ATTENDANCE PLAN - Infinite Campus

Mt. Washington Elementary School2012/2013 ATTENDANCE PLANAttendance Data AnalysisOur Attendance Data shows MT. Washington Elementary had an overall attendance rateof ___96.82____for the 10/11 school year. In 2011/2012 that yearly percentage increasedto_____97.02____. Last school year we had an attendance goal of 97%. That school wide goalwas communicated with staff, students and parents frequently throughout the year and updateson our average attendance were given in newsletters and announced at school wide assembliesmonthly.One continuing attendance issue identified at MWES is that families sometime will takefamily vacations during school session days. They also frequently take the day before/afterholidays and breaks. The 2012/2013 plan differs from the previous plan by placing more of anemphasis on educating parents. That intentional emphasis on parent education will be the criticalkey for us to reach our goal of 97.5%. Information on student attendance and how it is correlatedto student achievement will be sent via parent newsletter and included on our web page routinelythroughout the year.An overview of our attendance plan will be discussed at our opening day faculty meetingon August 7, 2012. On August 8, 2012 teachers will explain the various attendance incentives tostudents on the first day of school. Our Opening Day Pow Wow will also highlight our2012/2013 attendance goal for MWES. Parents will be introduced to the 2012/2013 attendancegoal at our Back to School Open Houses. Parents can also view our attendance plan through theMWES website, and attendance policies are included in the student handbook.The effectiveness of this plan will be reviewed and evaluated monthly duringadministrative meetings, where current attendance data will be analyzed to determine anyrevisions or changes that need to be made.Developing Good Attendance Habits• Special Events and awards are offered throughout the school year.o MWES students and staff participate in the September Statewide High AttendanceDay. MWES PTA will provide an incentive for individual students who arepresent on that day.o Students maintaining year long perfect attendance are recognized during AwardsDay with a certificate.o Individual teachers offer attendance incentives within their classrooms.o The Guidance Counselor will coordinate our school wide themed display: Classsymbols are hung on the cafeteria walls daily when individual classes have 100%attendance. One Primary and one intermediate class with the most perfectattendance days each month will receive a theme related award to keep in theirroom and carry when traveling in the hallway.o During monthly assemblies, one primary and one intermediate student arerecognized as “Principal Pals” for being perfect attendance leaders.o Each week I will include a section in my school newsletter highlightingattendance information.• MWES faculty and staff make students aware that school attendance is important and thatthey are an important member of the classroom community.o Students who had poor attendance during the previous year have been identifiedand will meet as a group with the FRC Coordinator to discuss why goodattendance is important. The coordinator will also serve as a mentor to encouragethese students to come to school.

o Teachers will speak with individual students upon return and state that studentwas missed. Teachers will explain to students that they miss out educationallywhen they are absent.o Students absent from school will receive a phone call from the attendance clerkinquiring about the student’s absence.o Identified attendance concerns will receive a positive post card from principalweekly to help maintain attendance improvements.Interventions Used With Excessive Absences• MWES keeps track of absences and tardies and the attendance clerk submits a report toCentral Office at the appropriate time according to attendance policy.o Teachers record attendance through Infinite Campus.o All absences and tardies require an excuse note.• After the sixth excused absence with a note from the parent, official notes (doctor,dentist, judge, etc.) will be required for excused absence. Families of persistent and atriskstudents will be referred to the principal for follow-up conferences. The principalmay refer families to the Family Resource Coordinator or the District HealthCoordinator for consultation to determine whether the FRC services may alleviatebarriers that are contributing to the student’s truancy.• When a student has two (2) unexcused absences, parents/guardians shall receive apersonal, direct, and documented contact by the FRC Coordinator. The coordinator willmake notation in Infinite Campus that contact has been made.• In response to three (3) unexcused absences, parent/guardians shall receive formalnotification in the form of a letter from the school of the student’s status as being truantas defined by Kentucky Revised Statue.• In response to four (4) unexcused absences, an administrative/parent phone conferenceshall be conducted by the principal, to address the nature of the absences/truancy. Theprincipal will make a notation in IC that contact has been made.Referral Process• In response to the sixth (6) unexcused absences, the principal or principal’s designee shallmake a referral to the DPP who shall notify the parent/guardian of the student’s status asa habitual truant with a final notice.

2012/2013 School Attendance Improvement PlanSchool Name:Mt. Washington ElementaryName and Title of Persons Completing Attendance Improvement Plan:Terri W. Lewis Principal, Mt. Washington Elementary; Jill Druien, Attendance Clerk; JaceySmother, FRYSCATTENDANCE GOAL FOR THE 2012-2013 SCHOOL YEAR ____97.5%____1. Please provide a brief narrative that evaluates your school attendance datafor 2010-20122 and 2011-2012.Our data shows that during the 2010/2011 school year our yearly attendance % was 96.82%.During the 2011/2012 school year we had an attendance rate of 97.02 which met our schoolgoal of 97%. We feel the increase was due to a communication plan aimed at parent education.2. What attendance issues have you have identified and how will your schoolplan address them?One issue we have at MWES is that families sometime will take family vacations during schoolsession days. They also frequently take the day before/after holidays and breaks. We feel anintentional emphasis should be placed on educating parents about the correlation betweenschool attendance and student achievement.Excessive tardies are another concern that MWES has. Parents do not understand that tardiesare cumulative and ultimately affect total days attendance. Even though student attendance isaddressed in the student handbook, we feel that a separate attendance sheet along with aParent Pledge for Student Attendance be sent home during the first week of school. The Pledgewill be signed by both students and parents to say that they will partner with us to make schoolattendance a priority.3. How does this plan differ from last year’s plan?Including an intentional emphasis on parent education will be critical for us to reach our goal of97.5%. Information on student attendance and how it is correlated to student achievement willbe routinely sent via parent newsletter and included on web page throughout the year.Also the creation of a Parent/Student Pledge for Attendance is another addition.4. Who is your school social worker and what is their role in your SchoolAttendance Improvement Plan?Our school social worker is Linda Nason. She will be utilized on a consultation basis when and ifintervention is needed. Our FRYC coordinator, Jacey Smothers, was a crucial part of our

attendance plan last year and will again assist us in achieving our goal.5. Who does a parent contact, at your school, when they have questions orconcerns regarding their child’s attendance?Our attendance clerk, Jill Druien6. Who does a student contact, at your school, when they have questions orconcerns regarding attendance?Our attendance clerk, Jill Druien7. How you are going to communicate your plan to staff, students and parents?Staff: Opening Day Faculty Meeting 8/7/12Students: Opening Day student assembly, classroom newslettersParents: Parent newsletters, web page, Back to School Open House8. What information do you have on your school website regardingattendance? Cut and paste the information below or print and attach it to thisdocument.There is a link for parents to view our Attendance Plan. I will begin including a weekly sectionon attendance on my school newsletter.9. What information do you have in your teacher handbook regardingattendance? Cut and paste the information below or print and attach it to thisdocument.Students: Good attendance should be encouraged by all teachers in addition to theattendance incentives created by the School Climate. Each teacher is required to post studentattendance using Infinite Campus by 9:30.Parents wanting to check students out during the day must come to the office to signthem out. Students should not be released from the classroom. Students will be called for fromthe office.Teacher: Student achievement is closely linked to teacher attendance. Please limit absencesas much as possible.

10. What is the date of the faculty meeting when you will review your school’sattendance plan and staff members’ roles in improving student attendance?Send a copy of the agenda and the sign-in sheet, to the Pupil PersonnelOffice, following the faculty meeting.Date: August 7, 2011ATTENDANCE11. Please copy and paste or attach a copy of your school attendance policy andprocedure, a copy of the pages of your student handbook that addressattendance and any school document available to students, staff or parentsthat discusses student attendance not already requested in items above...Our MWES Attendance cheer written by a primary student…..“Learning is fun! Learning is cool! So everydaybe at school!”Maximum achievement of a student’s potential can be obtained by a full participation in the total school program.Regular class attendance of all students is expected in order to achieve this goal.Absences from school occur for a variety of reasons. A note from the parent or guardian explaining the absence willbe expected after each absence upon the student’s return to school. When a child sees a doctor, a dentist, or goesto a funeral home, you will need to get a note from that office and send it to school when the child returns. We neednotes even if you call the school and notify us of the absence or sign your child in or out during the school day.Students must be in attendance at school for at least ½ of the regular school day in order to participate inevening school activities.BCPS policy implemented in 2005-06 requires excuse notes to be submitted no later than five school daysafter the absence. After this time frame, notes will not be accepted.Definitions of tardies and events:• Tardy: Any absence less than 60 minutes• Event: When a student is absent more than 60 minutes, the absence is considered an “event” and iscalculated based on the percentage of the day. For example: If a student misses 100 minutes of a 400minute school day, an “event” of 25% absence will be recorded for the student.After four unexcused absences, parents will be notified by the school of potential truancy concerns. After sixunexcused absences, a report will be filed with the Bullitt County Board of Education. Final determination concerningexcused or unexcused events will be made by the principal. The following are acceptable reasons for being absentfrom school, thus making the absence excusable:• Personal illness• Professional appointments which cannot be scheduled outside the regular school day• Death in the family• Court appearance required by subpoena or citation• Failure of school bus to run (This is still an absence, but will be excused.)• Serious illness in the family• Religious holidays and practices• One day for the Kentucky State Fair• Other reasons of an extraordinary nature approved by the principal or her designee. Absences for familyvacations will not be excused.** There is a limit of six parent notes each school year. All absences beyond those six days must have a note from ahealth care professional or other official documentation.Tardies: Students arriving after 9:00 a.m. and leaving before 3:35 p.m. will be marked tardy. Notes are needed withthe reason for the tardy so that we may determine if it will be excused or unexcused.

Checking Students Out Early: Students leaving school early must be signed out by their parent or otherresponsible adult designated by the parent in writing as having permission to check the student out of school. Weencourage parents not to check out students early unless it is an absolute necessity. Instruction takes place until3:35 each day.12. How you are going to assure good attendance the final days of the 2012-2013 school year?We will schedule Field Day, Awards Day and special class activities during the last few days ofschool.13. How you are going to evaluate the effectiveness of your plan?Frequent monitoring of monthly %., monthly meetings with FRYC and Attendance Clerk.14. Please share something that you do or something that is done at your schoolthat positively impacts your school attendance?• Involving our FRYC coordinator in the attendance plan was very effective. She met withour “Frequent Flyers” in a mentoring role and developed a personal relationship withthem. She also maintained close contact with parents.• We involved our students in reaching our attendance goal. Every month at the schoolwide assemblies we discussed attendance and reviewed our goal. Keeping it out frontwith the kids was helpful. Everyone knew that MWES’ attendance goal for the year was97.5%. It helped that all of us were working for the same goal. We also awarded 2 -$10 McDonald’s cards for 2 students randomly drawn who had perfect attendance.• We will work closely with the PTA to develop a partnership that will focus on studentattendance.