Hayden Gust

At the start of Pattonville’s 2024-2025 school year, PHS’s administration launched the “Every Student, Every Day” vision to provide on student attendance and well-being. Last year PHS’s Attendance sat at 69%.
Teisha Ashford, PHS building principal since the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, started the process along with the district last year. “We are intentional about the work that we do to support our students and their well-being every day, for us as a school, it shows up in their attendance…” Ashford said.
The problem of low attendance isn’t new;, it reared its head post COVID. “When the pandemic hit, we all went virtual,” Ashford said. “Since then a lot of attitudes and dispositions about in-person schooling changed. Years ago, it was unheard of for kids to be out of school for vacations or other kinds of choice activities. Today, it’s more common.”
Pattonville High School isn’t the only building in the district trying new ideas to get students to attend class. The school district began supporting parents and staff by sending home monthly attendance reports to every student’s parent or guardian.
The building administration also attempts to build support for the student and their family. “If students are not here, we are working with the family, with school staff to determine why or what is happening, and determine what level of support we need to put in place to support the student being in school,” Ashford said.
But why is the issue of attendance so important to the district? Other than regular attendance being mandated, exceedingly absent students often fall behind. “Freshman year is critical to graduation. If a student fails one class freshman year, it makes them extremely likely to not graduate on time,” Ashford said.
But attendance isn’t the only issue Ashford and the administrative team have in their sights. According to a student climate survey conducted in the past year, a sense of well-being and belonging is an indicated area of concern. The administration quickly got to work to address this need “We’re implementing the ‘Link Crew’ program for freshmen, which provides each freshmen homeroom with a group of leaders identified from 11th and 12th graders,” Ashford said.
The need doesn’t stop with freshmen as Ashford also recognizes that the rest of the student body could also benefit from some avenues of well-being and connection. “With 10th through 12th grade, a sense of well-being is also important, and the way that we support it, is going to look different, and it’s with an activity. It’s a curriculum called ‘Character Strong,’ which focuses on student well-being, belonging, and all of those critical factors that we believe help students to be their best at school.”
Every Student, Every Day is a vision set with the goal of improving the school’s connection to its students and preparation for their future. “Every Student, Every Day is really attendance, its well-being, and making sure that students are understanding just what the rules and expectations are,” Ashford said.