Attendance All-Stars: Dranesville Elementary Sees 14-Point Drop in Absenteeism Amid Flurry of Efforts
Dranesville Elementary School Principal Jamie Gadley knows it’s tough for students to learn if they’re not present in their classrooms when the instruction occurs.
Reeling from the pandemic, Dranesville saw its share of chronically absent students — those missing 10% or more of school days — skyrocket, like many schools nationwide.
Principal Gadley took action immediately, enlisting an attendance team consisting of school counselors, front office staff, and a family liaison to systematize the school’s approach to encouraging daily attendance. Students deemed chronically absent, missing 18 or more days in the 180-day school year, went from 20.6% of Dranesville students in 2022-2023 to just 6.9% in 2023-24.
“It is the small, consistent connections that have and continue to make a difference for our students,” Gadley says.
Rather than one, big overarching change, Dranesville educators have set out to weave the importance of daily attendance into all aspects of school life, Gadley says. September is Attendance Awareness Month.
At Dranesville, it starts when students arrive at school and get their choice of a high-five, hug, or handshake from an adult on staff, she says. The school registrar, Mrs. Agana, keeps stickers at her desk for students who swing by each day to say hello.
Once the bell rings, school counselors pay a personal visit to each classroom and make notes on who’s missing, asking students to help with roll call.
“Is this a perfect attendance day? Does anybody have a buddy missing?” School Counselor Melinda Ryan cheerily calls out as she speedwalks from room to room.
Grade level attendance is displayed on a chart in the front office, where all students, staff, and school visitors can see it. Once a month, the marquis board in front of the school carries an attendance-themed message. The school newsletter, sent to parents each week, includes current stats on the Dranesville chronic absenteeism rate.
And before noon everyday, any grade with perfect attendance gets a shout-out over the school announcement system. A class with perfect attendance often gets a visit from Drake the Dragon, the school mascot. And every 10 days, students who have had perfect attendance during that time period, are entered in a raffle for prizes.
The school also welcomes families to be a part of the school day with events throughout the year. Last year, the school noticed that only 15 students were absent on Thanksgiving Math and Family Math Day. Similar attendance rates have been noted on Dranesville Loves to Read Day when families are invited to come to their child’s classroom.
At the end of the 2023 school year, Principal Gadley and her team reviewed the attendance logs to get to the bottom of what was behind the attendance problem.
“We looked by name and story — we had almost 140 students who were chronically absent in 2023. We learned 36 of them were due to family vacations,” Gadley said. “Some families just needed us to ask that they not schedule that amazing vacation during school time. Others needed to hear that we welcome and want students to be present for as much of the school day as possible. Students can go to their dentist appointment and return to class.”
Counselor Ryan says making personal contact with parents to learn the reason behind absences has paid off. For example, they learned a family’s kids missed the bus, after the power was cut off to their home and alarms didn’t go off, and that another family was in a car accident and is struggling to reconfigure daily routines without a car.
“You find out about the obstacles that families are facing daily,” Ryan said. “If they need something we’re here to guide them in the right direction. We also need them to be part of the team, and know that every day is important and they're missing big things when they miss a day of school.”
That message resonated with sixth-grader Fernando Castellanos, who went from 17 absences in the 2022-23 school year, to just five last year and perfect attendance so far this year.
“It’s hard to catch up, hard to learn if you're not here,” Fernando says. “I want to learn. I’m also a patrol. I want to help younger kids be safe so I need to show up. People always want me to be here.”
Learn more about the importance of regular school attendance
