Families of Longfellow Elementary-
Yesterday, we had our annual Thanksgiving lunch. This year, we served 377 student meals. District-wide, they prepared over 280 pounds of turkey. Longfellow staff and volunteers all pitched in to help with serving and to ensure the meal went off without a hitch. It brings me great pride to see how people come together time and time again to make this a memorable experience for our students. I’d also like to send an extra big thank you to our kitchen staff. They work hard to make sure our cafeteria is an inviting place for all and that no kid in our building is hungry. On a typical day, they serve around 300 lunches feeding two thirds of our school population. They truly are an amazing group of people.
This week, my gratitude also extends to members of our local Rotary clubs. On Monday of this week, Noon Rotary members came to Longfellow to give books to every 3rd grade student. Over the next few weeks, our librarian Mrs. Majeski, will be handing out these illustrated novels to the students based on their reading levels. Kudos also go out to the 3rd graders for being an incredible audience for the assembly.
Finally, I’d like to thank our families for getting students safely to school day in and day out. So much of life is showing up and a key to successful education is simply being present. During the 1st trimester we had about a hundred students who didn’t miss a single day. This makes me proud. Recently, I had a parent ask, “How many days can a student miss?” There is no exact answer, but Colorado law states that students who have 3 unexcused absences in one month or 10 unexcused absences in a year are considered truant. Under school board policy, the main “excused” absences are for illness and medical appointments. Most other absences count as unexcused. All that being said, we’ve realized that truancy court isn’t the best solution. Sitting down with families and helping address barriers to attendance is. Another layer to attendance are students who miss 10% of the school year (16 days) regardless of if those absences are excused or unexcused. These students are considered “chronically absent” by the federal government. In these cases, school board policy requires us to develop an attendance plan to help remove barriers that may be causing attendance issues. With all attendance issues, please understand that we care about our students and our priority is knowing they’re safe regardless of the absence counting as excused or unexcused. We want to support families who may be having difficulties getting their students to school. If you are struggling with attendance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help.
Cory Scheffel