Red Devil Ready: Weekly Message

Week #6: The One Where You Put on Your Best Smile

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Decatur County Community High School

605 E Commercial St, Oberlin, KS 67749

September 24, 2023 (Schedule at the bottom, Skip What You Want)

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Decatur Community,

As I write this, I am sitting in a second floor room at the Oread Hotel in Lawrence, KS on a Thursday night, way before you will actually read this. I just got back from eating dinner with my daughter, a freshman at KU, and it is family weekend.

It's obviously great to see your kids grow up and to get a glimpse into what their life is like once they leave home, and, so far, I am happy with how much she seems to be enjoying her life at school.

As I lay here in the bed typing, the tv is on, and there is an old episode of Friends on. I got to tell you, I had to laugh at the coincidence of the episode. Every episode of Friends begins with the title The One. In this particular episode, Chandler and Monica are taking engagement pictures, and though Monica is photogenic and Chandler has a great smile, Chandler cannot smile correctly for a photo.

My whole life, I struggled with this same dilemma, not being able to pose for a picture. My wife and daughter are great at it, but my life is full of grinning school photos, constant retakes, and, ultimately, some decent shots when someone could genuinely make me laugh.

Why coincidence? It's Picture Week, and I know that I will need all the help I can get.

SHOUTOUTS

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Shoutout to band teacher Brad Persinger. Mr. Persinger returned to school this past week, and I can tell you that it was great to have him back in the building. I was able to walk into his class briefly, and it felt good to watch and listen to him interact with his students. I know he is excited to be back, and the kids are excited too.

Shoutout to Vocal teacher Lisa Johnson once more. Mr. Persinger said that in his absence, having Mrs. Johnson in the position to fill in made all the difference in the world. Mrs. Johnson has the experience at all levels in band and vocal, so the students were in good hands.

Shoutout to art teacher Anthony Marshall. Mr. Marshall has immediately stepped in and gotten involved this year. When you walk into Mr. Marshall's classroom, you not only see the creativity, but you also feel and hear it as well. The discussions that Mr. Marshall has on an individual basis and the independent projects that are so diverse make it one of my favorite classroom visits.

Shoutout to former teacher, current sub, and current volleyball official Pat Dorhorst. Mrs. Dorhorst came into our Introduction to Refereeing class this past week to present to our students. Many of the students are learning about volleyball and earning their certifications as a volleyball ref. There is no one better to learn from than Mrs. Dorhorst, a former Oberlin coach. She has been doing a long term sub job up in McCook, but this week she will return to DCHS as a sub in our building, and we are happy to have her back.

Shoutout to Mr. Brandon Gehring for his efforts with the new courses. Mr. Gehring brought in Mrs. Dorhorst and is planning on bringing in guest speakers in his Drivers' Ed. class as well. These new courses are giving us some legitimate practical experience to go along with credentialed impact on students' futures.

Shoutout to 6th grade VB player Reagan Williby. I was watching last week in a game where the girls were down 10-4 when Reagan began serving. Reagan then won 21 straight points as the team won the match 25-10. I have never seen a streak like that at any level. On top of that, in the next game she won 7 more, earning her 28 straight points on serve. That's incredible!

Shoutout to the girls JH A and B team Volleyball squads. This past weekend, each team went 3-0 in the Goodland tournament. Congratulations to the girls and the coaches. (Pictured)

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Picture Day Tuesday!

School and Sports Picture Day is coming up this week on Tuesday, September 26. H2O Photography out of Arapahoe, NE will be back again this year and will be starting at DCHS at 8:10 with student pictures. Sports pictures will begin in the afternoon starting at 2:30.

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KESA Topic: Attendance vs. Chronic Absenteeism

KESA Topic: Attendance Rate vs. Chronic Absenteeism

Every district receives an annual document that is known as the District Accountability Report. These reports include valuable information that compares districts to each other and allows for us to recognize areas of strength and weakness. Unfortunately, these reports generally share information from two years prior for the majority of the school year. The most recent report is the 2021-2022 school year, though the the 2022-2023 report will be coming out within the next few months. It will still be a few more years before we will see information that is related to our current year. Having said that, everything we are doing and will do will affect that report and all of those beyond.

Here are the major areas that are covered on an Accountability Report:

1. Attendance Rate

2. Chronic Absenteeism

3. Graduation Rate

4. Dropout Rate

5. School Academic Success (State Assessments)

6. Post-Secondary Success Rate

7. Post-Secondary Effectiveness Rate

8. ACT Scores

Other Data

9. Social Emotional Growth

10. Individual Plan of Study.

There are several things here, and many of them are related. With the first month of school, I am going to focus on Attendance Rate and Chronic Absenteeism this week.

Attendance Rate: The Attendance Rate is very simply the average percentage of students that are in attendance each day, regardless of excused or unexcused. The only classroom absences that do not count are school related activities. For example, if a student went on an FFA field trip, they would be registered as School Activity, not absent. How does DCHS compare to other high schools in the state?

DCHS: 92%

State: 92.1%

You cans see that the daily Attendance Rate at DCHS is almost identical to the State average.

Chronic Absenteeism: Chronic Absenteeism is the newer of the two. The state began to look beyond the simpler Attendance Rate a few years ago, primarily because there are some students that miss a ton of school. A student is considered chronically absent when they have missed 10% or more of the school days in a school year (way too many). In this situation, it doesn't matter if there is a doctor's note or not. You can be excused but still chronically absent. You can be well within the school's attendance policy by providing doctor's notes but still be chronically absent. At the end of the year, each student either does or doesn't count against the school in this area. Considering that a student has to miss 18 days of school during a year to be chronically absent, it seems like there would be very few.

So how did DCHS compare?

DCHS: 11.6% ( A little over 1 in 10 students in Oberlin misses more than 18 days of school a year)

State: 25.4% (This means that 1 in 4 students in Kansas high schools misses more than 18 days of school)

As you can see, DCHS has a much lower rate than the State in this area and a significant improvement over the last year's report as the State actually had a significant swing in the other direction. There are always going to be situations that arise that cause someone to miss 18 school days or more, but that is a hard number to swallow, and it will be a big goal of ours in the future to brainstorm ways to improve the attendance rate and reward those students that show up on a regular basis.

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Attendance Policy (Repeat Info.)

1. Research shows that the single greatest factor contributing to student achievement is attendance at school. Although we realize there will be occasions when students legitimately need to be gone from school, it is the combined responsibility of the school officials and parents to see that these absences are kept to a minimum.

2. Approval for an absence by a parent does not necessarily mean that the absence will be excused. School administrators will make the final determination as to whether or not an absence will be considered excused.

3. A student is considered absent when he/she is not in regular school classes or in a school-sponsored activity. Upon an absence, a student must have a written or verbal excuse from a parent or guardian. If the parent fails to call the school, the school will make an attempt to reach the parent via an automated Skyward attendance message.

4. Each semester a student has 6 absences that can be excused by a parent. All other absences must be excused by a doctor. Absences that are accompanied with a doctor's note do not count toward the 6 absences that student can have excused by a parent. Parents should call the school on the morning that they know their student is not going to be in attendance, regardless of why their student is not going to be there. Only a doctor’s note or special administrative approval can excuse a student beyond 6 absences per semester.

5. Once a student has 6 full excused absences per semester, any additional absences that are not accompanied with a doctor's note will be considered unexcused and be treated according to school and state truancy policies. Administration has the discretion/flexibility to excuse an absence if deemed necessary due to extenuating circumstances. Examples could be accidents, extended illnesses, or surgeries that require the student to miss more than the days allowed.

TRUANCY POLICY

Students accumulating three consecutive unexcused absences, five unexcused absences in a semester, or seven unexcused absences in a year will be identified as truant. In accordance with the Kansas Compulsory Attendance Law (K.S.A. 72-1113), students under the age of 18 will be referred to the county attorney. Students 18 years of age or older can be dismissed from DCHS. Re-admission will be determined by a hearing with the student and parents/guardians.

Red Devil Ready

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Well, that's going to do it. I finished on Sunday morning, and I have to say, the experience at KU was amazing. I was able to walk around campus with my "KU DAD" t-shirt, see exactly where my daughter went to classes each day, and even celebrate the 100th birthday of the 1923 Jayhawk.

Perhaps, if I can fill my mind with thoughts of this past weekend, maybe my smile just might be all right Tuesday...... Maybe.

Until next week,

Jeremy Holloway

Go Big Red!