Help Your Child Succeed in School:  Build the Habit of Good Attendance Early

Did you know?

•       Starting in kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.

•       Missing 10 percent (or about 18 days) can make it harder to learn to read.

•       Students can still fall behind if they miss just a day or two days every few weeks.

•       Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.

•       Absences can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.

Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves. Start building this habit in preschool so they learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Good attendance will help children do well in high school, college, and at work.

•       Set a regular bed time and morning routine.

•       Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.

•       Find out what day school starts and make sure your child has the required shots.

•       Introduce your child to her teachers and classmates before school starts to help her transition.

•       Don’t let your child stay home unless she is truly sick. Keep in mind complaints of a stomach ache or headache can be a sign of anxiety and not a reason to stay home.

•        If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to teachers, school counselors, or other parents for advice on how to make her feel comfortable and excited about learning.

It is Head Start’s goal to ensure a safe, positive learning environment for all children. Positive classroom climate contributes to positive behavior.  Head Start’s discipline philosophy approach consists of five basic components:

• High expectations for student behavior that are age appropriate;

• Supportive, secure relationships with adults;

• Clear, understandable, and predictable routines;

• Instruction focused on developing skills for self-regulation  and dealing with intense feelings; and

• Consistent response to student behavior.

In support of this philosophy and to ensure a safe and positive classroom environment, teachers will design and implement Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS), Tier 1 strategies that set clear limits, model appropriate behavior, redirect inappropriate behavior, and work with families to solve unique problems.

All discipline procedures will adhere to Head Start guidelines and Portland Public Schools policies. Teachers will teach expectations and routines that support students in ways to Be Safe, Be Friendly, and Be Ready to Learn. These expectations and routines will be retaught throughout the year.

Parents will be informed of classroom expectations and routines. They will be engaged as partners in developing additional supports as needed.

In this week's PPS Pulse: Deadline coming for students to be immunized; Jefferson students discuss Black History Month

If you are the parent or guardian of a Portland Public Schools student, ask yourself: How is the educational climate at the school? Portland Public Schools is looking for answers to this and other key questions from family members of PPS students as part of the Successful Schools Survey. Students in grades 5, 7 and 10 also are being surveyed, and school-based staff will participate starting Feb. 19.

The recent outbreak of measles serves as a reminder about immunizations, with an important deadline coming up.

Students in Portland Public Schools who have not gotten all of their required immunizations face a Wednesday, Feb. 20 deadline. That is the “exclusion date” set by the state for 2019, when any student who is not fully immunized may be barred from attending classes or district-provided child care.