We were excited to review attendance data from the first quarter of this year to discover the significant decrease in chronic absences when comparing to this time last year.
For our purposes, chronic absence is any student who has 10 or more unexcused absences in a semester. So, in viewing reports, students who have already missed 5+ days in a quarter would be in threat of being chronically absent by the end of the semester.
At the end of 1st quarter last year, we had 35 of our 307 (11.4%) students with at least 5 absences. At quarter's end this year, we only had 11 of 277 (4%) students with as many absences. Further, students with 10+ absences in a quarter were cut in half compared to last year (2021 had 10, 2022 only had 5).
For years, we have shared with students that the #1 variable in determining whether they can attain a high school diploma with career or college readiness is attendance. A student who attends school regularly is far more likely to successfully complete high school and to have more opportunities after graduation.
We want to thank all of the families and students of CHS for supporting our goal to decrease chronic absences and to value educational opportunities offered by our school!