Attendance Matters
During the early elementary years, children gain basic social and academic skills critical to ongoing success. Research shows frequent absences are clearly associated with poor achievement, truancy in middle school, and more serious consequences in high school, including frustration, suspension, credit loss, dropout, legal trouble, substance abuse, fewer career choices, and lower-paying jobs.
Absent students:
- Miss teacher-directed lessons, directions, and explanations.
- Have gaps in their learning and skill acquisition.
- Develop the attitude that school isn’t important.
- Do not develop a sense of responsibility.
- Miss peer discussion and cooperative learning activities that impact learning.
- Experience increased stress and anxiety to make up work.
- Miss hands-on experiments and inquiry lessons, falling behind in the inquiry process and struggling to build upon missed learning.
- Impact social relationships they are building.
- Who miss one week of school tend to have 2-3 weeks of lost learning, reducing overall learning time in the school year.
The Bottom Line
Consistent attendance is like a book: if you miss chapters 3, 8, and 12, how can you understand the story? When students miss school, they lose valuable instruction across multiple content areas that cannot be replaced, making full understanding difficult.
It’s not just absences; tardies matter too. When students are tardy, it sets the tone for the day. They try to catch up and often feel embarrassed walking in after everyone else is settled. They miss valuable socializing and camaraderie during morning routines. For students who struggle with organization, tardiness severely impacts their day and creates stress, affecting their performance.
There are only 171 instructional days each year for elementary students, so attendance truly matters.
Early Pick-Up from School
We discourage picking up students during school hours except for illness or emergencies. If a student must be picked up early, please send a note to the child’s teacher and sign the child out through the office. Due to high volume at the end of the day, please do not check out your student after 3 p.m. Call the office when you are on your way. Students will only be released to parents from the office, and you will be asked to show identification.
Planning an Absence
Please fill out the Absence Notification Form and return it to the school office when you know in advance of an absence.