CHS Report
Principalś Report
Carrabec High School
December 4, 2024
I would like to begin this report with a couple of invitations. Ms Taylor and her troupe will present their musical rendition of a Christmas Carol on Thursday December 5th at 6:30 PM and again on Saturday December 7th at 2:30 PM. On December 17th Ms. Taylorś students have their Winter Concert at 6:30 PM.
This is the time of year in schools when academics are in high gear. Teachers have completed review and are now addressing the essential standards for which they are responsible. In addition to making a push for academic achievement the teachers are actively planning some fun events for the students. Some teachers have planned a half day of fun activities for the day before Christmas break. The Class Deans are in the process of planning a winter carnival for the week after February break. Guidance has arranged for students to visit Bowdoin, Bates, Colby and Thomas. Mrs. Marcouxś JMG classes have been participating with other schools in the Santaś Helper program, a community support activity.
I would focus this month on what is being done to address the number of students that are tending towards being chronically absent. As a reminder, a student is chronically absent if they miss more than 10 % of the days that school is in session. One of the school goals for 24-25 is to reduce the number of students that are chronically absent down to 30 % from 41%. This is an important goal as it is part of a plan to address the Tier 1 status that we were designated last year.
The first action step that was taken was the formation of an attendance committee. All staff members were invited to join the committee. Currently we have four standing members including myself. Christina Turner, guidance director, volunteered to be the attendance coordinator. The committee and coordinator are required by the Department of Education.
Our second action step was to contact parents of students that were not attending school (truant). We reached out by phone and by registered mail to those parents. We focused upon informing those parents of alternative pathways for their child to get an education. We even provided a withdrawal form to those parents that wanted one.
Another step we employed to reach our goal involves Christina contacting all parents of students trending towards being chronically absent. In addition, I have been meeting with the students to discuss the relationship between achievement and attendance. I have also encouraged teachers to do the same with students and parents. The next step in parent communication will have me calling parents to explain their responsibility regarding their child attending school. I will also be informing them of what the State requires the school to do in the event that students are overly absent. I will let them know that it could include state agencies that are responsible for childrenś welfare.
Multiple teachers have identified improving student attendance as their goal as part of the evaluation process. Most of these students are focusing upon student engagement strategies. The concept is engaged students are more likely to enjoy the class thus they will have a tendency to attend more.
Christina and I have participated in multiple Webinars on addressing chronic absenteeism. The nugget we got from the webinar sponsored by the Department of Education was that each school needed to examine their coding system to ensure accurate reporting. As it turned out we found a couple of students that were in attendance for more than a half day were being reported as absent. As a result we are now looking in detail at anyone who was present part of the day. We also learned that homeless students are not to be counted in the truant or chronically absent totals. That of course does not mean that we will not work to improve their attendance.
I would like to conclude this report by stating that chronic absenteeism is not just a problem here at CHS. High Schools in Maine and across the nation have seen a high increase in absenteeism since the outbreak of Covid in 2019.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Campbell Principal