Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools Nov/Dec 2017 | Page 7

Forest Hills High students “Get Schooled” in national attendance challenge
Union County’s public schools take attendance
seriously.
School administrators across UCPS know that
attendance is a key strategy to ensuring students are
on-track to learn and succeed. But sometimes, a variety
of factors -- that range from a lack of motivation to
missing the bus to working jobs to support their families --
influence a student’s ability to attend school regularly.
That’s why as UCPS schools across the county explore
ways to encourage student attendance during Attendance
Awareness Month, Forest Hills High (FHHS) is ramping up
its own year-long student attendance campaign. By the
end of this school year, FHHS hopes to raise its average
attendance rate from 92 to 95 percent.
“Our goal is a 95 percent attendance rate and we
push that every single day,” said FHHS Assistant Principal
Adrien Porter, adding that the school now displays daily
attendance rate on an “attendance wall” outside of the
school’s cafeteria. “Once we hit 95 percent, we’re going
to have a free period for our students where they can go
outside to the stadium and gym and have a field day. We
want to promote the positive behavior that we want.”
To assist with the school wide focus on attendance,
Adrien said FHHS recently signed up to participate in this
year’s Get Schooled challenge, a national competition
that pits similar schools against each other in a challenge
Forest Hills High is ramping up its own year-long student attendance
designed to increase school attendance rates and inspire
campaign, with a goal of raising its average attendance rate from 92 to 95%
students to set goals for the future.
From Oct. 2 until the Dec. 15 deadline, FHHS students
will complete attendance badges and accumulate as many points
as they can for their school. What’s great about the competition,
Adrien added, is that students are also able to participate in
challenges that help them prepare for college and life after high
school.
“The Get Schooled attendance challenge is supplemental to
our attendance challenge and it’s something that the students
enjoy doing,” Adrien said. “The challenge includes a lot of
meaningful activities that deal with how to budget your money,
how to prepare for college, the importance of education and GPAs
and more.”
Schools who have 30 percent of their students complete
the attendance badge will receive a $500 grant. The first place
winner will receive a $3,000 grant and the second and third place
winners will receive $1,000 each.
Ultimately, Adrien said the Get Schooled challenge is just one
piece of their school wide efforts to show students the importance
of school attendance. Once FHHS reaches its 95 percent
attendance rate goal, they will continue to raise it because they
know student attendance is tied to future success.
“Our teachers, faculty and staff a re going to give you the tools
to be successful,” he said. “And it’s proven that people who come
to school every day are going to be successful in the end. So we
want our students to know that they have a support system here,
and to know that we’re here to support and do all that we can for
them.”
—This article was provided by the Union County Public
Schools Communications Office.
Parent Teacher Magazine • Nov/Dec 2017 • 5