The addition of Student Support Specialists in the Monmouth-Roseville School District has paid off. Dave Giles and Amy Rodgers work directly with students and their families that may have an attendance concern. Superintendent Ed Fletcher shares the success of the program so far:
“They have done attendance circles, where they talk to individual kids. They set goals. They talk to parents, is there a reason why your child is not making it to school. What is going on? Are there things that we can help provide you with all the great community resources in our area to help you, so you are better apt to handle the normal stuff and we can get your kid to school. So they have done a lot of work. They work very closely with the counselors and teachers. We have noticed some kids whose attendance has increased dramatically,” Fletcher shares.
The Monmouth-Roseville School District continues to work with Carl Sandburg College to offer Duel Credit courses for high school students. The district uses Title 4 funds, which comes from the ESSA Federal Grant, to allow students to participate in this opportunity. Superintendent Ed Fletcher offers more insight:
“What I envision happening is more kids wanting to take those courses, but our grant fund are limited. What I do not want to have happen is say to a kid no you cannot do that because there are no funds available. I want the ability to say to a kid, “You have a plan, and you know where you are going, we want to be able to help you get there.” We don’t want there to be an obstacle where they say their parents can’t afford it. We want to take that excuse away and say they are academically able to do that. There are no obstacles in your way or hurdles you have to jump other than your hard work,” states Fletcher.
The district is also working with the college to create pathways for their students. One step is to certify their vocational education teachers to allow them to instruct welding classes at the high school and the students would receive college credit.
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