important as academics, because it is a foundation of success. So Irving goes out of its way to celebrate kids who show up all the time.
The goal is to get attendance in the front of the students’ minds.
Not being in class obviously curtails learning. But what students miss runs deeper.
“If you think about it, a classroom is really its own little mini-community. As kids are there or not there, it impacts what’s happening in the classroom itself,” Olson said. “We focus not just on the academics, but building who were are. We want everyone to have that shared experience.”
Kids obviously get sick — some more than others.
But Olson said the reasons for chronic absenteeism may go beyond health.
“There have been other issues that have come up. Kids may miss a day of school because a parent doesn’t have someone available at the end of the day to pick them up at the bus stop,” Olson said.
A parent’s work obligation may impact a child’s ability to get to school. Or maybe a particular family is struggling with clean clothes and getting to the bus stop on time.
The goal isn’t shame or prosecution — but to provide help, if possible.
“We’ve been trying to figure out what are those barriers and then putting supports in place to help families,” Olson said.
Early stats — from this year’s first marking period — show the focus on showing up is working.
In the first marking period, daily attendance at Irving increased from 95 percent in 2014 – 2015 to 98 percent in 2015 – 2016.
Chronic absenteeism dropped from 17 percent to 11.9 percent — but the state’s target is 10 percent.
“We still have not arrived to where the state’s target is, but we have definitely making strong progress because it’s something we focus on every day,” Olson said.
