Opp Elementary School recently released its comprehensive improvement, plans and among the top goals is improving attendance.

Principal Shawn Short and Assistant Principal Christy Harrell have been busy encouraging students and teachers to come to school.

“We’ve established an attendance board and the grades compete with each other,” Harrell said. “The grade with the highest attendance is the MVP, and they get to have a little treat.”

Two weeks into the program, nearly every grade had improved its attendance and overall attendance was at approximately 95 percent.

“These kids are competitive,” Harrell said. “This helps them encourage each other.”

The school has also implemented automated phone calls to parents and guardians when a child is absent.

“We have also have home visits for children who are chronically absent,” Short said. “These are students who miss 18 days per year or two days per month.”

Short and Harrell said they want to ensure that children don’t have a habit of missing school.

Additionally, Short said that if a child misses the bus and a parent simply doesn’t have a method of bringing them to school, they will ensure they have a way to school.

“We will not let a kid sit out because a parent doesn’t have a way to bring them,” he said. “If we don’t attack attendance at the elementary level, it could lead to drop outs.”

Students with a high amount of absences are considered high risk.

Short said that 1 in 10 students miss at least 10 percent of the school year.

Harrell said that the newly launched “Leader in Me” program leads to better attendance, less discipline and better grades.