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Tulsa parents encouraged to help “stop the holiday drop” in school attendance
TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa Public Schools is calling on parents and families to “stop the holiday drop” in student attendance and to make sure that children are in class on time every day. The district is also reminding parents that classes continue through Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, with the winter break beginning on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. Classes will resume on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018.
Executive Director for Student and Family Support Services Ebony Johnson said: “Our students are learning right up until the start of the break, so missing days may set your child back when they return in January. School is still in session until dismissal on Wednesday, Dec. 20. Your child’s teachers have great lessons planned, and we look forward to helping your child learn right up through that final bell!”
The district recently reported findings from their data and analytics team that show an increase in chronic absenteeism and decrease in attendance on Fridays, near holidays, and on the last day of the school year. The likelihood that a student will drop out more than doubles for every year that a student misses more than ten percent of the school year.
“We know that attendance is the number one predictor of whether a child will drop out of school. Every day counts, and if your child is missing two or more days of school each month, he or she may be chronically absent.”
Tulsa Public Schools has launched a district-wide text messaging system to send parents alerts and updates on their child’s attendance. Parents can use their child’s student identification number to sign up for these text alerts at www.tulsaschools.org/attendance. Parents can also sign up by texting “@attendance” to 39242.
“We want to make sure our parents have an easy way to get information about their child’s attendance, and we encourage families to take advantage of this opportunity to help keep their children on track to success,” said Johnson.