WOODBURY — At the beginning of class, teachers read down the list of attendance. Accustomed to sparse responses, teachers’ expectations are low.
Fortunately, this school year Nonnewaug’s absentee rates have taken a turn for the better. Students are more on time to class, hallways are bustling with students, and the charts show Nonnewaug’s attendance is rising higher.
“So far we are doing a lot better as a school than we did last year,” said assistant principal Declan Curtin. “We are aiming for our absenteeism rate to be under 10%. That is the goal we are trying towards this year, but if we don’t, then we are definitely aiming for it in the future. We do understand students with medical needs and other situations, and we are compassionate to those situations, but other than that we expect good attendance from our students.”
This change in attendance has not necessarily come easy; Nonnewaug has made an effort towards its absentee improvement. Administration has introduced new incentives to encourage students to show up to school.
“We have added an incentive this year,” said Curtin. “We randomly draw two winners [of gift cards] every single week for people who have perfect attendance. We believe in honoring our students who are doing the right thing. This is going to continue each week of the school year.”
Being present is the first step towards success at school. Being rewarded for it makes it even more exciting for students.
“Every time they announce the winners, I really hope it’s me,” said senior Haley Sarandrea. “I have had a lot of absences in the beginning of this year. Administration was worried about me graduating due to my chronic absenteeism, but I have been trying harder to be at school. The excitement of the gift card raffle makes me try even harder.”
Having good attendance has been ingrained into Curtin’s lifestyle since a very young age. With his outstanding record of perfect attendance, he has high expectations for all of his students.
“I was an individual with perfect attendance growing up because my parents encouraged me to go to school no matter what,” Curtin said. “As a kid, my parents have always engraved into me how important it is to show up to school.”
The biggest reward for perfect attendance is the benefit students gain by being present in their classes.
“Last year I had a ton of absences; they even talked about holding me back,” said junior Connor Evans. “This year I’ve been actually trying to go to school more and miss a lot less class.”
Along with trying to decrease the number of student absences, Nonnewaug has also been working hard to stop the surplus of tardies each day.
“I have an absurd amount of tardies, a total of around 40,” said senior Jon Eschmann. “Now that we have the new lunch detention rule, I try a little harder to get to class on time, [but] it’s just too hard.”
While it might take more effort to show up to school, it builds the Nonnewaug community and increases students skills and knowledge.
“I grew up knowing that showing up matters,” said Curtin. “You just need to show up. Someone who takes their attendance seriously does say a lot about that person. I look at going to school as your job, and you need to do the best that you can at it. We are here to help kids improve their attendance and miss less instruction. Skills build up on skills, and it is imperative that everybody is here to do so.”
