Incentives Raise Awareness at Stone!

Attendance Matters!

By Amy Konigsberger, Stone Principal

Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school — and themselves!

There is so much learning, both academic and social-emotional lessons, packed into one day! Literacy and Math concepts are introduced, taught, and practiced with each day building on previously learned skills. Irregular attendance leads to “holes” in learning and often students feel lost in the struggle to catch up.

Good attendance promotes learning as students have more opportunities to consecutively practice skills, master concepts, and excel in school. Additionally, students that are at school each day interact more with their peers to develop social skills and friendships. By prioritizing attendance, we help our children learn coping skills and life lessons of showing up even on the days we are sleepy or not at our best. We want our young students to know right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Good attendance is a life skill that will help children succeed in high school, college, and careers.

Through House Bill 410, schools are required to monitor and report chronic absenteeism, habitual truancy, and excessive tardies. At Belle Stone, we partner with families and the community to help reduce barriers and get students to school. We help instill the importance of good attendance by encouraging, rewarding, and celebrating good attendance.

Students with Perfect Attendance and Excellent Attendance are honored at quarterly assemblies. During the fourth quarter, we created an attendance incentive program that challenged students to fill a giant gumball machine and be entered to win fun family prizes. For nine weeks, students got to add a paper gumball each week that they had perfect attendance. These students were invited to an attenDANCE party in the gym and their names were entered into a weekly drawing to choose a family prize. Prizes included gift cards and gas cards from Walmart, movie passes at Palace Theater, free meals at Chick-Fil-A, skating passes at the North Canton Skate Center, jump passes at Sky

Zone, and many more. Within a matter of weeks, the Giant Gumball display was overflowing and paper gumballs spilled out decorating our first-floor hallway.

Counselor Tracy Sallie wrote the students’ names on each gumball and created fun designs. Students were so excited to see their gum- balls displayed throughout the halls! Families were so excited when their child’s name was pulled in a random drawing and they could come to pick out a family prize! And most importantly, students were in school every day - learning, growing, and mastering skills!