ARVIAT
Staff members at John Arnalukjuak High School (JAHS) and local members of the district education authority (DEA) have launched a number of proactive initiatives aimed at encouraging youth with low-attendance habits to attend school on a regular basis.

JAHS came under scrutiny this past month, when principal Judy Connor deregistered 42 students for the remainder of the fall semester who were attending school less than 40 per cent of the time.

The action was reported in some Northern media despite the fact not a single parent was quoted as having objections to the move.

The students can reregister in the new year.

Superintendent of schools Cully Robinson of Kivalliq Student Operations in Baker Lake said the principal and staff at JAHS are united around getting students back in school and making it a safe-and-welcoming environment.

He said the initiatives JAHS has taken to achieve that goal show the staff's dedication to the task.

"There have been combined efforts from the school and the DEA in this regard," said Robinson. "Teachers have been organized into home-room groupings this year with the responsibility to phone students and reach out to them. There's a school community counsellor who does phone and home visit outreach, as well as academic outreach by the guidance counsellor and administrators to students who come into the school wanting to program their classes.

"And the DEA has hired attendance officers who make calls and home visits to encourage attendance and see what can be done to support the families."

Robinson said making teachers familiar with where students live is also part of the general orientation at JAHS.

He said there is also lots of encouragement for staff members to be involved with community events.

"These initiatives have been bearing fruit in the sense classes, timetables and instructional practices are aimed at supporting students at the level they find themselves, so they feel confident moving forward.

"There's been a very concerted effort to identify what the academic and personal needs of students are, so those can be taken into account as teachers reach out to them.

"A lot of time has been spent on helping students identify the post-graduation goals they may have, so they can pick the right courses and understand the workload that's necessary.

"It calls for a different set of courses if you want to go into a trade, nursing, or law, and that's been a very intense part of the work at the school."

Robinson said the group of students who were deregistered were in Grades 10 to 12 and need to acquire credits to graduate.

He said attendance is directly linked to achievement in order to do that.

"Once a student falls below 40 per cent, they're not engaged enough to attend. With the group of students who were addressed with this, their attendance and total marks in their courses had made it impossible for them to achieve any credits between now and the end of semester.

"So, they've been advised to think about the position they found themselves in and come back and try again in the new year."

Robinson said the action taken is building upon current policy and past initiatives.

He said it's also part of the Arviat DEA's IQ policy that notes attendance and student responsibility, as well as the interim directive of attendance from the Department of Education.

"A student who does come back needs to sit down with the administration and counsellors to figure out what their plan is to succeed, and then build upon that plan.

"Students who need to accrue credits are being advised they've reached the point of no return in this set of courses, and the next opportunity for them to try again will be in January.

"I have not received a single e-mail or phone call of complaint concerning the action taken, and, in fact, I'm aware there's been a lot of support from both students and families.

"JAHS is, absolutely, structuring itself around how to re-engage the students who need to get back in."

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