Goals for the Attendance Plan

1. A school's response for this section should be in SMART format for improving attendance for each category reported in the data tables.
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic/Rewarding
• Timely
2. Address early grades at your school level (K & 1, 6th Grade, 9th Grade). Analyze school-wide data to determine needs at grade levels and times of year when challenges occur more often.

School attendance data are provided reporting percent of students with satisfactory attendance, at-risk attendance, chronic absenteeism, and severe chronic absenteeism. The two-year trend allows for comparison of attendance over time and an indication of how strategies implemented to improve attendance are working.

Below compares the 2016-17 and 2017-18 percentage of chronic and severe chronic attendance during the 2nd semester:
 2016/17 CHRONIC/SEVERE                         2017/18 CHRONIC/SEVERE
KG        15% (12)/     10% (8)                         18% (11) /     13% (8)     KG (Increased by 3% in Chronic and increased 3% in Severe Chronic)
1st         25% (21)/      5% (4)                         12% (8) /       3%(2)        1st (Decreased by 13% in Chronic and decreased by 2% in Severe Chronic) 
2nd       19% (13)/      3% (2)                          12% (9) /       1%(1)         2nd (Decreased by 7% in Chronic and decreased by 2% in Severe Chronic)
3rd         8%(8)/           3% (3)                          11%(8) /        4%(3)        3rd (Increased by 3% in Chronic and Increased by 1% in Severe Chronic) 
4th         8% (9)/          4% (4)                           3%(2)/          3%(2)        4th (Decreased by 5% in Chronic and decreased by 1% in Severe Chronic)
5th        13% (12)/      7% (6)                           12%(12) /      3%(3)        5th (Decreased by 1% in Chronic and decreased by 4% in Severe Chronic)

The purpose of the Attendance Plan is to decrease the amount of chronically absent students in all grades levels but especially in Kindergarten where 18.33% of students have been identified as Chronic Absenteeism which indicates that they have been absent 10% or more days in the school year.  12.00 of second and 12.37% of fifth grade are also identified as Chronic Absenteeism students. 

To encourage our families to exhibit on time atttendance behavior we will have weekly robocalls to students with excessive tardies and absences. Familes of students with excessive attendance issues will be called in to meet with administration and discuss barriers with on-time attendance.
To encourage on time attendance in grades K-2 where we will focus, students will be awarded Bethune Bux.  In kindergarten we have shown an increase of 3% in severe chronic absences.  Although we had a 7% decrease in 2nd grade of chronic absences these students who are now in 3rd grade will also be identified and participate in this incentive.  For perfect attendance for each quarter, all identified students will receive a Bethune Bux.  These Bux are used as incentives for students to receive extrinsic rewards highlighted by student feedback from class/grade level surveys which include extra choice time, pizza with the principal, extra center time, and so on. 

Tier 1 Strategies for Attendance

Tier 1 Strategies for Attendance - Address all five core ingredients. Tier 1 is aimed at 100% of students, parents, school staff, and community stakeholders. This is where you cast a wide net. Strategies are general to reach the largest audiences and include all employees and stakeholders.

Tiered plans will include strategies and interventions for the 5 core ingredients.

• Monitor Data
• Engage Students and Families
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Provide Personalized Outreach
• Remove Barriers

We believe that a school climate where students, parents and other school stakeholders feel welcomed, safe and valued is the foundation for improving attendance.  We will continue to create an engaging and positive relationship between students and families.  Through our family nights and monthly SAC/SAF/PTO meetings school stakeholders partictipate on hands on learning and teaching at home strategies.  We welcom feedback from participants using or exit tickets/surveys.  Parents receive "Caught Doing Good" tickets at these events.  These slips are entered in a drawing for prizes.  This is our way of celebrating parents and our community members.  

The strategies that have been put into place to aim at improving attendance are the following:
-We will make certain that our Attendance Line phone number is easily accessible on our school website and disseminate this information to parents and community.
-Our front office clerks will serve as the Attendance Managers and will assist in monitoring patterns of non-attendance of students.
-Our leadership team will regularly review attendance data quarterly.
-Tier 1 students are those whose attendance have been maintained.  All tier 1 students will be identified and rewarded on a quarterly basis during honor's assemblies.  Our school counselor and leadership team will celebrate students with an invitation to breakfast with parents.
-Teachers will receive training on how to take attendance accurately and timely and how to effectively communicate the importance of school attendance during conferencing.

Tier 2 Strategies and Interventions to Improve Attendance

Tier 2 Strategies and Interventions to Improve Attendance - Address all five core ingredients. Tier 2 identifies students using early warning indicators to make connections with students and families at the onset of the school year or emergence of patterns of non-attendance. Early warning indicators include prior year chronic absenteeism, 3 or more absences in the first 4 weeks of enrollment, more than 10% of school days absent in any time period from the beginning of enrollment.

- Tier 2 represents between 10-20% of students at all schools in Broward County. This is true at individual schools and across the District.

- Chronic Absenteeism: Absent for 10% or more school days. These absences include excused, unexcused, and suspensions as days of instruction missed.

Tiered plans will include strategies and interventions for the 5 core ingredients.

• Monitor Data
• Engage Students and Families
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Provide Personalized Outreach
• Remove Barriers

We will continue to focus on developing positive messages for students and families by offering mentors and counseling to improve student attendance.  
Action Steps:
-Reveiw non-attending report of attendance every week with the leadership team and include this process as part of RTI.
-Identify students missing 10% or more of school with a past history of monderate chronic absence.  
-Look for qualitative data to find out the root causes of absences.  
-Determine whether students need an appropriate Tier 3 intervention.
-We will provide information to these families about support from the Student Services Department (Social Worker and HEART).
-Strategies for Students/Families 
1) Parents will be presented with the Did You Know Facts on why chronic absenteeims matters.  We will include these facts in our monthly newletters for families.
2)  Parents of chronic absent students will be identified and provided with resources from the US Department of Education's Family  Community Engagement Webpage for information and the US Department of Education to provide links and resources to support parents and families to encourage their children to attend and succeed in school every day.

Tier 3 Interventions

Tier 3 Interventions - Address all five core ingredients. Tier 3 is the highest level of intervention and support for students that are absent 20% or more school days during the year.

- At most schools, Tier 3 interventions are utilized for about 5% (or less) of the student population.

Tiered plans will include strategies and interventions for the 5 core ingredients.

• Monitor Data
• Engage Students and Families
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Provide Personalized Outreach
• Remove Barriers

1- Identify chronic and severe chronic absent students
2- Review these students' attendance daily and Follow Up on each absence for each student identified in Tier 3
2- Develop positive relationship with parents & Commiunicate daily attendance expectations to the students, parents and community.  We will send Parent Links every Friday to encourage student attendance.
4- Provide personal contact or automated calls to parents/guardians when students are absent & Update parent/guardian contact information on a regular basis
6- On the 3rd day of absence, the classroom teachers will identify students who are consecutively absent and inform our school social worker.
7- After the 5th day, a social worker referral will be generated from DWH by the school guidance counselor.
8- On the 10th day, a mandatory parent meeting will be required with the assistant principal and guidance counselor. 
9- Our school leadership team will monitor attendance data quarterly & require teachers to print attendance quarterly.  This information will be used during data chats.
10- We will ensure these students are connected with positive support systems such as BTIP.
11- Magnet students who are identified as having severe chronic absences will be required to meet with school administrative team.