Supporting Student Attendance at Franklin High School

We thank Joey Jonas, Associate Principal, Franklin High School, for contributing this article and presenting at this year's Associate Principals' Convention on this topic.

There is no doubt student attendance is a focus in many schools and districts given the barriers that exist to attending. At Franklin High School, we have leveraged student voice and data to determine key actions to combat absenteeism.  We see the power of the full team and needing to approach attendance with a menu of supports and strategies when working with each student, which has led to our strategic approach seeing a positive impact. 

Through intentional review and use of our student engagement data, we are able to see trends around student perceptions towards school. In leveraging student focus groups, class time, and one-on-one connections to learn what students value about school and what they are missing when they do not attend, we are able to align key adult actions that will positively impact attendance. Our admin and student services team engages in root cause work to determine focus areas around absenteeism, one of which is mental health, and has spent the past two years gathering resources around supporting students in this area. 

The impact on student attendance can start right as a student enters our building.  Our teaching staff are intentional about how class starts and ends to ensure that student’s social and emotional needs are met and they can believe that every classroom is a space they belong. All staff act as advisors in which they travel with a grade level cohort that deepens understanding of each student’s needs and assists them in building connections with other students each week. 

Those key actions anchor on a belief that building a sense of belonging and a welcoming school will support attendance at high levels. We are all in for all kids in many ways. 

Our universal actions do not always have the impact needed for some students who face unique barriers when attending school, so there must be strategic interventions used to support specific students. Check and Connect is a research based tier 2 and 3 intervention to support student attendance, behavior, and academic progress. Through weekly check-ins with a trained mentor, our Check and Connect mentees are intentional about setting goals and taking the actions to reach them with the support of their trusted adult.  Our commitment to this intervention has increased our school’s capacity to that of 50+ mentors. With many staff members using strategies to support students individually, grades and extracurricular access have grown in addition to positive attendance outcomes.

At Franklin High School, we valued the partnership we form with families in supporting student attendance.  Strategies that have seen the most impact have been in-person meetings involving a student, their family, administration, counselor and social worker.  These meetings are not only used to root cause the attendance concern for that particular student, but also identify key next steps and who owns those steps in order to know we are all working together. Each meeting is an opportunity to share community resources with students and their family. The resources include access to counseling at a reduced or no cost to the family. Home visits in the summer and at mid-year for students who are habitually truant are another way to make a personal connection to the student and family to provide support and encouragement for attendance.

If you are interested in learning more about these practices and specific steps that we have taken, consider attending the AWSA Associate Principals Conference in January in Elkhart Lake as the AP team from FHS will be presenting on this topic. Thank you to all of you for reading and supporting students all across the state of Wisconsin!