Parents and Guardians of Martinsville High School Students:
The mission and vision of the Martinsville City Public School system is "bringing life to learning" and "empowering success one learner at a time." Both define our efforts to provide success for all students.
The purpose of this letter is to emphasize the importance of your assistance with addressing chronic absenteeism, which is an issue that can negatively impact the performance of our students.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as students who are absent 10% or more of the school year, regardless of whether the absences are excused or unexcused.
The school year is based on 180 days or 990 instructional hours. When a student misses 18 days for any reason except described as above, they are considered chronically absent.
How does absenteeism affect student achievement?
At every age, in every demographic, and in every state and city tested, students with poor attendance:
are at a greater academic risk for missing early learning milestones;
develop weaker reading skills;
score significantly lower on standardized tests;
make failing grades and failing courses;
dropout of school at higher rates;
fail to graduate on time;
have a greater risk for a number of negative long-term consequences such as being more likely to experience poverty;
experience diminished mental and physical health; and
may become involved in the criminal justice system as an adult.
According to a study by the Baltimore Education Consortium, nine out of 10 students who missed five or more days in the first month went on to be chronically absent.
If you would like to learn more on how absenteeism can affect student achievement, here are two suggested articles for you to review.
We are not without compassion and understanding regarding the fact that there are times when students may miss school for various reasons, including health and medical issues, family emergencies, etc. However, too many absences can affect the performance of our students. We hope that you will join us as stakeholders in your child's future to make valid attempts to have your student attend school as often as possible.
In the future, the administration and faculty will reach out in various ways to assist with getting every student to school on time every day! Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Sincerely,
Clarence E. Simington, Jr.
Assistant Principal
Martinsville High School