Springfield Public Schools are hoping to get students to come to school more consistently by spreading the message that “Attendance Matters.” Springfield Public School teachers and administrators sported “Attendance Matters” t-shirts on Thursday to kick-off a district-wide initiative to improve attendance.
“Attendance does matter,” said Mark McCann, the principal of Lincoln Elementary School. “All of the kids in Springfield are getting the same message.”
“Everyone just really showing the kids how important they are, how important it is to be present, and how important it is to come to school everyday so we can all do our jobs together – them as the students and us as the educators,” said Springfield Assistant Superintendent Lydia E. Martinez.
Attendance numbers have gotten better throughout the district over the past decade, but there’s always room for improvement. Every day a student misses represents a gap in learning, according to McCann. He’s been working to improve attendance. It’s been successful: chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10 or more days of school, went down 10 percent over one year, McCann told 22News.
“That’s been a huge key to our success because those students are the ones that aren’t performing as well,” said McCann. “So, they are getting here, their grades are improving, they’re getting smarter and they feel good about themselves.”
Assistant Superintendent Martinez told 22News parents can help by doing a few things at home, like picking out an outfit the night before, and making sure kids eat a good breakfast.
