Sean C. Morgan
So, what does it take to get a 13-year-old out of bed and off to school – every stinking morning?
Whatever it is, Sweet Home Junior High has apparently gotten a handle on it.
The Junior High won its first-ever Sweet Home School District Golden Shoe award last week for having the highest attendance among district schools in January.
Sweet Home Junior High’s attendance rate for January was 92.97 percent, ahead of Foster at 92.69 percent and Hawthorne at 92.65 percent.
The high school had an attendance rate of 86.45 percent in January.
The Golden Shoe is presented each month during the regular School Board meeting to the school with the highest attendance rate. The district began presenting the award in the 2015-16 school year. The shoe is an old shoe belonging to the superintendent. It is mounted on a pedestal and painted gold.
This is the first time that the Sweet Home Junior High has received the award. Previously, it had gone only to elementary schools, primarily Holley and Hawthorne in the past couple of years. Foster Elementary School won it for the first time in January for December’s attendance rate.
Attendance rates at the junior high and high school typically lag behind the elementary schools, and officials suggested varying reasons for that. .
“I think the attitude starting at this age level is that school’s harder,” said Colleen Henry, SHJH principal.
“In my experience, high school kids take on more independent responsibility about getting themselves to and from school,” said Supt. Tom Yahraes, which means they’re “sometimes lacking the direct parental oversight.”
That level of responsibility begins changing at the junior high level, he said, while there is “more oversight in elementary schools” for student transportation to school.
“The junior high has done a fantastic job of defying that statistical norm,” Yahraes said. “The teachers have worked hard to make their school welcoming, the teaching engaging, reaching out to struggling students more and reducing barriers that they may have in coming to school or being prepared and confident. I’m absolutely proud of them. It’s a huge achievement, and it has the attention of the high school.”
“We’re still not happy with that,” Henry said, adding that her school’s attendance goal is the 95-percent mark.
“We look at it every time we meet,” she said. It’s a schoolwide effort involving the leadership team, teachers, classified and administration. “We’re looking for ways to get students here and keep parents in the loop.”
To that end, “we look at what’s the root cause,” she said. Everyone involved in the effort is asked to think outside the box.
A teacher came up with the idea of an “attendance buddy,” Henry said. That’s in full swing now. When students don’t show up, their buddies call them.
Henry also operates what she calls “Sweet Home Uber.” She gives her business cards to families. When students miss the bus, they can call her. She’ll personally go pick them up.
When families have challenges at home, the district will try to help them address the problems, she said.
Sweet Home Junior High also works with the Education Service District to figure out what issues students may be facing, Henry said. That helps the staff build a relationship with students and their families.
The school picked up on the high school’s tardy sweeps, Henry said, with teachers checking the halls during class to make sure everyone is in class.
When students with attendance problems make it to school, the staff will set up “attendance selfies” to be sent home to parents.
“We bring them in, and we praise them,” Henry said. “And we do really silly stuff. We want to
celebrate the small stuff.”
Students can win student of the month, she said, and Tiger Pride promotes attendance.
Winning the Golden Shoe is a big deal, Henry said, and she promised the trophy will make the rounds at the school. It will appear in the classes. Students with perfect attendance will get to hang onto the shoe for a day.
It may seem like a small problem, getting up and going to school, Henry said, but when it’s because of an ingrained habit, changing it is a big deal.
Since the beginning of the year, Sweet Home Junior High has seen 14 students move out of the truant category – those students who attend school less than 80 percent of the time, Henry said. She noted that 10 percent of the students at the school have perfect attendance so far this year.
“We want to send the message, when you’re not here, you miss a lot,” Henry said. Miss a day, that’s seven classes. Miss two, that’s 14 classes.