AROUND THE REGION
(L/R) Luke C. Moore High School students Kendra Hall and Makia Baugh along with Tiffany Upshaw, the school’s attendance counselor, walk through the school’s atrium on their way to class on Feb. 14. /Photo by Roy Lewis
8 Feb. 21, 2013 - Feb. 27, 2013
moore continued from Page 1 who had also dropped out of high school but took advantage of an opportunity. He enrolled in LCM. Hall decided to follow her brother’s lead. Through an individualized program that addresses academic, social and emotional needs, LCM provides a high-quality secondary educational setting for youth ages 17-20 who had previously dropped out of high school. Hall hit the books for the second time around in 2011. She liked the manner in which the staff and faculty reinforced the importance of completing their high school education and embarking upon a successful career path. But it could only be done by attending classes regularly. “They really help students with special needs,” Hall said. “They give us extra homework and help recover [academic] credits lost from dropping out [of our previous high schools].” Every day, some 2,000 middle and high school students in the District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) system are designated as truant. The issue The Washington Informer
however, has been a long-standing, nationwide concern that has captured the attention of President Barack Obama’s administration. But the problem in the District has become so dire that Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson referred to it as “a crisis.” For example, reports, state that truancy among students who attend Spingarn, Roosevelt, Ballou and Anacostia high schools has reached 40 percent. In an effort to encourage students like Hall and Baugh to attend school on a daily basis and eventually join their peers at commencement exercises, LCM offers through its “New Heights” program, an on-site day care that accommodates up to eight children. Only students who are enrolled at LCM can participate. Today, both young ladies not only eagerly anticipate donning their caps and gowns in June, but both have brighter visions of their futures. While Hall will enroll in a community college, Baugh has her sights set on becoming a paramedic or firefighter. LCM principal Azalia Speight – who watches over more than 300 students – was asked what she’s done differently from other
administrators to reduce truancy and instill a love of learning in her charges. She said that one of her priorities after arriving at the school in 2009, was to bring an attendance counselor on board. “I adjusted my staffing and hired Tiffany Upshaw,” Speight said. “She is gifted, in that she knows all of our students by name and their situations. She knows where they are, and why they’re not in school.” In addition, LCM follows a community intervention approach which engages staff and volunteers to conduct regular home visits to talk to both parents and students about the importance of school attendance. “We send the message that ‘we want you at school and we need you to come back to school,’” Speight said. “If students miss so many days of school we go and get them.” Speight said that when she arrived at LCM, average daily attendance was 32 percent. By the end of her first year, attendance increased to 65 percent, and then to 72 percent the following year. By the end of the 2011-12 school term, the school’s average
See moore on Page 9 www.washingtoninformer.com