During the month of March, every Saint has been invited to participate in weekly raffles, so long as they have had perfect attendance for that week. In addition to these raffles, Saints are also encouraged to keep up good attendance in other ways. For example, having a certain amount of absences per semester will land a student in a mandatory fifth period. With the current focus on Saints’ attendance, it seems important to get opinions from Saints themselves about the issue of attendance. What causes students to miss school, and how do they feel about its’ importance?
Students miss school for a multitude of reasons. While attending school is usually a priority for every high school student, at times, life can get in the way. The absences are sometimes school-related, such as missing classes for a field trip. Other times, they are health-related. “I don’t [miss much school] and if I do it’s for good reasons, such as events for extracurriculars or being sick,” Junior Ben Cordero said. It seems to be a recurring theme that most students only really miss school for health reasons, or because they just don’t feel in the mood to go to school. “I don’t tend to miss school a lot, but when I do it’s generally for days when I either feel sick or not up to going,” Junior Marlie Walker said.
Some students also take issue with the amount of focus on attendance. “If people are looking to enroll and choose San Dimas, parents look at the average of grades, not the average attendance of each student,” Cordero said. Having good attendance is an important part of being a good student, but it is not always possible for students who might have other things going on in their lives, whether it be something as simple as getting a cold, or something more serious. Additionally, there are many important concerns to worry about when it comes to students’ overall performances.
How, if at all, can the issue of attendance be “solved”? When asked about his thoughts on a potential solution, Cordero shared his insight. “Being pressured or being disciplined for not coming to school only creates more problems,” Junior Cordero said. Cordero was not the only person who wondered if disciplinary action was the right response to attendance concerns. “I do think that focusing on the improvement of classroom environments would be a more effective way in the long run to encourage students to want to come to school,” Junior Walker said.
Whether or not focusing on attendance is seen as a positive or a negative, it has been prevalent in the conscience of San Dimas High School for the last few months. Saints have inevitably been pondering this topic, and how they feel about the issue of attendance. Students have surely been more aware of their attendance now that it is being so regularly discussed, and it raises many questions, as well as possibly encourages students to improve their attendance if it was previously poor.
