|
|
Student numbers up slightly,
attendance importance stressed
In Thursday, August 26, 2010 issue
Early statistics released by Clinton County School District’s Director of Pupil Personnel Joe Summers late last week revealed that the slight increase in student enrollment numbers is continuing...at least through the first nine days of the new school year.
Through last Friday, August 20, a total of 1,708 students were enrolled in the school district, up 25 students from the number enrolled on the first day of school during the 2008-09 term.
Actually, the first day of school this year saw 1,665 students enroll on opening day, but that number had increased over the next week by 42 additional students.
From the 2009 school year to the 2010 year, enrollment had increased the most at the Early Childhood Center and Clinton County High School, being up by 15 more students at the ECC and 27 more students enrolled at CCHS as of last Friday.
Enrollment by school as of last week showed 149 students at the Early Childhood Center, 528 students at Albany Elementary, 515 at Clinton County Middle School, 466 at the high school and 50 (the same number as a year ago) at Foothills Academy.
Although increases in overall enrollment numbers are important financially to any school district, the most important aspect of a school year is seeing students actually in the classroom, attending classes on a routine, daily basis.
During the 2008-09 school year, attendance rates fell short of the goals the district had wished to see. However, several factors contributed to decreases in some school months, including a harsh winter season and illness during the fall of last year that saw attendance rates drop to the point of having to dismiss classes.
The district is constantly striving to implement ways to improve average daily attendance and this year will be no exception.
Summers told the Clinton County News in a brief interview last Friday that this school year, the district would be utilizing the family resource centers more, in such ways as supplying clothes and school supplies. He also said there would be more frequent in-home visits as a means of intervention when it appears a student may be close to dropping out of school or missing too much class work.
“We’ll be having more contact with parents, either through letters, phone calls or personal visits,” he said. Hopefully, that intervention can come before any type truancy charges would have to be brought.
The Pupil Personnel Director noted many reasons why being in school and getting at minimal a high school education is so important to students. He said the public school system was at no cost and available to all children. “School provides an opportunity for each and every child to benefit in some way,” he added. “What they do with the chance at a free education is up to the student and the parent,” he said.
Summers said that an education, at least at the high school level, will impact every aspect of a person’s life. He said he realized that not every student is going to enter post-secondary education after high school, but added a high school education gives people basic skills that are used every day in a person’s life, things many people take for granted, such as balancing a checkbook, filling out a job application, etc.
Summers noted that if he were a business person or employer and had the choice of hiring someone with a high school diploma or someone without, he would definitely choose the high school graduate.
“By graduating high school, you show a person that you had the desire and made a commitment to complete a task...you’ve showed responsibility and dedication,” he said.
He said that it takes a lot of partnership to make school attendance a priority, including school staff, parents, business people and individuals, or basically the community as a whole.
Summers concluded by saying he was looking forward to a good, productive school year and wished all the students in the district the most successful year possible.
Send this page to a friend
|
|
