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Clear expectations and shared accountability at Bohach Elementary

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Any educator will tell you that safety, stability and predictability are essential to student success. For children to grow and thrive in their classrooms, they need to know what is expected of them. Understanding expectations minimizes confusion and anxiety and frees up cognitive bandwidth to engage fully in learning. When a school community comes together around shared, high expectations for excellence and holds each other accountable, it creates a solid foundation for academic growth. This spirit of shared accountability is alive and well at Bohach Elementary School. Principal Heidi Gavrilles and her team have integrated rituals and routines that build community into their school’s master schedule. At the beginning of the year, every class co-creates a set of community agreements to guide the ways they will learn and work together. Every school day, each class revisits its agreements and discusses two key questions: What did we do yesterday that did not align with our agreements?
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It all starts with being there - improving attendance at Elmcrest Elementary

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It’s no secret that WCSD, like many districts nationwide, has struggled with student attendance rates. Last year, 28% of our students were considered chronically absent which means they missed 10% or more of instructional days. Elmcrest Elementary School’s chronic absenteeism rates last year mirrored district levels at nearly 29%. This year, however, the team at Elmcrest is tackling the attendance challenge head-on, and they are seeing promising results. In late September, they set a record for school attendance with 98.5% of students in class and they are holding strong with nearly 97% attendance as of Wednesday, October 18. To date, Elmcrest’s rates of chronic absenteeism have decreased by a full TEN percentage points and because students are coming to school, learning routines and understanding expectations, behavior referrals are also declining. So, what is happening at Elmcrest to get so many students to school every day? In short: it’s a relentless focus.               In
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