Attendance counts?

Since the pandemic there has been a very alarming trend of permissiveness: that of the tardy or absent student. In previous years students who were constantly tardy to school could face grade retention, privilege revocation, or even being denied graduation. However, as we entered a post-COVID world the policies around schooling and attendance have changed with the times. School districts around the country have taken the initiative to implement a “no fail” policy, making it so students cannot earn anything less than 50%, therefore making it so students have to do very little to be moved along in grades. If there is no incentive for students to show up at school, what can schools do to entice students back into the classroom?

One of the many approaches that can be done is to create a social media presence for the school in order to engage the students where they spend the majority of their time, on social media. These means of communication can be used to entice students back on campus communicating events, school promotions for being in class on time, and other incentives that students can win by being in class. On the flip side, social media can also be used to communicate with parents when students are late to class, miss a class period, or don’t show up to school at all. These notifications can be integrated into popular student learning management systems (LMS) that double as social media platforms for the students, parents, and staff within the school. Software such as ClassDojo, Schoology, or Blackboard can be integrated to send parents personalized messages when their students are not in class. By syncing the reports from attendance offices to an automated message system that notifies parents when their student is absent, we can take a step toward combating student apathy regarding attendance. Through the identification of the main social media application that the student body utilizes, schools can target and reach their intended audience while acting as a spearhead program to other schools that may be facing a similar problem.

While these approaches are the beginning of creating channels of communication between schools and students, the real challenge is effectively managing them to maximize their potential. That’s where MendEd Solutions comes in; with over 5 years of public school experience, MendEd marketing specialists can tailor a program to your school’s needs and you can watch your student, parent, and staff engagement grow and be one step closer to reaching your goals.