The fifth grade students in Lisa DeFelice’s class at Dort Elementary School in Roseville won Dewey for the week for having the best class attendance the previous week. Every week, the dolphin stuffed animal “swims” to the winning classroom as an incentive for the school’s 6-Cess program.
By: Maria Allard | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published November 21, 2024
ROSEVILLE — Earlier this year, educators in Roseville Community Schools launched a new program that provides additional safety measures for students who walk to school.
They also brought back another program designed to cut down on absenteeism.
The “Safe Walk to School” campaign was created to ensure the safety and well-being of students as they travel to and from school every day.
The 6-Cess (pronounced success) program has returned in an effort to get students to come to school every day.
‘Safe Walk to School’
The initiative, recommended from the district’s attendance committee, encourages community members to become involved in helping students get to and from school safely. The district is providing “Safe Walk to School” lawn signs for local residents to display that designate them as a safe walk supporter.
Participants need not have children in the district. The lawn signs will help raise awareness of the campaign and remind community members to remain alert. Superintendent Mark Blaszkowski is asking residents to keep their eyes out for anything suspicious they see in their neighborhoods before and after school.
“We’re really looking for suspicious persons or if someone approaches (a student). That could be scary to them,” Blaszkowski said. “Our hope is to get 2,000 signs out there.”
Other situations could be considered in the “Safe Walk to School” campaign.
“It could be a loose dog or someone who was loitering in the area,” Blaszkowski added.
If residents see anything they are uncomfortable with, they are encouraged to call the Roseville Police Department at (586) 447-4483.
“We can’t intervene as fast as the police and we don’t have jurisdiction,” Blaszkowski said.
So far, the superintendent has received “very positive feedback” from parents on the “Safe Walk to School” campaign. If interested in obtaining a lawn sign and supporting the program, contact the superintendent’s office at (586) 445-5505.
The 6-Cess program
The 6-Cess program was created in 2016, ceased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and has returned this year. The 6-Cess program celebrates students who have less than six absences per semester, both excused and unexcused.
The program’s goal is to motivate and reward students for their efforts to come to school on a regular basis. That has been a challenge for the district since the pandemic. School officials understand that illness happens and parents work, Blaszkowski said, but students who come to school consistently are more likely to succeed academically and develop critical life skills.
“According to recent studies, students who miss just two days of school per month are at a significantly higher risk of falling behind in reading, math and other core subjects. Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10% or more of the school year, can lead to students being up to two full grade levels behind their peers by the end of high school,” Blaszkowski said. “This gap in learning can have long-lasting effects on a student’s future, including lower graduation rates and reduced opportunities for college and career success.”
Staff members at each building are offering incentives to make the 6-Cess program successful. For instance, attendance at Kaiser Elementary School has improved since recognizing attendance more frequently.
“We use attendance tracking to document and track the percentage of students present by classroom,” Kaiser Principal Kelly Grider said in a district news release. “Each Monday, we announce the classrooms with the highest attendance from the previous week during our morning meetings and the winning class receives the ‘ACE’ bear, symbolizing ‘Attendance Counts Everyday.’”
Dort Elementary School has two different activities for the 6-Cess program. For starters, at the end of each month, students with no more than two absences and no more than two tardies are entered into a raffle to win a gift basket filled with puzzles, bubble wands, board games, card games and more. One winner is selected through the K-2 grade level and a second winner is chosen through the 3-5 grade level.
“They absolutely love it,” Principal Brenda Baker said. “The parents are really excited about it.”
Another incentive falls in line with the school’s mascot, the dolphin. This year, staff brought in a huge stuffed dolphin named Dewey, which stands for “Do we have the best attendance?”
Whichever class has the best attendance at the end of each week gets Dewey in their classroom for the following week. Every week, Dewey “swims” to the winning classroom. Last week, Lisa DeFelice’s fifth grade class welcomed the stuffed animal. The winning classroom also receives extra recess time and can line up for lunch first.
“Students need to come to school every day. They need that structure and stability,” Baker said. “When they’re here, they’re learning.”
The students also are honing their social skills. Baker said that some of the Dort parents work midnights or are single parents, which can make it difficult to bring their children to school. When she sees improvement in attendance for a particular student, she likes to send a personal note home to the family.