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By Dr. Vasthi Acosta
At my school if a student is absent more than 20 days their promotion is in doubt. This is a very generous policy because twenty days amounts to a whole month of school that has been missed. A lot of learning lost.
The other day a teacher brought me a letter written by a parent to excuse the thirty plus days her daughter had missed. The note listed the dates and at the end stated: “Please excuse my child for these absences because of asthma, colds and the weather.”
The weather?
So, if the day started out cold and miserable then her daughter wasn’t learning that day. If it was raining – no learning, foggy—no learning, snowing—no learning, below freezing – no learning. What do you think this child is learning? I’ll tell you. This parent is teaching her child that the weather dictates whether she will meet her responsibilities or not. Not a good lesson to learn.
I have teachers who suffer from asthma, yet they show up to work every day no matter the weather. They show up ready to teach the students who show up to learn. If your child is not there then that is a day of learning gone. Never to be replaced.
When parents are responsible in making their children go to school every day they are teaching them what it means to be responsible and self-disciplined. They are preparing them for the world of work, when they will need to show up every day in order to be successful.
At my school, every three late arrivals count as one absence. I have students who arrive to school late virtually every day. When asked why, one parent answered, “I don’t get into work until ten so I am not getting up earlier.” This response gives a clear picture of what is more important to this parent. Her priority is her comfort and not the education of her children.
A child who arrives late to school not only misses all that has been taught before their arrival but also interrupts the instruction for the other students in that class who did arrive on time. When that student walks in the teacher has to help them assimilate to what the class is doing and try to minimize the impact of this interruption. It is unfair to the student and the rest of the class.
And yet again, what lesson is this parent teaching their child? I’ll tell you. This parent is teaching her child to disrespect other’s time and effort, and that only her timetable is important. Not a lesson for future success. There isn’t a job in the world that will tolerate a consistently late employee.
School is preparation for the future in more ways than just the ABC’s. Help your child learn that attendance and punctuality are important to future success by getting them to school every day and on time. It is a lesson they won’t forget when they become our future doctors, lawyers, teachers, artists, parents.
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. Dr. Vasthi Acosta is Amber Charter School (ACS)’s head of school. ACS serves 450 children, in the K-5 grades, from Northern Manhattan and The Bronx.
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