Continuity Plan

Describe the district’s attendance policies, including how the district determines whether a student is present or absent, and how a student’s attendance will factor into promotion, retention, graduation, discipline, and any other decisions that will affect the student.

• Students by grade are assigned a staff member for attendance purposes

• Students check in with their assigned staff member daily

• Attendance is posted in Genesis by the end of the school day

• Elementary teachers monitor student participation daily through their Google classroom

Principals

o Describe how the district is following up with the family when a student is not participating in online instruction and/or submitting assignments.

Elementary:

Parents are expected to notify the school if their child will be absent from remote learning on a particular day. Elementary teachers monitor student progress and participation daily through their Google classroom and keep logs of students who are not participating and/or completing assignments. Elementary classroom teacher, ESL teacher, Child Study Team members, Guidance Counselors or administration will contact families if a student has not participated during a given week. If a student is unduly absent, administration will contact the RPPD, who can make a home visit. Teachers will send home interim reports to students who may be having participation/attendance issues.

High School:

High School student attendance is followed closely and concerning trends are immediately addressed. All students log in daily to their homeroom teacher via Google Docs. The attendance Google Doc also posts a daily question to each student to ascertain emotional wellness and give students a private forum to communicate with a counselor as needed. This attendance is later posted to Genesis. Parents may call a student out or post this info to Genesis.

High School teachers email parents and guardians when work is not being turned in. When no reply, teachers reach out to guidance for a more thorough follow through. Students that do not report regularly are contacted by guidance usually via a phone call home. Any student that can not be contacted after a full week of no communication is followed up with a wellness check by the local Police Department. (Three checks needed to date.)

Attendance and Social Emotional at the Middle School and how we follow up with our Middle School Families

In regards to attendance, at 9:30am daily a Google form is being sent out to all students via email. Students have been asked to submit the form between 9:30am-10:10am to avoid being marked absent. There is also a social/emotional related question within the form which gives guidance an opportunity to address any concerns brought up by students. After 10:10am, a spreadsheet will be created with data from the form including the time they completed it. Guidance is then sending reminder emails at 11am to all students who have not completed the form. At noon the names of the students who still haven’t responded are passed on to office staff who will then notify parents/guardians via email and a call home. Attendance is shared with teachers for the day which helps to monitor who attends and who does not Google Class. When students are not participating in online learning, teachers are encouraged to communicate with parents/guardians. The names of students who are not participating in learning are cross referenced with our attendance list to see if students are logging in. Guidance has also been reaching out to many students who are of concern. Welfare checks have been completed when necessary by administration and RP Police. When needed a call to DCP&P is placed to ensure that students are safe and being addressed properly.

Our social emotional supports, the guidance staff has been reaching out to students who need support as well as joining various teachers’ virtual classrooms to check in on students. We have been meeting weekly with students who are struggling. A weekly newsletter has been going out that offers students ways to improve in various areas as well as how to get in contact with us. Guidance has been responsible for attendance which has given us insight into who might need more help. Small and individual groups of grief and loss have started to develop from this. We are following the State Attendance guidelines and informing parents of the same via weekly communication. If a student is sick they do inform the school via Genesis, email or call. Updates to parents via email and calls are done as well as virtual meets where needed when students reach a certain amount of days (stipulated by state’s attendance policy). Promotion will continue based on student academic standing as well as attendance if indeed these are deemed accepted excuses as per the state guidelines. When we do not hear from a student we make sure that we call, email and do wellness checks with administration and Roselle Park Police to ensure that everyone is safe or if they need assistance. This has helped us identify those families who needed further support as well as those students who needed to understand that we were taking attendance and work seriously during remote learning. In more severe cases a call to DCP&P would also be done to ensure safety and well - being. Identified students and families get one on one counseling either via phone or Google Meets/Zoom with our counselors to help them navigate through these times.