Attendance

One of our biggest problems here, although I don't know that we address it enough, is our abysmal attendance. Out of 26 days this marking period, I have students who have missed 5, 6, 7, 8 or more days. I have an athlete who has missed 11 days: when she's not at a match, she's out sick. I see her, on average, twice a week in my language arts class. One girl misses every other week of class, or so it seems. So far this quarter, she is (and failing as a result). And I have another student who is taken off my roster because she hasn't been in school for so long, and then she comes back, re-registers, is back on my roster, and I see her in the hallway and think, "That girl looks vaguely familiar. Is that M____?"

I have maybe ten students who have perfect attendance this marking period. Most of them are in my advanced reading class and are A students. They're probably some of the few students who have a parent or guardian who really cares about their education. Many of our students wake themselves up and decide on their own that they're going to go to school today.

It'll be interesting to see what attendance is like today, this half day before Thanksgiving.