{"id":457115,"date":"2026-09-08T11:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/457115\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T11:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:10:13","slug":"how-an-l-a-charter-school-beat-chronic-absenteeism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/457115\/","title":{"rendered":"How an L.A. charter school beat chronic absenteeism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scholarship Prep South Bay, a Wilmington charter school, touts a rare benchmark of success. Last year, none of the substantial number of homeless students it educates were chronically absent, school officials said, a goal they hope to maintain as school opens. <\/p>\n

The school, which offers transitional kindergarten through eighth grade, enrolled 421 students last year, and 54 experienced homelessness. Addressing their basic needs by offering a host of services to all students and families \u2014 nearly 93% of children come from low-income households \u2014 is a priority that boosts attendance. <\/p>\n

In addition to government funding it receives as a public school, Scholarship Prep also relies on community partners for donations or services such as food, school supplies and hygiene kits.<\/p>\n

Students are served breakfast and lunch and can receive before- and after-school care as well as school uniforms and hygiene supplies, and families are given a Metro GoPass TAP card to help with transportation.<\/p>\n

On-site health and wellness services are provided as well as washers and dryers. In the classroom, social and emotional learning is embedded into the day\u2018s lessons, staff have been trained on helping students exposed to traumatic experiences, and counseling services are available.<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

\"a <\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

1. Seventh grader Deoine hugs Electives Instructor Monique Ellison in a dolphin costume on the first day of school. 2. A young student\u2019s new backpack on the first day of school. <\/p>\n

For families, weekly food provisions and community grocery assistance are provided as needed as well as hotel assistance and a mobile phone preloaded with information on community resources such as food pantries in the area and mental health resources. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe create a school where everyone is welcome, cares about students and families, has incredible wraparound services, gives students what they need \u2014 and they stay,\u201d Scholarship Prep chief executive and co-founder Jason Watts said. The services and care keep students in class, he said.<\/p>\n

Students make academic progress<\/p>\n

Homelessness and high chronic absenteeism are linked.<\/p>\n

Statewide data <\/a>show that students experiencing homelessness have among the highest rates of chronic absenteeism at about 35%, far above the state figure of 19%. At the same time, the number of homeless students in Los Angeles County has surged 28% in recent years \u2014 from 47,689 in the 2022-23 school year to 61,249 in 2023-24 \u2014 according to studies from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.<\/p>\n

Scholarship Prep officials say they\u2019re not only addressing that problem, but also their students are on a solid academic path. <\/p>\n

\"Third-grader <\/p>\n

Third-grader Oluwatamilore waits outside for the start of classes.<\/p>\n

Based on the most recently available state test data for the spring 2025 testing period, the results at the school are promising. Yet overall scores remain low.<\/p>\n

In English, 37.3% of students meet or exceed state goals in English, compared to 47.4% statewide and 46.5% in L.A. Unified for comparable grades.
In math, 21.4% of the charter\u2019s students meet or exceed state goals in math, compared to 37.3% statewide and 36.8% in L.A. Unified.<\/p>\n

This comparison, however, is somewhat misleading. If the data are screened for students from low-income families, most of the performance gap disappears. And even within this low-economic group, the charter serves a higher percentage of homeless students. Also, about 1 one in 4 of its students has moved in or out of the school over the course of a school year.<\/p>\n

The students make progress toward nearing proficiency during elementary and middle school. However, there is an academic drop, especially in math, when students transition from elementary to middle school, which is a widespread issue across education.<\/p>\n

Building trust with families<\/p>\n

The campus family resource center helps build a confidential bond with students and families. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe lead with love and respect,\u201d said Kristen Crowe, the school\u2019s chief community officer. There are no invasive conversations, but rather a commitment to belonging over judgment, she added. <\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

\"Eighth <\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

\"Kindergartner <\/p>\n

1. Eighth grade teacher Melody Stambaugh speaks with eighth grader Amber during their morning meeting at Scholarship Prep – South Bay. (Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os\/Los Angeles Times) 2. Kindergartner Gianna holds a breakfast meal on her first day of school. <\/p>\n

A \u201crainbow cart\u201d in each classroom contains necessities such as deodorant, hair care supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste along with school supplies. Teachers can assess how students are doing by paying attention to how much they take from the cart. <\/p>\n

Quenisha Johnson, mother of four \u2014 including a third-grader, an eighth-grader and a recent graduate of the school \u2014 said her family has experienced housing instability, and the school supports her children with food boxes, supplies and counseling. <\/p>\n

All three daughters have competed on the dance team at no cost, with the two oldest becoming team captains and student leaders. The school\u2019s readiness to help, especially by providing mental health support, has been key to their strong attendance. <\/p>\n

Principal Allison Vann attributes the school\u2019s high attendance rate to the students\u2019 sense of belonging. <\/p>\n

\u201cLoving the whole child includes the family,\u201d Vann said. \u201cI\u2019m a principal but I\u2019m more than that. I\u2019m doing house visits. A kid is crying and I\u2019m a mom of four \u2014 I\u2019ll hold them until their mom gets here.\u201d<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

\"Eighth <\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

\"Wilmington <\/p>\n

1. Eighth grader Erick works on a morning activity during eighth grade teacher Melody Stambaugh\u2019s class. 2. Wilmington resident Jessica Avalos, 29, says goodbye to her son Jaxson at the entrance of school. <\/p>\n

The school day begins with a classroom meeting, known as \u201cmorning meeting,\u201d where students complete check-in questions to help the teacher track their circumstances and needs. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur full training in the summer helps us support kids that are actively experiencing trauma; they may have behavioral issues and we don\u2019t want to lash out back,\u201d eighth-grade teacher Melody Stambaugh said. \u201cWe want to make sure that we\u2019re patient and provide a safe space for them to confide on what\u2019s actually going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The kids notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite thing about being here is that the teachers are very friendly, and you get to connect with them. They\u2019re very helpful also, no matter if you need support with a specific subject, whether it\u2019s outside of school or not,\u201d said Jace, a 14-year-old eighth-grader who asked that his last name not be used to protect his privacy.<\/p>\n

Students are encouraged to make use of \u201ccalming corners\u201d in each classroom <\/a>where they can find instructions for breathing exercises, fidgets and stress balls and noise-canceling headphones. Students also have access to a mental health room where they can take 10 minutes to de-stress at any point.<\/p>\n

\"a <\/p>\n

Eighth-grade teacher Melody Stambaugh leaps in the air after being introduced during a prep rally for all students at Scholarship Prep South Bay.<\/p>\n

Scholarship Prep maintains more than 50 community partnerships to bring students experiencing homelessness the services they need. Project Hope Alliance, a private nonprofit that partners with schools to bring resources to students experiencing homelessness, is one key partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur greatest impact is by investing in today\u2019s students experiencing homelessness,\u201d said Jennifer Friend, CEO of Project Hope Alliance, one of Scholarship Prep\u2019s community partners. \u201cEvery day I get to watch our youth show up powerfully, and that is an investment well placed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scholarship Prep South Bay, a Wilmington charter school, touts a rare benchmark of success. Last year, none of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[3409,18895,6159,64279,217,180395,1431,2194,180394,180398,131,133,132,30096,180397,180396,4265,4747],"class_list":["post-457115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-child","tag-chronic-absenteeism","tag-classroom","tag-community-partner","tag-day","tag-experienced-homelessness","tag-family","tag-goal","tag-homeless-student","tag-hygiene-supply","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-math","tag-mental-health-resource","tag-scholarship-prep","tag-school","tag-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}