Regular Attendance: On The Rise!
Thank you for your hard work this year!
Save the Date: Sept. 17 Regional Kickoff Event
Our Seven Participating Districts Collectively Raised Regular Attendance by 3%
Highlights of the Year for the SOESD Attendance Team:
- Development of a regional Chronically Absent Prediction Tool (CAPT)
- Three Regional Round Table gatherings: our network shared best practices with job-alike peers and heard from leaders across the region and state who are successfully leading positive change in regular attendance gains
- Positive Discipline training for district teams by Jody McVittie from Sound Discipline
- Highly Effective Data Team training from Scott Perry
- Empathy interview and progress monitoring training from Chalkboard
- Quarterly district attendance team meetings with SOESD Attendance Team
- Initiated Southern Oregon Regular Attendance Marketing Campaign
All of Our Participating Districts Individually Raised Regular Attendance: Experiencing 1% - 9.5% Gains!
Successful change ideas implemented by our participating districts:
- Forming a district-wide attendance team and meeting regularly
- Sending positive messages and letters using asset-based language to families and students
- Implementing empathy interviews to discover root causes of chronic absenteeism
- Holding informational family nights with dinner and discussions of needs included
- Check-in/Check-out system for chronically absent students with an adult they trust, using a time card system with a punch clock (the kids thought it was fun!)
- Developing a district-wide attendance handbook/attendance plan
- Developing positive scripts for phone calls to parents/families to be used throughout the district
- Holding listening sessions with families to discover root causes of chronic absenteeism
- Developing school-wide acknowledgment programs for improved and regular attendance
- Conferencing with chronically absent students
- Conducting home visits and leaving a "door hanger" on the door handle with available resources if no one answered
- Developing PBIS lesson plans to use next year to teach about the importance of regular attendance
- Holding weekend retreats to educate staff and "appreciate" the problem of chronic absenteeism in order to identify positive next steps to increase regular attendance
- Greeting students at the entrance to the school with music and conversation
- Student Information System training provided to attendance staff
Your SOESD Attendance Team
Mark Angle-Hobson, Kirsten Valenzuela, Aaron Cooke
Email: kirsten_valenzuela@soesd.k12.or.us
Website: www.soesd.k12.or.us
Location: 101 North Grape Street, Medford, OR, USA
Phone: 541.776.6766