Patrick Henry Elementary takes creative approach to fixing chronic absenteeism

MARTINSVILLE, Va. ( WFXR ) — The White House says the number of chronically absent students nearly doubled after COVID-19.

A local school addressed absenteeism with something new. At Patrick Henry Elementary School (PHES) in Martinsville, they’ve created five houses. You might recognize the idea of schoolhouses from Harry Potter, where students are placed in Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. PHES’s houses are all based on traits they want to see in their students: responsibility, innovation, determination, trustworthiness, and respect.

Kids have house colors, earn points for their team, and have house meetings once a month, where they get together with students of all ages as well as staff.

Principal Cameron Cooper says it’s been a hit with students, who love the competition and house spirit, but they also saw chronic absenteeism drop at a much faster rate.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, PHES had a chronic absenteeism rate of about 3%. The first year after COVID-19, it was around 22%, then 17% the following year, and dropped to 14% last year. Principal Cooper says it dropped back down to single digits this year.

“We had a big drop this year which was great,” said Principal Cooper, “And it just was students felt more connected.”

Cooper says they’re not the first school in the area to try this and they’ll definitely be doing it again next year with some changes like adding a house leader and strengthening the house meetings.

“For students to really take on the spirits of their house because there are chants that go with a house, hand motions that go with a house,” she said. “Students really, really bought into it. That was a great takeaway from this.”

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