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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 2015)
Polk County News 14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 30, 2015 Dallas, Central above state attendance levels Falls City and Perrydale fall below state average at 76.6 and 78 percent, respectively By Jolene Guzman catch up and get frustrated, pulling them back into class is more challenging. “You can draw a perfectly straight line between atten- dance and the struggles they are having in school,” Thompson said. Willamette Education Service District offers Falls City a truancy officer who speaks to students and their parents about the impor- tance of attendance. “He goes out and talks to the families,” Thompson said. “He does a good job.” But there really is no way of forcing students to at- tend beyond having a court issue parents a fine. By the time that process is com- plete, the damage to the Angela B. Mosieur, senior, for- est engineering; Sydnee R. Stoller, junior, agricultural busi- ness management; Troy V. Tyma, sophomore, physics; Trevor A. Whitaker, junior, pre- mechanical engineering. Monmouth 4.0 GPA: Makayla R. Kach- lein, sophomore, zoology; Ben- jamin E. Petersen, junior, histo- ry; Anne C. Snell, freshman, en- vironmental sciences. 3.5 to 3.99 GPA: Erica B. Brown, senior, bio-health sci- ences; Hanna R. Brown, fresh- man, bio-health sciences; Julia L. Kenyon, freshman, university exploratory studies; Sean R. Maroney, sophomore, universi- ty exploratory studies; Zachary D. Mcclure, senior, chemical en- gineering, Trevor Nash, fresh- man, biology; Travis J. Rice, senior, public health; Emily F. Wells, sophomore, environ- mental sciences. Rickreall 4.0 GPA: Jenna Drader, jun- ior, nutrition. 3.5 to 3.99 GPA: Bridget H. Regan, junior, zoology. Polk County school districts attendance rates 2014-15 The Itemizer-Observer POLK COUNTY — State and local educators see a di- rect relationship between academic success and the percentage of classes a stu- dent attends. This month the Oregon Department of Education released a report tracking how many students in each d i s t r i c t a re a b ove t h e “chronic absence” thresh- old, “positive attendance” of 90 percent during the 2014- 15 school year. Polk County’s two largest districts, excluding Salem- Keizer, are both above the state average of 83 percent. Central had the highest per- centage of student “not chronically absent” at 85 percent. Dallas was second at 83.7 percent. All four districts saw lower attendance at the kinder- garten level. Perrydale saw 71.4 percent “positive” at- tendance; Falls City had a 72.7 percent rate; Central re- ported 76.7 percent; and Dallas had the highest at 77.6 percent. Steve Martinelli, Dallas’ director of instructional services, said lower atten- d a n c e a m o n g D a l l a s’ youngest students could be a product of having half-day student’s education is al- ready done. “Your kid has missed a lot of school at that point,” Thompson said. Central Superintendent Buzz Brazeau said the dis- trict also is using rewards to emphasize good attendance and making school an envi- ronment students want to be in. He’s seen evidence of that in periodic visits to his schools. “What I saw was a real sense of excitement in teachers as they are teaching their class. That translates to kids,” he said. Brazeau added just being above the state average isn’t good enough. He would like to see more students districtwide finding a teacher, sport, activity or elective that motivates them to come to school. He noted some absences are because of participation in athletic events, but that is a problem the district will live with. “What can we do to con- nect to kids?” he said. “If you are connected, you are probably going to come. That will solve the problem.” For more information or to see the report, go to www.polkio.com for a link to the report. Central Dallas Falls City Perrydale Total students enrolled No. of students not chronically absent* Percentage of students not chronically absent 2,999 2,943 128 309 2,549 2,464 98 241 85 83.7 76.6 78 *Not chronically absent is defined as student attending school at least 90 percent of the time. Source: Oregon Department of Education. State average is 83 percent. GRAPHIC BY LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer classes until this year. He said it’s much easier to keep a child home from school for an appointment when classes are only half days. “We are hoping with the addition of a full-day kinder- garten program we will see an increase in attendance at this grade level,” Martinelli said. “In fact, early numbers indicate this to be true, and we will wait to see if the trend continues.” Dallas also saw a dip in attendance in seventh and eighth grades, at 79.8 per- cent and 77.3 percent re- spectively. Martinelli is hoping the addition of more electives at LaCreole Middle School will increase positive attendance at that level. “We are pretty skilled at identifying those families in need and providing sup- port to them,” Martinelli said. “As always, our work begins at the lower grade levels. If we can encourage good attendance and set up families with positive school routines, then we will have less of an atten- dance problem in future grades.” Perrydale and Falls City were below state average, at 78 percent and 76.6 percent, respectively. Falls City Superintendent Jack Thompson said it is just common sense that good at- tendance in most cases would result in better suc- cess for students. “If they are not in class, they are not getting the edu- cation we are trying to teach,” he said. The difficult part is get- ting those students who are chronically absent engaged in their schooling again. He said the school tries to recognize and reward stu- dents with perfect and “pos- itive” attendance records. Falls City also tries to make school a fun place to be, where they can see their friends and cultivate good relationships with teachers and staff. That works for most stu- dents. For those who miss so much school they can’t ACADEMIC HONORS OSU announces fall honor roll CORVALLIS — Names of stu- dents from Polk County who have made the scholastic honor roll fall term have been announced by Oregon State University. Students on the honor roll are: Dallas 4.0 GPA: Katharine E. Craw- ford, senior, psychology ; Megan L. Mahoney, junior, dig- ital communication ar ts; Amanda J. McCollister, senior, human development and fami- ly science; Kaden Z. Montague, senior, electrical & computer engineering; Jacob R. Shryer, freshman, pre-mechanical en- gineering; Zacheriah A. Tucker, senior, psychology. 3.5 to 3.99 GPA: Tyler D. Aldrich, senior, athletic train- ing; Alexander L. Bird, junior, civil engineering; Kimberly R. Brown, senior, women, gender and sexuality; Janet H. Fergu- son, junior, chemistry; Callie A. Instenes, senior, graphic de- sign; Felicia L. Kluting, junior, accountancy; Emily A. Lund, junior, public health; Conner J. Maclean, freshman, pre-civil engineering; Joseph P. Orton, sophomore, biology; Michael Polander, senior, mechanical engineering; Garen L. Porter, freshman, pre-computer sci- ence; Ryan W. Springer, fresh- man, pre-computer science; Alyson N. Steckley, senior, human development and fami- ly science; Kyle R. Stockdall, junior, marketing; Anthony M. Tallon, senior, exercise and sport science. Falls City 3.5 to 3.99 GPA: Caleb J. Schmidt, Junior, me- chanical engineering. Independence 3.5 to 3.99 GPA: Justin T. Bruntmyer, senior, computer science; Carlos Fal- con, senior, exercise and sport science; Matthew G. Grandquist, junior, biology; Stephen Hinkle, sophomore, English; Megan R. Marchand, junior, agricultural sciences;