PINELLAS COUNTY — Pinellas County Schools, in collaboration with the Juvenile Welfare Board and other community groups, is continuing its campaign to stress the importance of students showing up to school, on time, each day.
Here are a few facts to help parents learn more and understand the importance of regular attendance:
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Starting in kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school. Missing 10 percent (or about 18 days) can make it harder to learn to read and can drastically affect a student’s academic success.
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Students can still fall behind if they miss just a day or two days every few weeks.
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Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
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Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves. Start building this habit in preschool, so they learn right away that going to school on time every day is important. Good attendance will help children do well in high school, college, and at work.
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Students should miss no more than nine days of school each year to stay engaged, successful and on track to graduation.
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Absences can be a sign that a student is losing interest in school, struggling with school work, dealing with a bully or facing some other potentially serious difficulty.
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By sixth grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school.
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By ninth grade, regular and high attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than eighth-grade test scores.
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Attendance is an important life skill that will help your child graduate from college and keep a job.
