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Last fall, Spring Lake Park Schools partnered with InClass Today, an organization that has proven success in reducing chronic absenteeism in other school districts across the country. Last year, our partnership with InClass Today resulted in an increase of approximately 1000 days of student attendance.

We worked with InClass Today to develop a process to identify and communicate with families of students who are chronically absent from school. Feedback from parents also helped to refine the process.

Students in grades 6-12 who have missed school – either excused or unexcused – for more than five percent of school days since the start of the school year will receive an absence report in the mail. The next round of reports will be sent beginning Friday, November 29.

The following are the dates reports will be sent for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year:

• Friday, November 29
• Friday, January 10, 2020
• Friday, March 13, 2020
• Friday, April 10, 2020
• Friday, May 8, 2020

Research by Johns Hopkins University and The University of Chicago has found that chronic absenteeism – missing more than five percent of school days – significantly impacts a student’s academic success.

The purpose of the absence reports is to help parents and guardians keep track of their student’s absences, and help their student stay motivated to reduce future absences. The reports also help to emphasize the importance of attending school on a regular basis. The use of these regular absence reports can significantly reduce student absenteeism. The report is designed to be easy to read by all families.

If you would like to check your child’s attendance at any time, you can do so by logging into Campus Parent Portal. If you have any questions about your child’s school attendance, feel free to contact your child’s principal.