Three Carteret students with perfect attendance this year, from left, Nayeli Chalas, Abigail Gutierrez and Amberly Ayala.
Carteret Elementary School created an attendance initiative this year and last week was the payoff for students who have not missed a day of school since September.
“I looked at the data and realized there were about 36 students who have come to school everyday during the first trimester and thought we should celebrate on a bigger level with a bagel party,” said guidance counselor Marissa Acosta.
After the bagels, she made a quick check of the numbers in the cafeteria and said the total was 35 students. For the month of December, about 135 kids had perfect attendance. Carteret has a student population of about 390.
Perfect monthly attendance kids receive a certificate and prize. The first trimester was from the first day of school, Sept. 4, to Dec. 5. The classes with the most students having perfect attendance were the first- and fourth-graders. They are also the two largest classes at the school.
“I feel that most people think, well, they’re kids and are supposed to come to school,” Acosta said. “But with what these kids have going on in their lives, for them to show up every day, it shows real strength and that they feel safe here and that’s something for us to build upon.”
A feeling of school safety, she said, lets the child know they can talk to their teacher about anything and not to be afraid of sharing their experiences — even when they make a mistake.
“Kids are going to sometimes make bad choices,” Acosta continued, “but we want them to come and talk to us about them. When they come to us, we adjust those mistakes and we build a better character. I tell parents we will find a way to meet their child academically, but the true mission behind education is to touch on the whole child. Perfect attendance and showing up everyday will prepare them for life.”
Principal John Baltz, in charge of spreading the cream cheese and butter, said if a student feels comfortable in school, that tells him they are being exposed to the curriculum and there will not be any gaps in learning.
“If there’s ever a problem, we call the parents and ask them to come in,” he said. “We try to figure out a solution as a team. It’s never finger-pointing.”
But sometimes there is an attendance problem, he said, because the parent’s work schedule has to be juggled with bringing their child to school or having two children attending different schools. Or sometimes a parent’s work schedule is such that they oversleep.
“It’s not deliberate,” he said. “Sometimes there are factors that are tough to control and manage.”
Three of the students with perfect attendance were sixth-graders Nayeli Chalas, Abilgail Gutierrez and Amberly Ayala. All three said they come to school even when they are not feeling 100 percent because they do not like falling behind their classmates. But they agreed there are other reasons, too. There is Kahoots on Friday, an online game they like to play, and on Monday there is usually a quiz. Gym class, pizza for lunch and soccer at recess are also some things they anticipate.
And all the girls are teammates on the Cubs, the Carteret interscholastic basketball team which plays at Oak View Elementary on Saturdays. Parents drive.
Nayeli and Amberly said that Abigail was the best player on the team. Abigail, who watches the Lakers and Warriors, agreed.
“It’s probably because I take the most shots,” she said.
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