More and more, teachers and administrators are realizing the importance of regular attendance for students to learn and succeed. When students miss school for common reasons such as illness, family trips, bad weather, or appointments, learning–and grades–can suffer, and sometimes, never recover.
One major way missed school days affect students is by causing them to fall behind in class. At FCHS, teachers carefully plan lessons so that each day builds on the previous one. For example, in Algebra, students may learn a new step each day to solve a problem. If a student misses one of those steps, the next lesson may be confusing. The same thing can happen in reading and writing classes. Missing practice time makes it harder for students to strengthen their skills.
“It’s a lot of information to cover in classes, but we all need to take one day at a time,” said FCHS teacher Mandy Hoy.
When students are absent, they also miss important class discussions and group activities. These experiences matter because students learn by sharing ideas and listening to others. Even if they complete the assignments later, they still miss the valuable experience of learning alongside their classmates.
Recent weather closures due to snow and ice caused an unusual amount of lost learning time at FCHS this school year. Between December and February, students lost 11 school days (although two were remote learning days), as well as half a dozen or more two-three-hour delays due to weather. When this happens, everyone loses valuable learning time. Teachers may have to move more quickly through lessons to stay on schedule, which can make it harder for some students to fully understand the material.
Another challenge for students is catching up after being absent. While teachers do their best to help students, they must also continue teaching the rest of the class. As a result, students who miss several days may feel overwhelmed when they return because they have new work in addition to missing work to complete.
“It took a while to get them back on track and on a schedule after this semester’s snow days,” Hoy said.
With the end of the 3rd quarter on March 11, and Grade 11 SOLs and Grade 8 IRW tests on March 17-18, many students and staff will need to put an extra push on over the next two weeks of school.
