In keeping with the district’s goal of fighting chronic absenteeism and increasing attendance every day in school by all students who are well, the Gladstone Elementary School community has been celebrating student achievement in the area of attendance every month, according to Principal Susan Buonanno.

“Each month we’ve been rewarding the students with a different incentive if they achieve perfect attendance,” she said. “In December we had a craft, in January we had a movie and in February we had cocoa and cookies.”

During the month of January, Gladstone saw record numbers for perfect attendance, especially given that January can be a month when students are often up against weather issues and fighting illnesses such as colds and the flu.

“We had 279 students at Gladstone with perfect attendance in January alone,” Buonanno said.

In addition to the incentive prize each month, students can keep track of the school’s progress via a graph that is on display in the hallway outside the main office.

For more information about the issues and impact of chronic absenteeism on student achievement, visit attendance works at attendanceworks.org/facts-stats-school-attendance.

Text and photo by Jen Cowart