To energize students about attending school, Ceres Unified School District is offering exciting incentives.

Students will be entered into a monthly drawing at every school site, August through May.

Winners will receive age-appropriate prizes.

“The goal of the program is to highlight the importance of attending school every day, at a time when attendance throughout the state is just starting to recover from low levels following the pandemic,” said CUSD Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services Dan Pangrazio. “Regular school attendance is shown to have a significant impact not only on learning, but on overall student wellbeing.”

He noted that students also benefit from access to regular nutrition, mental health supports, free after-school care until 6 p.m., extracurricular opportunities and other resources.

“They also benefit from positive relationships with their peers and supportive adults. Students who aren’t at school can struggle to form those connections, in addition to falling behind academically.”

All students with no or only one absence in a given month are entered into their school’s drawing for the monthly prize giveaway.

The school sites also provide additional incentives for excellent attendance.

“One winner will be drawn at random for each elementary and junior high school, each month (August-May),” said Pangrazio. “CV and CHS will have five and four prizes respectively due to the enrollment sizes of those schools. Some of the prizes are PS5s, Beats earbuds and motorized and non-motorized scooters and bikes.”

When asked what kind of impact the incentives program has had on student attendance in the district this school year, Pangrazio said: “So far, there has been a lot of excitement around the program. Due to all of the district and site-level efforts to encourage student attendance last year and the start of this year, August attendance rates improved by approximately two percent compared to August of 2022-23.  If this improvement is sustained throughout this school year, then recovering to pre-COVID attendance rates would be in sight during the 2024-25 year. Even a one percent improvement district-wide is a big deal, but we are trending better than that so far.”

Cesar Chavez Junior High School drew its first attendance campaign winner Friday morning during a special assembly where seventh-grader Jayden Estrada Barrera won an electric scooter for excellent attendance in August.

The district is funding the attendance campaign.

Students will have a chance to win a Sony PlayStation 5 console in September, Beats headphones in October, a North Face jacket or backpack in November, and an Apple iPad Mini in December, along with other prizes.

Prizes for January, February, March and May have yet to be purchased.

The district plans on buying Nintendo, Nike and LEGO products.

“The concept of rewarding excellent behavior and attendance in CUSD schools isn’t new,” noted Pangrazio. “District leadership wanted to offer more exciting prizes for students and families through a cohesive plan across all 20 schools. It’s still very early in the campaign, but the initial response from students and families has been overwhelmingly positive. Students are excited.”

CUSD provided facts about the importance of going to school on a regular basis on its attendance incentives webpage.

Missing just one day of school puts a student two days behind in their school work.

Children who are chronically absent in kindergarten are far less likely than their peers to read well by the end of third grade.

Students who miss eight days of school or more per year are at risk of not graduating with their class.

“We know students grow and thrive when they come to school.”

The Stanislaus County Office of Education (SCOE) is also hoping to increase school attendance rates with a new campaign and horse-powered incentive. Themed “Every Day Counts,” all 25 school districts (188 schools with approximately 107,000 students) have embarked on the county-wide campaign.

The campaign will utilize multi-media, including radio and cable TV spots, social media, billboards, posters in school offices and hallways, vinyl banners and window clings to place on windows and vehicles. 

A late addition to the campaign strategy was announced on Aug. 9, when the SCOE launched a car giveaway for high school students.  In partnership with Modesto Toyota, a brand new 2024 Toyota Corolla will be awarded to a Stanislaus County public school student who had at least one month of perfect attendance. A student’s name is entered into a drawing each month they have perfect attendance. They must have at least a 2.0 GPA and attend all class periods of all school days within the calendar month of August, September, October, November or December 2023 and January, February, March or April 2024. 

The student who wins the car will also win one year of car insurance, donated by TSM Insurance, plus a year of free car washes from Vintage Car Wash.

“School attendance is a serious issue, one that concerns educators and should concern all of us,” said Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools Scott Kuykendall. “Regular attendance is not just about meeting the required number of days at school. It plays a pivotal role in a student’s overall development and academic success.”

On April 19, schools will select the allotted number of qualified students as semifinalists. Each school’s allotment will be determined at the district level. On May 8, the names of 50 finalists will be published online at www.stancoe.org. The 50 finalists will be invited to a recognition event at Modesto Toyota on May 14, where they will each receive Attendance Certificates from SCOE. Modesto Toyota will also present four tickets to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom to each of the finalist in attendance. And on May 17, Modesto Toyota will arrive to the winner’s school to surprise them with their new Toyota Corolla.

Official rules can be found at www.stancoe.org/families/attendance-matters. 

Christopher Correa contributed to this report.