Monongalia County Schools emphasizes daily attendance as central to student success

Monongalia County Schools is emphasizing daily attendance as critical to student achievement, Attendance Director Teddy Stewart said on the district podcast Motivation and Momentum.

Stewart said countywide attendance runs “right around 94%,” and staff are aiming for a 95% target while working to reduce chronic absenteeism. He described a multilayered approach that includes school attendance committees, attendance specialists, school-based probation officers and community partners who provide incentives.

Stewart said the district organizes attendance work using a team model that includes assistant principals at each school, dedicated attendance specialists who monitor one to three schools, and, at middle and high schools, school-based probation officers who connect the schools to judicial-system resources. “Everybody’s on that board on that team,” Stewart said, describing parents, bus drivers, office staff and teachers as all sharing responsibility for whether a student attends school.

He described prevention and early intervention as foundational: “We don’t just go … from saying you’re not here to, alright, now you’re going to court. That shouldn’t be happening. We need to find out what is going on and what is the root of the problem and what we can do to help,” Stewart said.

The district uses school-level incentives such as monthly classroom attendance awards, and Stewart said community partners have donated coupons and other items to recognize students. He also highlighted communication tools and outreach: district staff use texting and the Remind app, and outreach facilitators and counselors work directly with families to address barriers such as appointments, transportation and health concerns.

Stewart said the district coordinates with the West Virginia State Department of Education and with neighboring counties to share practices and speakers; he also said county staff meet periodically with regional directors to compare strategies. He noted a recent point in January when “we had nobody in the red,” meaning no schools were flagged with the highest attendance concerns countywide.

For parents and teachers, Stewart urged proactive communication and tiered responses: universal, schoolwide incentives to encourage attendance, then targeted Tier 2 or Tier 3 interventions for students facing specific barriers. “Anytime a parent hears from their teacher, that’s important,” he said, and added that a brief text or phone call can prompt a family conversation that helps get a student back to class.

The district podcast host, Amber Nichols, closed the episode by encouraging listeners to contact district attendance staff with questions and to try to reach the district’s 95% attendance goal.

Contact information for the attendance office and details on school-specific programs were noted as available through Monongalia County Schools’ district office and school sites.