Roughly 34% of all college students within the Pittsburgh Public Colleges are thought of chronically absent, that means they missed no less than 10% of college days. Analysis exhibits that this may trigger critical issues, affecting whether or not a pupil is prone to learn by third grade or graduate from highschool.
With greater than half of scholars continuously absent, Pittsburgh Arlington has one of many highest charges of power absence within the district. Due to that, the nanas program tries to intervene early on.
Along with the nice and cozy calls, households in this system obtain free van rides to and from Pittsburgh Arlington every day. A lot of them lack the transportation or assets to get their youngsters there in any other case.
The varsity district doesn’t present busing to college students who stay lower than a mile and a half from the college constructing, as an alternative asking them to stroll or discover one other strategy to faculty.
In response to the district, greater than 60% of Pittsburgh Arlington’s roughly 353 college students fall inside that vary. Vervina Nelson’s son, a kindergartener there, is amongst them.
“And he’s only 5 years old. So it’s like the rain, the snow, when it’s cold, it’s too much — and it’s a nice walk,” Nelson says. “I mean, he’s going up hills, like it’s a walk.”
However driving him hasn’t essentially been an choice both. Nelson works at a hospital as a care assistant and sometimes needs to be there lengthy earlier than the college day begins.
As a result of Pittsburgh Arlington doesn’t have before-school care for youths with mother and father who should be at work, Nelson has to depend on her oldest daughter.
“If she doesn’t have to be at work, I would have her take him, or I would try to call my sister and have her take him,” Nelson explains. “Or he missed a lot of days and had to stay home with my mom.”
She even referred to as the college board to see whether or not it may prepare transportation, however got here up empty. District officers mentioned that whereas colleges are partnering with group teams to fill within the gaps, they’ll’t attain everybody.
Nelson says her son ended up lacking a lot of the primary two months of college: “There were times where, the days that he was missing, he was begging to go to school.”
Then, just a few weeks into the college 12 months, Pittsburgh Arlington related Nelson with the nanas program. She now will get her son prepared for college earlier than she leaves for work, and a member of the family makes certain he will get on the college van.
Her designated nana, Gwen, calls every morning too. Nelson mentioned the dialog all the time ends with “I love you.”
“She’s a joy,” Nelson mentioned. “We’ll tell each other, ‘Oh, I’m going to pray for you today. Will you pray for me?’ She’s a sweetheart.”
The nanas program was born from a partnership between Pittsburgh Arlington and the Brashear Affiliation, a neighborhood nonprofit.
The affiliation additionally hosts a meals financial institution, after-school youth programming, employment companies and utility and rental help, all of which households within the nanas program have entry to.
With two, nine-seat vans that every run two routes, the nanas program can carry 36 children to and from Arlington every day. Crystal Caldwell, the college’s principal, says roughly 20 college students stay on this system’s waitlist.
“I wish we could have more partnerships like that, that we could have vans giving the children door-to-door [transportation],” Caldwell mentioned. “Our waitlist is so long because families are like, ‘Hey, I’d really love this.’”
Within the meantime, the college is working with different group companions to give you further options. The varsity pays its workers to stroll college students a lot of the means dwelling, and a close-by church is predicted to launch a before-school care program this spring.
Caldwell mentioned that she’s additionally working to make the college a spot that college students wish to attend. Pittsburgh Arlington has partnered with native arts organizations to supply particular programming college students can sit up for, and the college social employee meets with every class to present the scholars pep talks on coming to high school.
“We’re doing everything we can to get children to feel like this is the coolest place to be,” Caldwell mentioned. “We’re just still up against that barrier sometimes with what happens in family situations that’s out of their control.”
That’s why Tiffini Gorman, director of strategic partnerships on the nonprofit A+ Colleges, is working with Pittsburgh Public Colleges districtwide to handle the attendance drawback from a number of angles.
“If you call 50 families, there might be 50 different things that happened. It could be things that are happening at home. It could be the child has mental health issues or anxiety,” Gorman mentioned. “It could be clothing. It could be things happening in the neighborhood.”
A+ Colleges helped advocate for the town to put in higher sidewalks on the way in which to Pittsburgh Arlington and labored with the Brashear Affiliation to get funding for the nanas program.
Gorman mentioned that, too usually, households are blamed for not getting their children to high school, however power absenteeism is a matter for the whole group to tackle.