WACO, Texas — Chronic absenteeism when a student misses 10 percent or more of the school year — a national issue that Transformation Waco schools are looking to change in a positive way.
Their numbers have decreased significantly in the past two school years, and they are hopeful that this school year is no different.
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In Mariah Wilson’s nearly 35 years of teaching, she’s never seen her class this eager to learn.
“When they’re engaged to come to school, they’re excited to come to school — they want to be here,” said Mariah Wilson, fifth grade teacher at Hines Elementary.
Wanting to be here eliminates the issue of who’s coming, and who’s not.
“Usually it’s perfect attendance — if I have 18 students, I’m going to have 18 students most days,” Wilson said.
Hines Elementary is one of four schools under Transformation Waco.
That's an in-district charter, turning schools around and aiming to improve school attendance.
The goal is to eliminate chronic absenteeism.
“Chronic absenteeism is when students miss 10 percent of the required school year," said Chief Communications Officer at Transformation Waco, Josh Wucher.
"Depending on the number of days in a school calendar, that can be between 15 and 19 days."
The four elementary schools under Transformation Waco have seen a significant drop in absences, resulting in better passing rates and higher test scores, but why?
“A key piece of our coordination of care process, is what we refer to as wrap-around services that include free access to after school programming, telehealth services — where they can have a doctor visit at school — we have a vision center that provides free eye exams and access to glasses, we have licensed clinical social work that will provide mental health support," Wucher said.
"We see a combination of our wrap-around services as a key point to improving the academic performance of our students and attendance."
Fifth graders at Hines Elementary are all set, and ready to learn.
“You need to learn better things and get your education,” said one student, Cr’Riah Harrison.
“To me, if I miss a day of school, it’s like missing a day of fun,” said another student, Aniyah McKenney.
