September 25, 2023 • 27 mins
School is back in session and have you ever wondered what it's like to juggle a multitude of responsibilities as a high school senior? Buckle up as we introduce Kiera Whiteman, a senior at Deep Creek High School and SCA president. Kiera gives us a glimpse into her world, filled with diverse activities, from Scholastic Bowl to raising chickens. As you listen, you'll find yourself engrossed in Kiera's experiences and her exciting new role as co-chair of the Hospitality and HQ Committee for VSCA. She also shares her top three nuggets of wisdom for incoming high school students. Her insights encourage perseverance and inspire students to venture out of their comfort zones.
Also, September is Attendance Awareness Month and Yvette Lagares from the Office of Student Enrollment and Attendance takes us through her journey where she found her passion for the attendance program. In her conversation with us, Yvette unwraps the significant role of attendance in fostering student success and setting a positive example for future adults. #AttendanceMattersVA
Make sure to listen today!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kiera Whiteman (00:00):
Rachel Iman, I'm a second grade teacher at
Greenbrier Primary.
I am super excited.
This has been a dream of minesince I was a little little kid
and I'm just excited to welcomethe future of Chesapeake and
hopefully teach them lots ofcool stuff and built some great
relationships.
Matt Graham (00:15):
Welcome to Amplified
Schools podcast!
Richard Babb (00:28):
Chesapeake Schools is located in the Hampton Roads
area of South Eastern Virginia.
We serve 40,000 students in 45schools and three centers.
This podcast is designed totell the stories behind our
story and to introduce andcelebrate the people and
programs that make us one of thepremier school districts in
Virginia.
Matt Graham (00:47):
All right here we are back for our second episode,
and that was first year teacherRachel Iman from Greenbrier
Primary School, at the verybeginning, sharing what she is
looking forward to this schoolyear.
You can tell how excited she is, right, richie.
Richard Babb (01:04):
Oh, no doubt about it.
Matt Graham (01:05):
I mean that was from the new teacher orientation
and that was a lot ofexcitement in the room actually,
yeah, and some nervousness toohonestly, yeah, they were a
little nervous, but I thinkthey're excited for the school
year that was put on by theDepartment of Professional
Development and they put thatout every year and they actually
had a guest speaker, michaelBonner from the Ron Clark
(01:27):
Academy, come and speak and hedid a great job.
Richard Babb (01:30):
So that was really cool and the students are kind
of excited now that they're backin attendance at school.
You were able to go to DeepCreek High.
Matt Graham (01:37):
Yes, I was able to stop by Deep Creek High School.
I had a great conversation witha senior there, kiera Whiteman.
We talked about a lot of stuff,especially with the start of
the school year.
We even talked about chickens.
I mean, it was awesome.
We talked about yeah, she's achicken tender, did you know?
Kiera Whiteman (01:55):
that no.
Matt Graham (01:55):
She's a chicken tender.
She has chickens, I mean.
Besides that, she does a ton ofstuff.
Richard Babb (02:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, very involved, okay, well,
let's take a listen.
Matt Graham (02:08):
All right Sounds good.
So this is Matt Graham, and Iam here with Kiera Whiteman, a
senior at Deep Creek High School.
She is also the SCA presidentand she's in the Science and
Medicine Academy, and yesterdayshe found out she is the
co-chair of the Hospitality andHQ Committee for VSCA, the
Virginia Student CouncilAssociation.
(02:30):
Kiera, welcome to the podcast.
Kiera Whiteman (02:32):
Thank you for having me.
Matt Graham (02:33):
Yes, and we are here on site at Deep Creek High
School.
Kiera, can you tell us a littlebit more about you?
Like when we were talking to MsGarrett, she was saying that
you are involved in so manythings.
Kiera Whiteman (02:45):
Okay, so I was also in Scholastic Bowl last
year, which was really fun firstyear doing that.
We're going to go again nextyear or this year through the
Science and Medicine Academy.
I got two chickens.
So, I'm a chicken tender.
I have a t-shirt that says thatit's great.
Let's see.
What else do I do?
I wrote a whole list of thislast night, like not even trying
.
Matt Graham (03:06):
Are you prepping for, like, some applications or
anything like that?
Kiera Whiteman (03:09):
Yeah, I'm just trying because I realized I wear
a lot of hats and so I was likehuh, I don't have a list of
that.
I'm also an NHS.
I have volunteered for the pastalmost six years at Rewrote
Church doing childcare.
Okay.
Matt Graham (03:22):
Well, it seems like you are out there volunteering
doing a bunch of stuff.
I actually own some chickens aswell.
I had three, and we named themafter my grandmothers.
We had Marina, betty and Grace.
They ate the grubs and thegrass.
The kids loved trying to catchthem and they gave us fresh eggs
(03:43):
every morning.
So enough about chickens,except for the fact that I'm
getting kind of hungry.
So, kira, this is your finalyear as a Hornet.
Kiera Whiteman (03:51):
I know, it's weird.
Matt Graham (03:54):
Have you been through Deep Creek like your
whole life?
What other schools were you at?
Kiera Whiteman (03:59):
No, I was actually born in California and.
I went to.
I started kindergarten, inpreschool in Florida.
Then we moved back toCalifornia where I finished
kindergarten and then I washomeschooled for first grade and
I don't remember where I wasall the other grades but I know.
Third grade I was in Idaho andthen also Virginia, but in
Virginia Beach.
And then I came to ChesapeakePublic Schools in like halfway
(04:22):
through the fourth grade atCrestwood Intermediate, then I
did Crestwood Middle and now I'mhere All right, awesome.
Matt Graham (04:27):
So your experience at Chesapeake Public Schools has
been.
Kiera Whiteman (04:30):
It's been great so far.
Very nice.
Matt Graham (04:32):
Yeah, awesome.
And what are things that youare looking forward to.
Now it's your final year, yoursenior year.
What are you looking forward to?
Kiera Whiteman (04:38):
I love that I get to do all sorts of crazy
things as SCA president and inthe advisory committee for VSCA.
I'm looking forward to workingwith some people in Hopewell
who's they are my co-chair forVSCA and we're going to decorate
.
We had the meeting on Saturdaywhere we picked co-chairs and
everything and we've already gota million ideas and we are
(05:01):
working through which ones arelogical and logistical and all
that and then which ones mightnot be such a great idea yeah.
Just looking forward tofinishing off strong and trying
to make new traditions.
Matt Graham (05:12):
Okay, that's nice.
Now that school's been insession for a couple of weeks
right when it's been almost amonth now what's it been like?
Has there been anything new andexciting that's taken place
here at Deep Creek?
Kiera Whiteman (05:24):
It's been a lot of fun so far.
We did something very new thisyear.
We did a back to school bash,which was kind of like a block
party for everyone in the school.
Matt Graham (05:32):
Oh, that's awesome.
Kiera Whiteman (05:32):
Yeah, we partnered with the elementary
school.
You can literally walk to itfrom our front doors and we took
over their parking lot and webrought in food trucks and a DJ
and we had games and everyonejust kind of hung out and it was
great.
And then they either gotshuttled or walked over to the
football stadium at the middleschool for a neon themed home
game.
Matt Graham (05:52):
Oh my gosh, that's awesome.
Kiera Whiteman (05:53):
And then we did a back to school spirit week
this year, which we've neverdone before, to my knowledge.
Matt Graham (05:57):
And it went well, it went really well.
Kiera Whiteman (06:00):
I think our most popular day was either White
Lie Wednesday or Barbenheimer,which was Pink versus Black.
Matt Graham (06:06):
Oh yes.
Kiera Whiteman (06:07):
People loved that.
Matt Graham (06:08):
Yeah, because of the movie that's been out, the
Barbenheimer.
I like that.
Good, that sounds like a lot offun.
Kiera Whiteman (06:13):
It was.
Matt Graham (06:13):
Yeah, that's a great way to start the year.
I mean, sometimes they wait forthe spirit week, for homecoming
.
Kiera Whiteman (06:19):
But you know that's in the works already.
We've got that.
Matt Graham (06:22):
Yeah, what's that going to be?
Kiera Whiteman (06:23):
Oh, it's going to be.
I don't remember the days offthe top of my head, but it's
like Netflix themed kind of, sowe've got all of our days based
off of Netflix shows.
Matt Graham (06:32):
Oh, that's going to be fun.
It's going to be so much fun.
Kiera Whiteman (06:35):
We've got to dance this year, which was not
official for the past few years,so I'm happy about that.
Matt Graham (06:40):
Yeah, so in your helping organize and do all this
stuff behind the scenes for theschool, that's great, that's
great and you definitely youhave some help too, right.
Kiera Whiteman (06:49):
A lot of help Okay.
Matt Graham (06:50):
And what are your plans after school?
Kiera Whiteman (06:54):
I think I want to go on the pre-med track.
I like the idea of working withkids and doing something
medical, so I'm thinking likeneonatology or pediatric
oncology right now.
I went and visited Universityof Richmond over the summer and
that was like the most beautifulcampus ever.
And I really want to go there,even though it's like in a city
it's kind of off to the side andsurrounded by trees and big
houses, so it feels kind of morelike a retirement community,
(07:17):
but like in the best waypossible.
Matt Graham (07:18):
Yeah, it's been the best way, all right.
At the beginning of thisepisode, we had a new teacher
sharing what they're excited forfor the school year.
What is some advice now thatthe school year has been going?
What is some advice that youmight give to the families and
students as they begin theschool year?
Kiera Whiteman (07:37):
Okay.
So lots of people are going totell you that you got to stay on
the ball with your work,Otherwise it's all going to
crash down on you at the samemoment.
I definitely say that I was aCOVID freshman so I didn't
really understand the likeimpact that high school has on
the rest of your life.
I mean, it's a really importanttime to like branch out and
find where you're supposed to beand where you want to be.
Matt Graham (07:59):
Right.
So if you could tell, like astudent in middle school hey,
when you're coming up to highschool here's my top three
things I would say to you foradvice what would that be?
Kiera Whiteman (08:09):
Oh, okay, probably number one find like a
club that really speaks to you.
For me that was SCA, becauseI'd already been in SCA for
three years throughout middleschool.
Number two probably trysomething new.
I like Jeopardy, so ScholasticBowl made sense to me and it's
technically counted as a sport,so I'm a sports person.
Matt Graham (08:25):
There you go, that counts.
Kiera Whiteman (08:28):
Yeah, and then number three, I don't know.
Try to take some time whereyou're not doing anything like
make time from your time.
Matt Graham (08:34):
I think that's great advice.
Kiera Whiteman (08:35):
Schoolwork piles up and all your
extracurriculars.
They feel like a lot sometimes,but you want all of them.
Matt Graham (08:41):
All right, all right.
Is there anything else that youwould like to share with our
Chesapeake Public Schools familyas we begin this new year?
Kiera Whiteman (08:50):
Perseverance is key, like, just keep going with
it, you got it All right, well,thank you so much, kira.
Matt Graham (08:55):
It's been great having you on the podcast.
We hope you have a great yearand we wish you nothing but
success in the future.
It sounds like you got a lot ofavenues planned out If you
needed to go different channelsyou.
You're going to find your path,so congratulations, and it's
been a pleasure talking with you, thank you.
Did you know that ChesapeakePublic Schools has an app?
(09:25):
Stay up to date on news, eventsand reminders for the district
and your school.
Visit the App Store or GooglePlay Store to download the app
today.
It's everything Chesapeake inyour pocket.
Be a part of the ChesapeakePublic Schools family.
We are hiring teachers, busdrivers, school nutrition
(09:47):
workers, nurses and more.
Richard Babb (09:56):
Visit cpschoolscom or call 757-547-0001 to join
our team.
So, as we said at the beginning, the kids are back in
attendance at school, andattendance actually is an
important word.
Right now, september isAttendance Awareness Month, and
it is important, very important,for kids to be in school, just
like it's important for peopleto be at work, and so the person
(10:19):
who's in charge of attendancefor the entire Chesapeake School
district is with us today.
Matt Graham (10:24):
Welcome to the show .
Do you mind telling ourlisteners a little bit about
yourself and what you do?
Yvette Lagares (10:30):
Mr Richie Bab.
Matt Graham (10:31):
Yes.
Yvette Lagares (10:31):
Mr Matt Graham.
I'm Yvette Lagaris.
I work in the Office of StudentEnrollment and Attendance for
Chesapeake Public Schools.
We help families get enrolledand make sure that they attend.
We are there to help them havea successful year.
Matt Graham (10:44):
Okay very good Nice .
Now, can you tell us how youended up in the position that
you have now?
Word on the street.
You used to work in the courts,Did you?
Richard Babb (10:52):
work in a court?
Did you work for the police orsomething before?
Yvette Lagares (10:54):
I never was a police officer.
I never was in that side ofthings.
So I moved down to the HamptonRoads area in 2002.
My sister and my brother-in-lawwere like, hey, come on down
here, that's a great place to be, and they were both military.
So I moved down here and sixmonths later my sister gets
deployed.
(11:14):
I'm like really.
But when my first job here wasactually at the Norfolk
Sheriff's Office, I was whatthey call a classification
specialist.
So the idea is, when people getdetained or incarcerated, you
want to make sure that thehousing situation is accurate.
You don't want to have someonethat might have only two or
(11:35):
three days because theymisdefined or something, in the
same cell block as someone who'saccused of something maybe a
little bit more violent.
Richard Babb (11:43):
Got you.
Yvette Lagares (11:44):
So and then there's sometimes that inmates
need some social services, likea call home to mom or an
attorney or something alongthose lines, Maybe a phone call
to a family member to make surethat when they get released
there's someone there to pickthem up.
Richard Babb (11:59):
Things along those lines.
Wow, okay, I didn't know therewas such a job, was that?
No?
No, I did not.
Yvette Lagares (12:05):
So actually all the Hampton Roads area jails
have that kind of position, evenat the state level.
And then from the Sheriff'sOffice I went over to the
Chesapeake Magistrates Office.
I was a magistrate in the cityfor about six years.
From there I went over to thecourthouse and I was an intake
officer.
So that's a juvenile equivalentof a magistrate, I would say.
(12:27):
And then from there I made theleap to Chesapeake Public
Schools and I've been with theschool division since 2014.
I started off in the studentconduct office.
I actually have a degree inhistory and a master's in
education, so I took all myexperience in the working world
and my education and it cameinto play with student conduct
(12:49):
and supports.
And then I made the transitionover to student enrollment
because I wanted to do truancycourt I was familiar with the
court and the people and theprocesses and attendance is my
jam, so I figured hey, thiswould be great.
Matt Graham (13:02):
Well, it seems like you are the perfect fit.
Richard Babb (13:04):
Yeah, so how many days a week, or how many days in
a month, do you end up havingto go to court?
Yvette Lagares (13:09):
Well, our truancy program has expanded a
lot, unfortunately, but there isa need for it, and I first got
this position we would go everyMonday, and it is now so up to
four times a month.
Now, five years later, thecourt has recognized the need
that we have and we've expandedfrom initially four days per
(13:32):
month to the possibility of upto 16 days per month.
Kiera Whiteman (13:36):
Whoa.
Yvette Lagares (13:37):
So we have four judges and we have a schedule.
I know which courtroom I wouldbe in on Monday if I have a
docket each on Tuesday.
I know the judge, whichcourtroom, et cetera.
Essentially, when we take afamily to Turin C court, it is a
last resort.
We are not doing it to bepunitive, but we're hoping to
(13:58):
use it as a springboard forother services.
And sometimes it's not even inaction against a parent.
It might be a juvenile, astudent that has decided that he
or she is not gonna be going toschool anymore, and it's the
parent reaching out to us sayinghey, I need help.
I've tried X, y and Z.
(14:19):
I need to get the courtinvolved.
And we're there.
Richard Babb (14:22):
Yeah, I have a thousand questions.
I'm not gonna ask all of them.
Kiera Whiteman (14:27):
I'm not gonna ask 999 of them, I know.
Richard Babb (14:30):
I know you are.
So what's the most commonproblem?
What causes Turin C?
I'm sure there's a whole rangeof things.
Yvette Lagares (14:38):
Yeah, where do I begin?
So we have some families whereit's just a pattern.
I didn't graduate from highschool, I didn't see the
necessity and I've passed thatalong to my kid.
There's sometimes it's a matterof need.
Hey, I may have lost my job andmy 16, 17 year old son or
daughter is supplementing ourincome and we need to work.
(15:00):
Because what do you choose?
Do you choose going to schoolover paying the rent?
So sometimes it's family needs,sometimes it's just barriers to
attendance, such as maybe whereyou live, it's difficult to get
access to the things that youneed for school.
It can be a lot of differentthings.
But right now, unfortunately, Ican say we are seeing more and
(15:24):
more students that have schoolaversion because of mental
health needs, and I respect youIf you tell me that you are just
suffering from depression andanxiety.
I respect you for saying thatto me because that's a big step
right there.
But now that I know, let's seeif I can get you the help that
you need.
And mom, dad, it's not easy,it's not easy as a parent.
(15:46):
When you hear that your kid hasanxiety or depression, what do
you do?
I mean, I'm looking at you both.
Am I the youngest one in thisroom?
I don't know.
Richard Babb (15:56):
Yes, maybe, I don't know.
You're definitely younger thanme.
Well, okay.
Yvette Lagares (16:00):
As an 80s baby, we were out until the street
lights were on and all thisstuff, but we were latchkey kids
.
We didn't.
I didn't say to my mom, hey,I'm feeling anxious, hey, I'm
feeling depressed.
So now myself, as a mother, ifmy child were to come to me and
say something like that, I don'thave a frame of reference.
(16:22):
And, as a parent, not having aframe of reference, and you see
that your child needs something,it's hard.
Richard Babb (16:29):
Yeah.
Yvette Lagares (16:30):
So again, we're not using this as a punitive
measure, we're using it as aspringboard.
Matt Graham (16:35):
Yeah, okay, because sometimes that's good to know.
Yeah, I think that's a greatthing.
Richard Babb (16:40):
So let's look at it from the other side.
What is attendance so important?
I mean, it seems like a stupidquestion, all right.
Yvette Lagares (16:47):
I'm on my soap pops people.
Richard Babb (16:48):
All right, so that's what you're here for.
Yvette Lagares (16:49):
Yeah, attendance is important Because, first of
all, we're here to give a greatexample to kids about showing up
, whether it's showing up toschool or showing up in life,
showing up for their family,showing up for their jobs.
So if we start showing thatmodel now, we're raising young
adults that understand that yougotta be there, right, you know
(17:12):
that whole, you gotta be in itto win it, kind of thing.
The other thing there is a highcorrelation between student
success and attendance.
If little Billy or littleYvette is having a difficulty
reading, well, let's take a stepback.
Are they there every day?
Are they getting the assistancethat they need?
Are they there on time?
These things they correlate andwe don't think about it, but
(17:35):
they do.
And attendance is actually agood predictor as to whether or
not a child's gonna graduate.
But our teachers are some ofthe best in the state and in
order for them our children, ourstudents, to fully grasp the
lesson, they have to be there,they have to be present.
And then we talk about thesocial, emotional side of it.
You're connecting with yourpeers, you're interacting with
(17:58):
adults, you're learning valuablethings when you're in school.
It's not just the reading,writing, arithmetic.
So attendance is important.
You know your kid can't be thatstar soccer player for that
budding.
I mean I couldn't think of ananswer.
Matt Graham (18:16):
I'm sorry, that's good, that's good, and that's
alliteration there too.
Oh, thank you.
Yvette Lagares (18:21):
Your child can't learn to be these things if he
or she is not showing up forthose lessons Right.
So if we're putting value on,you know, the soccer practices
and the football practices andthe bassoon practices, you know
we need to put value oneducation.
And I'm not saying becauseevery child is going to go off
to college.
You know he or she may choosethe trade route, they may find
(18:44):
another path in life, they mightgo into the military.
But even those paths you needto show up, you need to be
present, right.
So we're training our young tobe there for us and to give them
the skillset that they need tobe successful.
Attendance does matter and ourgoal is to have your child
graduate and be prepared forlife.
Richard Babb (19:04):
Yeah, this is a push for September was a push in
September.
What are some of the thingsthat we do to encourage
attendance?
Yvette Lagares (19:12):
Chesapeake Public Schools.
Overall, we're an invitingplace Again.
We have some of the bestteachers.
We do everything and anythingthat we can to make our school a
welcoming environment and evenwhen there's barriers, we have
school counselors, we haveschool social workers.
We have a lot of support staffto make this the best possible
(19:33):
transition for you.
We ask that you, as parents,that you talk to your kids about
school, about the need to behere, that you set a good
example, whether it's going tobed early so that you can get up
nice and early and have thatbreakfast, or go to school and
have breakfast, because weprovide that as well.
We encourage you to talk toyour kids about why it matters
(19:53):
to be in school.
We encourage you to do thingssuch as reading to them in the
evening so that they can.
They can get a little grasp ofwhat's going on, and when they
see that you're invested intheir schooling, they become
invested, because you can't showme a child that isn't eager and
willing to show mom and dadlook what I've done, look what I
can do.
When they see you there,they're there.
Matt Graham (20:15):
Yeah, yeah.
What are the things thatfamilies should do?
If a student has to miss Likethey're sick, what do you do?
Yvette Lagares (20:22):
We encourage you to have communication with the
school.
We understand situations come up, kids get sick, that's what
they do but we need to know whenyour child is not in school and
we don't know, we worry.
So if you have a parent viewaccount and you should have a
parent view account, and thatwould be the first thing that I
encourage families to do is tomake sure that their parent view
(20:42):
account is active, make surethat they're checking in,
because we send notificationsvia parent view.
But you, as a parent, if youwake up in the morning and you
see that your little one has afever and you know that they're
not going to school that day,you can submit a note to the
school that morning via yourparent view and that lets the
school know.
If not, you can communicatewith the teacher or the
(21:04):
attendance clerk at the school.
If there's something else goingon, we ask that you let us know
because we can support you inthat matter.
Is your child feeling anxiousbecause they're having a hard
time reading?
Are they feeling anxiousbecause the social environment?
Talk to us.
Maybe we can put supports inplace, but the number one thing
I would say is to have a parentview account and to communicate
(21:26):
with your teacher.
And sometimes you know, lifehappens.
Let's say, I get that DisneyWorld trip and hey, you know
half of it's already paid for orwhatnot.
I understand that you're makinga decision as a family to take
that vacation.
Those are precious memories.
But we do ask that you beconscious of the fact that
there's 180 days in the schoolyear your child might be able to
(21:50):
make up that work that he orshe missed, but it's not a
replacement for that missedinstruction.
So, yes, you made that decisionas a family and I respect that.
I'm a mom too, but just becognizant of the rest of the
year.
Are you going to now try andtake another trip?
And you know those absences addup.
Plus, you never know when yourchild's going to get sick.
(22:11):
So when you're planning thesevacations, try and plan it
during school breaks, thenatural breaks that we have.
I have a this hurts me to say Ihave a freshman.
Even with a freshman, I don'tknow when he's going to get sick
.
No-transcript.
I know that I need to have agame plan for when he is.
And at the high school level itreally matters when your child
(22:33):
misses school, because seat timeis a factor in your child
passing.
Your child can be Einstein passevery quiz, every test, turn it
all his homework.
But if he or she doesn't havethe seat time and that's a state
requirement then he or she mayfail on attendance alone.
Matt Graham (22:51):
Right, can you tell us a little bit more about the
seat time?
Yvette Lagares (22:54):
There's 180 days in the school year and at the
high school level we have blockscheduling.
That block scheduling iscalculated down to the minute to
make sure you get the requiredamount of hours in that
classroom.
So when you have blockscheduling, the magic number for
you to remember is nine.
At nine days, excused orunexcused, if your child's
(23:16):
passing, they're passing, butonce you hit 10, that's an issue
of seat time.
So if I got the flu and I meanit hit me really bad you guys, I
was out for two weeks.
I was passing this class and Iwas still doing my work.
But because I've missed 10 days, I've missed the amount of seat
(23:37):
time required of me.
Now, at the end of the semester, we have an attendance waiver
process and I can submit mydocumentation, my parent can
submit my documentation as towhy, literally, that missed the
required seat time.
The school looks at it on acase-by-case basis.
They may be able to grant you awaiver on the seat time.
(24:00):
However, let's say I'm gone twoweeks because I went on
vacation, or hey, I'm a frequentskipper and my parents don't
know.
Or let's say, I just forgot thereasons.
I knew it was something valid,but I forgot the reasons and I
never turned anything in.
So now we don't have a reason.
That event missed 10 days ormore of that particular class.
(24:22):
So now, even though I got an Ain everything and even though I
worked diligently to catch backup, I'm gonna fail on attendance
.
And not only that attendancecounts for our accreditation.
Chesapeake Public Schools hasgreat schools.
We meet benchmarks, our kidsare passing SOLs.
We are accredited by the state.
But people need to realize thatone of the factors for
(24:44):
accreditation is your studentattendance.
The state looks at what theycall the chronic absenteeism
rate.
So a chronic absenteeism rateis 10% of the school year, so 18
days.
The state wants to know whetheror not we're coming to school.
They don't care about thereason that your child's missing
school, whether it was excusedor unexcused.
(25:05):
They wanna know what ourchronic absenteeism rate.
So go back to that Einsteinexample, passing all the classes
, the whole school full ofEinstein's.
But if those children arechronically absent, it's going
to affect the accreditation ofthe school.
We work hard for our kids, youwork hard for your students,
your kids, and it would be ashame for the quality of
(25:28):
Chesapeake Public Schools to betarnished because of chronic
absenteeism.
Matt Graham (25:33):
And it's good to know that Chesapeake Public
Schools provides resources inregards to this.
Yvette Lagares (25:38):
Yeah, I mean, we understand things happen in
life with our kids.
Hey, she was really bad off.
I had to take off from workbecause I couldn't.
She needed someone by her side.
You pivot, you make it happen,but we need you to be in
communication with us, Gotcha.
Matt Graham (25:55):
So the Virginia Department of Education has
recently launched an attendancecampaign with the hashtag
attendance matters VA.
Yvette Lagares (26:04):
The attendance has been an issue for the state.
It's been an issue prior toCOVID and now post COVID.
It is bad.
It is bad in the state.
It is bad in the United States.
There isn't a school divisionacross America that is not being
negatively impacted by theirattendance numbers.
So, yes, attendance matters.
(26:24):
Va is a push from the BDOE andwe're all on board.
We want your kids here.
We want them to be successful.
We care for them.
Richard Babb (26:32):
That's why we're here Right, exactly Right.
Thanks for joining us.
I enjoyed the conversationimmensely, right.
Yvette Lagares (26:40):
It was awesome, richie Bab.
It's always a pleasure, alwaysa pleasure.
Richard Babb (26:42):
Thank you very much.
Matt Graham (26:43):
And Graham, you too , no thanks, I remember.
Hashtag attendance matters.
Richard Babb (26:48):
VA.
Matt Graham (26:49):
That's right, right on, all right, all right.
Richard Babb (26:59):
Thanks for listening to this episode of
Amplified the Chesapeake PublicSchools podcast.
You can share your thoughts byvisiting cpschoolscom slash
amplified.
Don't forget to follow us onSpotify, apple podcast, google
podcast, amazon music orwherever you get your podcast.
Rachel Iman, I'm a second grade teacher at
Greenbrier Primary.
I am super excited.
This has been a dream of minesince I was a little little kid
and I'm just excited to welcomethe future of Chesapeake and
hopefully teach them lots ofcool stuff and built some great
relationships.
Matt Graham (00:15):
Welcome to Amplified
Schools podcast!
Richard Babb (00:28):
Chesapeake Schools is located in the Hampton Roads
area of South Eastern Virginia.
We serve 40,000 students in 45schools and three centers.
This podcast is designed totell the stories behind our
story and to introduce andcelebrate the people and
programs that make us one of thepremier school districts in
Virginia.
Matt Graham (00:47):
All right here we are back for our second episode,
and that was first year teacherRachel Iman from Greenbrier
Primary School, at the verybeginning, sharing what she is
looking forward to this schoolyear.
You can tell how excited she is, right, richie.
Richard Babb (01:04):
Oh, no doubt about it.
Matt Graham (01:05):
I mean that was from the new teacher orientation
and that was a lot ofexcitement in the room actually,
yeah, and some nervousness toohonestly, yeah, they were a
little nervous, but I thinkthey're excited for the school
year that was put on by theDepartment of Professional
Development and they put thatout every year and they actually
had a guest speaker, michaelBonner from the Ron Clark
(01:27):
Academy, come and speak and hedid a great job.
Richard Babb (01:30):
So that was really cool and the students are kind
of excited now that they're backin attendance at school.
You were able to go to DeepCreek High.
Matt Graham (01:37):
Yes, I was able to stop by Deep Creek High School.
I had a great conversation witha senior there, kiera Whiteman.
We talked about a lot of stuff,especially with the start of
the school year.
We even talked about chickens.
I mean, it was awesome.
We talked about yeah, she's achicken tender, did you know?
Kiera Whiteman (01:55):
that no.
Matt Graham (01:55):
She's a chicken tender.
She has chickens, I mean.
Besides that, she does a ton ofstuff.
Richard Babb (02:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, very involved, okay, well,
let's take a listen.
Matt Graham (02:08):
All right Sounds good.
So this is Matt Graham, and Iam here with Kiera Whiteman, a
senior at Deep Creek High School.
She is also the SCA presidentand she's in the Science and
Medicine Academy, and yesterdayshe found out she is the
co-chair of the Hospitality andHQ Committee for VSCA, the
Virginia Student CouncilAssociation.
(02:30):
Kiera, welcome to the podcast.
Kiera Whiteman (02:32):
Thank you for having me.
Matt Graham (02:33):
Yes, and we are here on site at Deep Creek High
School.
Kiera, can you tell us a littlebit more about you?
Like when we were talking to MsGarrett, she was saying that
you are involved in so manythings.
Kiera Whiteman (02:45):
Okay, so I was also in Scholastic Bowl last
year, which was really fun firstyear doing that.
We're going to go again nextyear or this year through the
Science and Medicine Academy.
I got two chickens.
So, I'm a chicken tender.
I have a t-shirt that says thatit's great.
Let's see.
What else do I do?
I wrote a whole list of thislast night, like not even trying
.
Matt Graham (03:06):
Are you prepping for, like, some applications or
anything like that?
Kiera Whiteman (03:09):
Yeah, I'm just trying because I realized I wear
a lot of hats and so I was likehuh, I don't have a list of
that.
I'm also an NHS.
I have volunteered for the pastalmost six years at Rewrote
Church doing childcare.
Okay.
Matt Graham (03:22):
Well, it seems like you are out there volunteering
doing a bunch of stuff.
I actually own some chickens aswell.
I had three, and we named themafter my grandmothers.
We had Marina, betty and Grace.
They ate the grubs and thegrass.
The kids loved trying to catchthem and they gave us fresh eggs
(03:43):
every morning.
So enough about chickens,except for the fact that I'm
getting kind of hungry.
So, kira, this is your finalyear as a Hornet.
Kiera Whiteman (03:51):
I know, it's weird.
Matt Graham (03:54):
Have you been through Deep Creek like your
whole life?
What other schools were you at?
Kiera Whiteman (03:59):
No, I was actually born in California and.
I went to.
I started kindergarten, inpreschool in Florida.
Then we moved back toCalifornia where I finished
kindergarten and then I washomeschooled for first grade and
I don't remember where I wasall the other grades but I know.
Third grade I was in Idaho andthen also Virginia, but in
Virginia Beach.
And then I came to ChesapeakePublic Schools in like halfway
(04:22):
through the fourth grade atCrestwood Intermediate, then I
did Crestwood Middle and now I'mhere All right, awesome.
Matt Graham (04:27):
So your experience at Chesapeake Public Schools has
been.
Kiera Whiteman (04:30):
It's been great so far.
Very nice.
Matt Graham (04:32):
Yeah, awesome.
And what are things that youare looking forward to.
Now it's your final year, yoursenior year.
What are you looking forward to?
Kiera Whiteman (04:38):
I love that I get to do all sorts of crazy
things as SCA president and inthe advisory committee for VSCA.
I'm looking forward to workingwith some people in Hopewell
who's they are my co-chair forVSCA and we're going to decorate
.
We had the meeting on Saturdaywhere we picked co-chairs and
everything and we've already gota million ideas and we are
(05:01):
working through which ones arelogical and logistical and all
that and then which ones mightnot be such a great idea yeah.
Just looking forward tofinishing off strong and trying
to make new traditions.
Matt Graham (05:12):
Okay, that's nice.
Now that school's been insession for a couple of weeks
right when it's been almost amonth now what's it been like?
Has there been anything new andexciting that's taken place
here at Deep Creek?
Kiera Whiteman (05:24):
It's been a lot of fun so far.
We did something very new thisyear.
We did a back to school bash,which was kind of like a block
party for everyone in the school.
Matt Graham (05:32):
Oh, that's awesome.
Kiera Whiteman (05:32):
Yeah, we partnered with the elementary
school.
You can literally walk to itfrom our front doors and we took
over their parking lot and webrought in food trucks and a DJ
and we had games and everyonejust kind of hung out and it was
great.
And then they either gotshuttled or walked over to the
football stadium at the middleschool for a neon themed home
game.
Matt Graham (05:52):
Oh my gosh, that's awesome.
Kiera Whiteman (05:53):
And then we did a back to school spirit week
this year, which we've neverdone before, to my knowledge.
Matt Graham (05:57):
And it went well, it went really well.
Kiera Whiteman (06:00):
I think our most popular day was either White
Lie Wednesday or Barbenheimer,which was Pink versus Black.
Matt Graham (06:06):
Oh yes.
Kiera Whiteman (06:07):
People loved that.
Matt Graham (06:08):
Yeah, because of the movie that's been out, the
Barbenheimer.
I like that.
Good, that sounds like a lot offun.
Kiera Whiteman (06:13):
It was.
Matt Graham (06:13):
Yeah, that's a great way to start the year.
I mean, sometimes they wait forthe spirit week, for homecoming
.
Kiera Whiteman (06:19):
But you know that's in the works already.
We've got that.
Matt Graham (06:22):
Yeah, what's that going to be?
Kiera Whiteman (06:23):
Oh, it's going to be.
I don't remember the days offthe top of my head, but it's
like Netflix themed kind of, sowe've got all of our days based
off of Netflix shows.
Matt Graham (06:32):
Oh, that's going to be fun.
It's going to be so much fun.
Kiera Whiteman (06:35):
We've got to dance this year, which was not
official for the past few years,so I'm happy about that.
Matt Graham (06:40):
Yeah, so in your helping organize and do all this
stuff behind the scenes for theschool, that's great, that's
great and you definitely youhave some help too, right.
Kiera Whiteman (06:49):
A lot of help Okay.
Matt Graham (06:50):
And what are your plans after school?
Kiera Whiteman (06:54):
I think I want to go on the pre-med track.
I like the idea of working withkids and doing something
medical, so I'm thinking likeneonatology or pediatric
oncology right now.
I went and visited Universityof Richmond over the summer and
that was like the most beautifulcampus ever.
And I really want to go there,even though it's like in a city
it's kind of off to the side andsurrounded by trees and big
houses, so it feels kind of morelike a retirement community,
(07:17):
but like in the best waypossible.
Matt Graham (07:18):
Yeah, it's been the best way, all right.
At the beginning of thisepisode, we had a new teacher
sharing what they're excited forfor the school year.
What is some advice now thatthe school year has been going?
What is some advice that youmight give to the families and
students as they begin theschool year?
Kiera Whiteman (07:37):
Okay.
So lots of people are going totell you that you got to stay on
the ball with your work,Otherwise it's all going to
crash down on you at the samemoment.
I definitely say that I was aCOVID freshman so I didn't
really understand the likeimpact that high school has on
the rest of your life.
I mean, it's a really importanttime to like branch out and
find where you're supposed to beand where you want to be.
Matt Graham (07:59):
Right.
So if you could tell, like astudent in middle school hey,
when you're coming up to highschool here's my top three
things I would say to you foradvice what would that be?
Kiera Whiteman (08:09):
Oh, okay, probably number one find like a
club that really speaks to you.
For me that was SCA, becauseI'd already been in SCA for
three years throughout middleschool.
Number two probably trysomething new.
I like Jeopardy, so ScholasticBowl made sense to me and it's
technically counted as a sport,so I'm a sports person.
Matt Graham (08:25):
There you go, that counts.
Kiera Whiteman (08:28):
Yeah, and then number three, I don't know.
Try to take some time whereyou're not doing anything like
make time from your time.
Matt Graham (08:34):
I think that's great advice.
Kiera Whiteman (08:35):
Schoolwork piles up and all your
extracurriculars.
They feel like a lot sometimes,but you want all of them.
Matt Graham (08:41):
All right, all right.
Is there anything else that youwould like to share with our
Chesapeake Public Schools familyas we begin this new year?
Kiera Whiteman (08:50):
Perseverance is key, like, just keep going with
it, you got it All right, well,thank you so much, kira.
Matt Graham (08:55):
It's been great having you on the podcast.
We hope you have a great yearand we wish you nothing but
success in the future.
It sounds like you got a lot ofavenues planned out If you
needed to go different channelsyou.
You're going to find your path,so congratulations, and it's
been a pleasure talking with you, thank you.
Did you know that ChesapeakePublic Schools has an app?
(09:25):
Stay up to date on news, eventsand reminders for the district
and your school.
Visit the App Store or GooglePlay Store to download the app
today.
It's everything Chesapeake inyour pocket.
Be a part of the ChesapeakePublic Schools family.
We are hiring teachers, busdrivers, school nutrition
(09:47):
workers, nurses and more.
Richard Babb (09:56):
Visit cpschoolscom or call 757-547-0001 to join
our team.
So, as we said at the beginning, the kids are back in
attendance at school, andattendance actually is an
important word.
Right now, september isAttendance Awareness Month, and
it is important, very important,for kids to be in school, just
like it's important for peopleto be at work, and so the person
(10:19):
who's in charge of attendancefor the entire Chesapeake School
district is with us today.
Matt Graham (10:24):
Welcome to the show .
Do you mind telling ourlisteners a little bit about
yourself and what you do?
Yvette Lagares (10:30):
Mr Richie Bab.
Matt Graham (10:31):
Yes.
Yvette Lagares (10:31):
Mr Matt Graham.
I'm Yvette Lagaris.
I work in the Office of StudentEnrollment and Attendance for
Chesapeake Public Schools.
We help families get enrolledand make sure that they attend.
We are there to help them havea successful year.
Matt Graham (10:44):
Okay very good Nice .
Now, can you tell us how youended up in the position that
you have now?
Word on the street.
You used to work in the courts,Did you?
Richard Babb (10:52):
work in a court?
Did you work for the police orsomething before?
Yvette Lagares (10:54):
I never was a police officer.
I never was in that side ofthings.
So I moved down to the HamptonRoads area in 2002.
My sister and my brother-in-lawwere like, hey, come on down
here, that's a great place to be, and they were both military.
So I moved down here and sixmonths later my sister gets
deployed.
(11:14):
I'm like really.
But when my first job here wasactually at the Norfolk
Sheriff's Office, I was whatthey call a classification
specialist.
So the idea is, when people getdetained or incarcerated, you
want to make sure that thehousing situation is accurate.
You don't want to have someonethat might have only two or
(11:35):
three days because theymisdefined or something, in the
same cell block as someone who'saccused of something maybe a
little bit more violent.
Richard Babb (11:43):
Got you.
Yvette Lagares (11:44):
So and then there's sometimes that inmates
need some social services, likea call home to mom or an
attorney or something alongthose lines, Maybe a phone call
to a family member to make surethat when they get released
there's someone there to pickthem up.
Richard Babb (11:59):
Things along those lines.
Wow, okay, I didn't know therewas such a job, was that?
No?
No, I did not.
Yvette Lagares (12:05):
So actually all the Hampton Roads area jails
have that kind of position, evenat the state level.
And then from the Sheriff'sOffice I went over to the
Chesapeake Magistrates Office.
I was a magistrate in the cityfor about six years.
From there I went over to thecourthouse and I was an intake
officer.
So that's a juvenile equivalentof a magistrate, I would say.
(12:27):
And then from there I made theleap to Chesapeake Public
Schools and I've been with theschool division since 2014.
I started off in the studentconduct office.
I actually have a degree inhistory and a master's in
education, so I took all myexperience in the working world
and my education and it cameinto play with student conduct
(12:49):
and supports.
And then I made the transitionover to student enrollment
because I wanted to do truancycourt I was familiar with the
court and the people and theprocesses and attendance is my
jam, so I figured hey, thiswould be great.
Matt Graham (13:02):
Well, it seems like you are the perfect fit.
Richard Babb (13:04):
Yeah, so how many days a week, or how many days in
a month, do you end up havingto go to court?
Yvette Lagares (13:09):
Well, our truancy program has expanded a
lot, unfortunately, but there isa need for it, and I first got
this position we would go everyMonday, and it is now so up to
four times a month.
Now, five years later, thecourt has recognized the need
that we have and we've expandedfrom initially four days per
(13:32):
month to the possibility of upto 16 days per month.
Kiera Whiteman (13:36):
Whoa.
Yvette Lagares (13:37):
So we have four judges and we have a schedule.
I know which courtroom I wouldbe in on Monday if I have a
docket each on Tuesday.
I know the judge, whichcourtroom, et cetera.
Essentially, when we take afamily to Turin C court, it is a
last resort.
We are not doing it to bepunitive, but we're hoping to
(13:58):
use it as a springboard forother services.
And sometimes it's not even inaction against a parent.
It might be a juvenile, astudent that has decided that he
or she is not gonna be going toschool anymore, and it's the
parent reaching out to us sayinghey, I need help.
I've tried X, y and Z.
(14:19):
I need to get the courtinvolved.
And we're there.
Richard Babb (14:22):
Yeah, I have a thousand questions.
I'm not gonna ask all of them.
Kiera Whiteman (14:27):
I'm not gonna ask 999 of them, I know.
Richard Babb (14:30):
I know you are.
So what's the most commonproblem?
What causes Turin C?
I'm sure there's a whole rangeof things.
Yvette Lagares (14:38):
Yeah, where do I begin?
So we have some families whereit's just a pattern.
I didn't graduate from highschool, I didn't see the
necessity and I've passed thatalong to my kid.
There's sometimes it's a matterof need.
Hey, I may have lost my job andmy 16, 17 year old son or
daughter is supplementing ourincome and we need to work.
(15:00):
Because what do you choose?
Do you choose going to schoolover paying the rent?
So sometimes it's family needs,sometimes it's just barriers to
attendance, such as maybe whereyou live, it's difficult to get
access to the things that youneed for school.
It can be a lot of differentthings.
But right now, unfortunately, Ican say we are seeing more and
(15:24):
more students that have schoolaversion because of mental
health needs, and I respect youIf you tell me that you are just
suffering from depression andanxiety.
I respect you for saying thatto me because that's a big step
right there.
But now that I know, let's seeif I can get you the help that
you need.
And mom, dad, it's not easy,it's not easy as a parent.
(15:46):
When you hear that your kid hasanxiety or depression, what do
you do?
I mean, I'm looking at you both.
Am I the youngest one in thisroom?
I don't know.
Richard Babb (15:56):
Yes, maybe, I don't know.
You're definitely younger thanme.
Well, okay.
Yvette Lagares (16:00):
As an 80s baby, we were out until the street
lights were on and all thisstuff, but we were latchkey kids
.
We didn't.
I didn't say to my mom, hey,I'm feeling anxious, hey, I'm
feeling depressed.
So now myself, as a mother, ifmy child were to come to me and
say something like that, I don'thave a frame of reference.
(16:22):
And, as a parent, not having aframe of reference, and you see
that your child needs something,it's hard.
Richard Babb (16:29):
Yeah.
Yvette Lagares (16:30):
So again, we're not using this as a punitive
measure, we're using it as aspringboard.
Matt Graham (16:35):
Yeah, okay, because sometimes that's good to know.
Yeah, I think that's a greatthing.
Richard Babb (16:40):
So let's look at it from the other side.
What is attendance so important?
I mean, it seems like a stupidquestion, all right.
Yvette Lagares (16:47):
I'm on my soap pops people.
Richard Babb (16:48):
All right, so that's what you're here for.
Yvette Lagares (16:49):
Yeah, attendance is important Because, first of
all, we're here to give a greatexample to kids about showing up
, whether it's showing up toschool or showing up in life,
showing up for their family,showing up for their jobs.
So if we start showing thatmodel now, we're raising young
adults that understand that yougotta be there, right, you know
(17:12):
that whole, you gotta be in itto win it, kind of thing.
The other thing there is a highcorrelation between student
success and attendance.
If little Billy or littleYvette is having a difficulty
reading, well, let's take a stepback.
Are they there every day?
Are they getting the assistancethat they need?
Are they there on time?
These things they correlate andwe don't think about it, but
(17:35):
they do.
And attendance is actually agood predictor as to whether or
not a child's gonna graduate.
But our teachers are some ofthe best in the state and in
order for them our children, ourstudents, to fully grasp the
lesson, they have to be there,they have to be present.
And then we talk about thesocial, emotional side of it.
You're connecting with yourpeers, you're interacting with
(17:58):
adults, you're learning valuablethings when you're in school.
It's not just the reading,writing, arithmetic.
So attendance is important.
You know your kid can't be thatstar soccer player for that
budding.
I mean I couldn't think of ananswer.
Matt Graham (18:16):
I'm sorry, that's good, that's good, and that's
alliteration there too.
Oh, thank you.
Yvette Lagares (18:21):
Your child can't learn to be these things if he
or she is not showing up forthose lessons Right.
So if we're putting value on,you know, the soccer practices
and the football practices andthe bassoon practices, you know
we need to put value oneducation.
And I'm not saying becauseevery child is going to go off
to college.
You know he or she may choosethe trade route, they may find
(18:44):
another path in life, they mightgo into the military.
But even those paths you needto show up, you need to be
present, right.
So we're training our young tobe there for us and to give them
the skillset that they need tobe successful.
Attendance does matter and ourgoal is to have your child
graduate and be prepared forlife.
Richard Babb (19:04):
Yeah, this is a push for September was a push in
September.
What are some of the thingsthat we do to encourage
attendance?
Yvette Lagares (19:12):
Chesapeake Public Schools.
Overall, we're an invitingplace Again.
We have some of the bestteachers.
We do everything and anythingthat we can to make our school a
welcoming environment and evenwhen there's barriers, we have
school counselors, we haveschool social workers.
We have a lot of support staffto make this the best possible
(19:33):
transition for you.
We ask that you, as parents,that you talk to your kids about
school, about the need to behere, that you set a good
example, whether it's going tobed early so that you can get up
nice and early and have thatbreakfast, or go to school and
have breakfast, because weprovide that as well.
We encourage you to talk toyour kids about why it matters
(19:53):
to be in school.
We encourage you to do thingssuch as reading to them in the
evening so that they can.
They can get a little grasp ofwhat's going on, and when they
see that you're invested intheir schooling, they become
invested, because you can't showme a child that isn't eager and
willing to show mom and dadlook what I've done, look what I
can do.
When they see you there,they're there.
Matt Graham (20:15):
Yeah, yeah.
What are the things thatfamilies should do?
If a student has to miss Likethey're sick, what do you do?
Yvette Lagares (20:22):
We encourage you to have communication with the
school.
We understand situations come up, kids get sick, that's what
they do but we need to know whenyour child is not in school and
we don't know, we worry.
So if you have a parent viewaccount and you should have a
parent view account, and thatwould be the first thing that I
encourage families to do is tomake sure that their parent view
(20:42):
account is active, make surethat they're checking in,
because we send notificationsvia parent view.
But you, as a parent, if youwake up in the morning and you
see that your little one has afever and you know that they're
not going to school that day,you can submit a note to the
school that morning via yourparent view and that lets the
school know.
If not, you can communicatewith the teacher or the
(21:04):
attendance clerk at the school.
If there's something else goingon, we ask that you let us know
because we can support you inthat matter.
Is your child feeling anxiousbecause they're having a hard
time reading?
Are they feeling anxiousbecause the social environment?
Talk to us.
Maybe we can put supports inplace, but the number one thing
I would say is to have a parentview account and to communicate
(21:26):
with your teacher.
And sometimes you know, lifehappens.
Let's say, I get that DisneyWorld trip and hey, you know
half of it's already paid for orwhatnot.
I understand that you're makinga decision as a family to take
that vacation.
Those are precious memories.
But we do ask that you beconscious of the fact that
there's 180 days in the schoolyear your child might be able to
(21:50):
make up that work that he orshe missed, but it's not a
replacement for that missedinstruction.
So, yes, you made that decisionas a family and I respect that.
I'm a mom too, but just becognizant of the rest of the
year.
Are you going to now try andtake another trip?
And you know those absences addup.
Plus, you never know when yourchild's going to get sick.
(22:11):
So when you're planning thesevacations, try and plan it
during school breaks, thenatural breaks that we have.
I have a this hurts me to say Ihave a freshman.
Even with a freshman, I don'tknow when he's going to get sick
.
No-transcript.
I know that I need to have agame plan for when he is.
And at the high school level itreally matters when your child
(22:33):
misses school, because seat timeis a factor in your child
passing.
Your child can be Einstein passevery quiz, every test, turn it
all his homework.
But if he or she doesn't havethe seat time and that's a state
requirement then he or she mayfail on attendance alone.
Matt Graham (22:51):
Right, can you tell us a little bit more about the
seat time?
Yvette Lagares (22:54):
There's 180 days in the school year and at the
high school level we have blockscheduling.
That block scheduling iscalculated down to the minute to
make sure you get the requiredamount of hours in that
classroom.
So when you have blockscheduling, the magic number for
you to remember is nine.
At nine days, excused orunexcused, if your child's
(23:16):
passing, they're passing, butonce you hit 10, that's an issue
of seat time.
So if I got the flu and I meanit hit me really bad you guys, I
was out for two weeks.
I was passing this class and Iwas still doing my work.
But because I've missed 10 days, I've missed the amount of seat
(23:37):
time required of me.
Now, at the end of the semester, we have an attendance waiver
process and I can submit mydocumentation, my parent can
submit my documentation as towhy, literally, that missed the
required seat time.
The school looks at it on acase-by-case basis.
They may be able to grant you awaiver on the seat time.
(24:00):
However, let's say I'm gone twoweeks because I went on
vacation, or hey, I'm a frequentskipper and my parents don't
know.
Or let's say, I just forgot thereasons.
I knew it was something valid,but I forgot the reasons and I
never turned anything in.
So now we don't have a reason.
That event missed 10 days ormore of that particular class.
(24:22):
So now, even though I got an Ain everything and even though I
worked diligently to catch backup, I'm gonna fail on attendance
.
And not only that attendancecounts for our accreditation.
Chesapeake Public Schools hasgreat schools.
We meet benchmarks, our kidsare passing SOLs.
We are accredited by the state.
But people need to realize thatone of the factors for
(24:44):
accreditation is your studentattendance.
The state looks at what theycall the chronic absenteeism
rate.
So a chronic absenteeism rateis 10% of the school year, so 18
days.
The state wants to know whetheror not we're coming to school.
They don't care about thereason that your child's missing
school, whether it was excusedor unexcused.
(25:05):
They wanna know what ourchronic absenteeism rate.
So go back to that Einsteinexample, passing all the classes
, the whole school full ofEinstein's.
But if those children arechronically absent, it's going
to affect the accreditation ofthe school.
We work hard for our kids, youwork hard for your students,
your kids, and it would be ashame for the quality of
(25:28):
Chesapeake Public Schools to betarnished because of chronic
absenteeism.
Matt Graham (25:33):
And it's good to know that Chesapeake Public
Schools provides resources inregards to this.
Yvette Lagares (25:38):
Yeah, I mean, we understand things happen in
life with our kids.
Hey, she was really bad off.
I had to take off from workbecause I couldn't.
She needed someone by her side.
You pivot, you make it happen,but we need you to be in
communication with us, Gotcha.
Matt Graham (25:55):
So the Virginia Department of Education has
recently launched an attendancecampaign with the hashtag
attendance matters VA.
Yvette Lagares (26:04):
The attendance has been an issue for the state.
It's been an issue prior toCOVID and now post COVID.
It is bad.
It is bad in the state.
It is bad in the United States.
There isn't a school divisionacross America that is not being
negatively impacted by theirattendance numbers.
So, yes, attendance matters.
(26:24):
Va is a push from the BDOE andwe're all on board.
We want your kids here.
We want them to be successful.
We care for them.
Richard Babb (26:32):
That's why we're here Right, exactly Right.
Thanks for joining us.
I enjoyed the conversationimmensely, right.
Yvette Lagares (26:40):
It was awesome, richie Bab.
It's always a pleasure, alwaysa pleasure.
Richard Babb (26:42):
Thank you very much.
Matt Graham (26:43):
And Graham, you too , no thanks, I remember.
Hashtag attendance matters.
Richard Babb (26:48):
VA.
Matt Graham (26:49):
That's right, right on, all right, all right.
Richard Babb (26:59):
Thanks for listening to this episode of
Amplified the Chesapeake PublicSchools podcast.
You can share your thoughts byvisiting cpschoolscom slash
amplified.
Don't forget to follow us onSpotify, apple podcast, google
podcast, amazon music orwherever you get your podcast.
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