Attendance Counselor Ms. Tello tells us about the challenges that CATS Students are facing during COVID-19 Pandemic

_{By Michael C.}

The person I am interviewing is Ms. Tello, CATS attendance counselor. She has the duty to make sure each student is attending their classes and isn’t truant. She knows with distant learning, there has been significant change with student attendance for online classes. Here are five questions that I asked her.

1. Have you seen a significant change in attendance from in school learning to distant online learning? If so how?

Yes, attendance has dropped significantly since we moved to distance learning. We are struggling to connect with some students because they do not have the right access and for some students, they simply are not motivated to learn online. It has been a challenge for all of us, but I hope that students realize that our push to motivate students to engage with us is for their benefit. The number of students that will fall behind academically because they do not attend during distance learning is worrisome.

2. How do you plan to raise the attendance rate at CATS?

I plan to increase our attendance by continuing to educate students about the importance of attendance and the impact that it has on their education. I also plan on working with students to figure out why they are missing and provide them with resources to eliminate those barriers. I will continue to promote attendance challenges and engage with parents to increase attendance at CATS.

3. If you can say anything to those students who aren’t showing up to classes, what would you say?

I would tell them that I understand that this is not easy. It is difficult for all of us to balance the current pandemic and our responsibilities (school, work, family, etc.). Unfortunately, this is the situation that we are in and this time does count! By not attending virtual classes you are falling further behind and ultimately, we want to see you succeed and graduate. Help us help you, we want to make sure you have everything you need to succeed, but you must do your part too.

4. Is it important for students to show up to classes even though they get their work done? If so why?

I understand why students think that they do not need to show up to class as long as they turn in their assignments, but ultimately it is important to attend. First of all, it is the law that all students between the ages of 6-18 attend school for the length of the school day. Second, it is important for students to start developing responsible work habits right now. For our 9-11th grade students it is important for them to build community with their peers and develop positive attendance habits because at some point in their high school career we will return to in person classes. For seniors, it is important that they learn that they must attend their classes because when they go to college after they graduate, they might have classes that will count attendance as a part of their grade, or they will be behind if they miss a lecture. If they are going into the workforce their jobs are going to have expectations around attendance as well. These are habits students should develop early for their future.

5. If it were up to you, would you prefer to go back to school in person or keep the online learning way?

This is a complicated question to answer. I would like to go back to school in person because I (just like the students!) would like to return to a sense of normalcy, but the safety of the students and staff is important and should be taken into consideration as well. I would like to return because I miss interacting with students, but I only want to return if it is safe to do!