Attendance high in Five Towns schools

Eighty percent of success in life is just showing up, Woody Allen once said, and nowhere is that more true than in school. Statistics show that when children have an attendance rate of 90 percent or higher, their chances of academic success are greater.

According to Attendance Works, a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce chronic absenteeism and promote student success, students who miss two days in September are likely to miss nearly a month of school days over the course of the year. Poor attendance can influence whether children capably read by the end of third grade. Chronic sixth-grade absenteeism is a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school, and those with attendance rates lower than 90 percent are more likely to have lower test scores and not graduate from high school.

The New York State Education Department defines chronic absenteeism as missing at least 10 percent, or 18 days, of the typical 180-day school calendar. After a four-year audit from April 1, 2014, to April 24, 2018, the department encouraged school administrators to track student absenteeism and to develop strategies to increase student engagement and reduce chronic absences.

In the Five Towns, the two public school districts, Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence, and three private schools run by the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach — HALB, for first- to eighth-graders, and two high schools, Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva for Boys and Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls — report high attendance rates.

Lawrence Superintendent Dr. Ann Pedersen said that the district aims for 95 percent attendance rates for students at every school, from primary through high school. “We absolutely believe the research that speaks to attendance and success,” Pedersen said. Experts “say attendance in eighth grade is a better predictor of high school success than grades. With that in mind, we offer incentives for attendance. Last year the middle school students earned tickets to a Nets game and a trip to Dave & Buster’s. The other schools offer incentives from honor rolls, breakfasts to redeemable ‘hero’ points.” Students can use the points to buy school apparel such as jackets and T-shirts.

Since the 2016-17 school year, Lawrence students have had a 90 percent or higher overall attendance rate, except for a dip to 89 percent at the high school last year. Overall, middle school students are doing the best, recording rates of 95, 95 and 93 percent over the past three years. Pedersen said that there was no clear explanation for the temporary drop at the high school.

“Our objective is to get parents and students to understand the relationship between attendance and success,” she said. “There remains an attendance rate that is not satisfactory in Lawrence.”

Richard Hagler, HALB’s executive director, said that in the past three years, attendance at all three schools has been in the high 90s. “If a student is out for more than one day, the family is contacted by the school to make sure all is OK,” he said. “We track the students’ attendance and take the matter seriously.”

Hewlett-Woodmere officials said that the districtwide attendance rate for 2015-16 through 2017-18 was 96 percent. (The numbers for 2018-19 were not available.) The district consists of the Franklin Early Childhood Center, Hewlett and Ogden elementary schools, Woodmere Middle School and Hewlett High School.

“The district’s investment in social workers at each building, coupled with staff dedicated to attendance at Hewlett High School, allow us to monitor and intervene effectively when necessary,” said Deputy Superintendent Mark Secaur.

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