Sept. 6, 2024
Dear Woodland Families,
With three great weeks officially in the books now, thank you all for such a wonderful start to the school year across the district. Thank you for sending your child to school each day eager to learn and ready to grow. Thank you for being such caring partners in our students’ education. Nationally, September is Attendance Awareness Month. The theme this year is “Be Present, Be Powerful”, which mirrors some of the work we are doing here at Woodland to increase a sense of belonging among our students. Each and every Woodland student has the right to be seen and heard, to take advantage of all the great clubs, activities, academics, and opportunities Woodland has to offer, and to play a powerful role in the life of their school in any number of positive ways. But the only way to realize this power is through regular and consistent school attendance.
Absences add up. While we encourage you to keep your child home when they are ill, there are many other reasons children miss all or part of their school day. If we can increase awareness of the importance of attendance and work together with families to overcome obstacles to regular participation in school, we can make great strides. But that is only one piece of the puzzle. As a school district, it is also our responsibility to help create a culture of belonging and engagement. We want our students to be so excited about school that they don’t want to miss out on daily activities in their classroom communities. We continue to do this important work because we know that students are more likely to attend school if they feel connected and engaged in a safe and welcoming learning environment.
As a parent or guardian, you contribute to this success by making sure your child comes to school prepared and on time every day. Regardless of the reason for the absence or whether the absence is excused or not, days out of school add up quickly. A student who misses just two school days each month will miss more than 10% of the total days of a school year. To the extent you can, please refrain from scheduling doctor appointments, vacations, or other events that pull your child out of school, and save those absences for times when it is truly out of your control.
Perfect attendance is not the expectation here (though it makes a great goal to shoot for!). Instead, we are trying to reduce chronic absenteeism across the district. Being absent can negatively impact a child’s academic performance; it also limits their opportunities to practice essential problem solving skills, self-regulation, self-discipline, and social development. A well-rounded Woodland education includes so much more than academics - #LifeintheW is better with all of our Wildcats in the house!
You can learn more about Attendance at Woodland on the website, or in the Parent-Student Handbook English p. 32 / Spanish p.38. Please feel free to reach out to me directly for assistance connecting with any attendance-related resources your child or you may need.
Wishing you all a safe and happy weekend,
Dr. Robert Machak, Superintendent
Woodland D50