By Tim Mulligan and Jessica Knapp<\/p>\n
As families check off back-to-school shopping lists this summer, they\u2019re making sure students have notebooks, backpacks, pencils and new shoes. There\u2019s one thing, though, that no parent can buy \u2014 and every student needs: a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to think student success begins with curriculum, test scores or technology. Those things matter. But after working alongside students and educators across Pennsylvania, we\u2019ve learned something just as important: Students learn best when they know they matter.<\/p>\n
That truth came into focus this spring at Mosser Elementary School in Allentown School District. Thirty-seven students accepted a challenge through Communities In Schools\u2019 new Attendance Counts initiative. They weren\u2019t students with perfect attendance. Quite the opposite. These second, third and fourth graders had each missed 16-22 days of school the previous year, putting them on the brink of chronic absenteeism. The goal wasn\u2019t complicated: Miss 15 days or fewer this school year.<\/p>\n
What happened next wasn\u2019t about rewards or punishment. Every month, our site coordinator met with students individually, celebrated their progress, encouraged them through setbacks and reminded them why showing up mattered. Along the way, there were small celebrations, words of encouragement and plenty of high-fives.<\/p>\n
Students who met their goal earned a pizza party at the end of the year. The pizza wasn\u2019t what changed their behavior. The relationships did. By year\u2019s end, 15 students had met the challenge. Even more encouraging, nearly half of the group \u2014 48% \u2014 were no longer considered chronically absent. Those numbers tell a bigger story than attendance alone.<\/p>\n
They represent children who reconnected with classmates, built stronger relationships with teachers, regained confidence and rediscovered that school could be a place where they were excited to be. That\u2019s what belonging looks like.<\/p>\n
Across the country, educators are searching for ways to address chronic absenteeism, declining student engagement and growing mental health concerns. According to the U.S. Department of Education, nearly 1 in 3 students is chronically absent \u2014 that\u2019s nearly 15 million students nationwide.<\/p>\n
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also reported alarming levels of persistent sadness and hopelessness among teenagers. These are often discussed as separate challenges, but in reality they\u2019re deeply connected. Students who don\u2019t feel connected are more likely to miss school. Students who miss school fall behind. Falling behind can make students feel even less connected, creating a cycle that\u2019s difficult to break.<\/p>\n
The good news is that the opposite is also true. When students feel seen, supported and valued, attendance improves. Engagement grows. Academic performance follows.<\/p>\n
Communities In Schools\u2019 holistic approach supports the whole child, which extends to students\u2019 families and caregivers. Engaging parents and caregivers with their child(ren)\u2019s school is imperative to student success and ensures the continuity of care and development.<\/p>\n
Last school year, Communities In Schools affiliates throughout Pennsylvania served nearly 65,000 students and families through an integrated student supports model, which places caring professionals inside schools, where they work shoulder-to-shoulder with educators to identify barriers before they become crises.<\/p>\n
Sometimes that means connecting a family with housing or food resources. Sometimes it means helping a student access mental health support. Sometimes it\u2019s helping a child join an after-school club, reconnect with classmates or simply making sure someone notices when they aren\u2019t in school. Those moments may seem small. They\u2019re anything but.<\/p>\n
Research continues to affirm that a strong sense of school belonging is linked to better attendance, stronger academic performance, improved mental health and higher graduation rates. Students don\u2019t thrive because every obstacle disappears. They thrive because someone helps them navigate those obstacles and reminds them they don\u2019t have to do it alone. We see that every day across Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Graduation isn\u2019t simply the finish line. It\u2019s the beginning of opportunity \u2014 for college, careers, military service and meaningful participation in our communities. Research underscores the lasting value of investing in student success.<\/p>\n
A recent Harvard\/Cornell study found that three years of CIS programming \u2014 an investment of about $3,000 per student \u2014 is associated with an estimated increase of more than $75,000 in lifetime earnings. Every student who graduates strengthens our workforce, our economy and our neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
As another school year begins, conversations about education will inevitably focus on academic recovery, standardized testing and workforce readiness. Those conversations are important, but they miss a fundamental truth.
\n Students cannot achieve their full potential until they believe they belong. Belonging isn\u2019t a feel-good slogan. It\u2019s not an extracurricular activity or an add-on when budgets allow. It\u2019s the foundation upon which attendance, achievement and long-term success are built.<\/p>\n
If we want students to thrive, we must invest in more than academics. We must invest in the relationships that help every child walk through the school doors knowing that someone is glad they\u2019re there. Connections to caring adults are vital to keep students engaged in school. And the more students succeed, the stronger our communities become.<\/p>\n
Sometimes changing a student\u2019s future starts with something as simple as a monthly check-in, a conversation in the hallway, or a slice of pizza shared to celebrate hard work. More often than not, it starts with making sure every student knows one simple truth: You belong here.<\/p>\n
This is a contributed opinion column. Tim Mulligan is president\/CEO of Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania and Jessica Knapp is president\/CEO of Communities In Schools of Pennsylvania. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. For more details on commentaries, read our guide to guest opinions at themorningcall.com\/opinions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Tim Mulligan and Jessica Knapp As families check off back-to-school shopping lists this summer, they\u2019re making sure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,1559],"class_list":["post-272514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}