Use this page to learn more about attendance, absenteeism, and truancy. Find out more about how students, schools and families can work together to improve attendance.

  Attendance Guide

As COVID-19 disrupted in-person school attendance, it is important for everyone to understand their role in establishing good attendance for Every Student, Every Day.

WHO can Help Students Attend School Everyday?

Inside of School

School district employees have a significant impact on students' attendance. From the members of the school board of education, district and site leaders, teachers and support staff, everyone that works in schools creates a positive school climate and relationships that connect students and families to school.  

Outside of School

Families, caregivers and community members have an important role in ensuring students attend school.  Families are experts at knowing their student’s strengths as well as the barriers that may prevent their student from attending school.

Click the image above to learn more about the difference between Chronic Absence and Truancy

 WHY Attendance Matters

Attendance is one of the greatest predictors of whether a student graduates from high school.

• The impact of missing school is the same whether your child is sick, ditching or taking some time off.  

• Chronically absent students are less likely to achieve their learning goals in a given school year.

• 83% of students that are chronically absent in Kindergarten and 1st grade cannot read on grade level by 3rd grade.

• Students not on grade reading level by third grade are 4x more likely to drop out of high school.

• High school dropouts are 8x more likely to be incarcerated.

Poor Attendance Has Long-Term Consequences

How many days did your child miss school?

Click the above image to learn more about how families can help with attendance.

Impact of Chronic Absenteeism:

Preschool and Elementary Schools build the foundation for learning needed for children to do well in middle and high school.  When a child is absent, there is incomplete learning which is cumulative over a student’s PreK-12 experience.  This means that a student who is chronically absent each year starting in preschool will have missed half of a school year by the time they leave 3rd grade.  

“Students suffer academically from having chronically absent classmates—as exhibited across both reading and math testing outcomes. Chronic absenteeism not only has a damaging effect on those individuals missing excessive school days but also has the potential to reduce outcomes for others in the same educational setting.”

Reasons for chronic absenteeism may include unreliable transportation, child care, health and dental practices, housing displacement and food insecurity.  Most of these are barriers that can be overcome by families when given assistance from local agencies and nonprofit organizations in Del Norte.  If you know of a family in need of services, let your school know and direct them to www.connectdelnorte.org for the resources in our community.

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