Schools in Douglas, Sarpy counties see improvements in attendance with 'School as Hub' model

At Millard’s Cody Elementary — one of the schools utilizing the School as Hub model to connect families with the district — the number of students chronically absent improved from 26% to 10% in the last four years, according to Andy DeFreece, director of elementary education for Millard Public Schools.

Chronic absenteeism is when a student misses 10% or more of school.

“Relationships drive attendance,” DeFreece said. “Engagement drives attendance.”

The School as Hub model is one part of a broader plan with 11 superintendents across Douglas and Sarpy counties that aims to help children living in poverty improve in school. The state legislature mandated the creation of the plan about 10 years ago. One specific goal to come from the plan is aimed at early childhood education, which is where the School as Hub model fits in.

Amy Schmidtke, the director of educational practice with the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, said School as Hub connects families with their district before the student is enrolled. Officials at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute help guide school leaders at the School as Hub sites.

“When they enroll their child in kindergarten, it's kind of an intimidating time of bringing their little one to school for the first time and just handing them off to a teacher and crossing their fingers that it's going to be exactly what they're hoping it can be,” Schmidtke said. “But the programming that we offer in the School as Hub sites with the home visitors and the family facilitators, they make that transition a lot more comfortable and informed.”

Schmidtke added that families can build relationships with the school and learn what they can do at home to help their child’s development, which she also sees lowering chronic absenteeism.

Kailey Snyder, an assistant professor at the School of Health and Kinesiology at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, has led the evaluation of the superintendent’s plan for the past three years with the University of Nebraska Medical Center Munroe-Meyer Institute. Snyder said having these direct connections to the school could be a reason why chronic absenteeism rates have been better in the buildings using the School as Hub model.

“If there's trust in the school, if there's trust in the people within the school, families are going to feel not only more likely to want their child to be there, but also, if something comes up, if there are barriers that they're facing, then they have trusted resources to go to for those barriers,” Snyder said.

In the evaluations, Snyder said families reported feeling supported by their school connections and they feel like they have a voice in their child’s education.

Schmidtke spoke with a mom whose son was part of School as Hub when the program was starting. She said the parent shared how the model impacted her now-fifth-grade son’s education.

“She was able to connect to the school in such a meaningful way, and she spoke to how profound that really was for him to be set up for success,” Schmidtke said. “As he looks towards middle school coming up, she feels really that being part of School as Hub was really integral to him having that strong foundation for lifelong learning.”

The model makes it easier for students to transition from those early childhood years to kindergarten, Schmidtke said. Those early years can also impact a child’s growth through 8 years old and beyond.

“We're doing everything we can to really be brain builders for that child, so that they have the strongest start they possibly can,” Schmidtke said.

DeFreece in Millard said it’s important for schools to establish relationships with families in those early years so students have the best chance at improved educational outcomes.

“I think they see us as a partner and as an ally,” he said. “They see us as people that they can trust. They see us as people who are going to be responsive to their needs, and they see it as a reciprocal relationship versus a top-down relationship or school is something that's done to them.”

DeFreece said Sandoz Elementary, the other Millard school using School as Hub, showed similar progress in attendance as Cody Elementary.

Millard school officials have been able to take what they learned from the model and apply it to other schools throughout the district, DeFreece said. Millard implemented the use of home visitors in all of its Title I schools. The district also prepared a family engagement framework for the two School as Hub buildings that other schools in the district can access.

“If we can align our practices from birth through grade three and beyond, that makes for smoother transitions for children,” DeFreece said. “It makes sure the learning isn't isolated from one level to the next. It just makes for better continuity and better coherence, and that's an organizing principle around School as Hub, but that's all stuff that we can do beyond and not just at those two buildings.”

DeFreece said the district is now looking at ways to focus on improving math scores, especially with the help of parents and the connections Millard has made with School as Hub.