As part of its “Every Day Counts” student attendance campaign, Woodland Joint Unified School District recognized the top three schools with the most improved student attendance for March.
The top three schools with the most improved student attendance were Lee Middle School, Pioneer High School, and Woodland High School. Each winning school received an “Every Day Counts” banner to display and will have a DJ play at their school as a reward.
“It was great to hear about winning the banner this month,” said Woodland High School Principal Gerald Salcido. “Our staff has been promoting the campaign and encouraging our community to finish the year strong.”
“We were excited to learn that we had won for most improved attendance,” added Lee Middle School Principal Shelley Friery. “We have been working hard and staff and students were thrilled that we finally won.”
WJUSD originally launched the campaign in January 2023 to improve student attendance districtwide. Each month they recognized the top schools with the most improved attendance and this year added an “Every Day Counts” poster contest and invited students to create artwork highlighting the importance of daily attendance.
“Pioneer High School was so excited to have received the attendance honors for the month of March!” said Pioneer Principal Sandra Reese. “PHS has a fantastic team working together to make our attendance a priority. By calling and meeting with parents and rewarding attendance gains, we are able to make a difference in our overall attendance rates. Go PHS Team!”
While Every Day Counts is a districtwide campaign, each school uses various strategies for improving attendance at its school, including community outreach and communication.
“We have been reminding students about the importance of attendance via our weekly Sunday message and encouraging our staff to spread the message as well,” said Woodland High School Principal Salcido.
“We did a lot of targeted attendance intervention with our two lowest groups of students with chronic absence,” added Lee Middle School Principal Friery. “We did phone calls and home visits. We also did an attendance challenge with students for the last two weeks before spring break and recognized over 525 students with perfect attendance over those two weeks!”
Research shows that missing just two days a month of school can impact a student’s academic success while coming to school each day improves academics, boosts self-esteem, and increases opportunities for college and a career.
“Regular school attendance is a critical factor of academic success,” said Superintendent Elodia Ortega-Lampkin. “By engaging our students and families, we’re seeing an increase in school attendance. Congratulations to our students, staff, families, and administrators for making every day count!”