OXNARD : Driffill Students Win Praise Just for Showing Up

Kids have been back at Driffill School in Oxnard less than a month, and already missing class is a problem.

So educators there have started recognizing students for the most basic of achievements: simply showing up.

About 300 students gathered in the cafeteria earlier this week to be rewarded for having perfect attendance during the first four weeks of school.

“Thank you very much for coming every day to school and for being on time,” bellowed Principal Berta Perez to the first- through sixth-graders as they savored fruit punch and devoured cookies.

After being served the snack, the youngsters were treated to a 30-minute film about kids of many races having fun together.

The event, which takes place as often as once a month, is part of the school’s effort to keep children in the classroom, Perez said.

Since school started in the second week of August, more than half of the school’s 700 students have either missed a class or come in late, Perez said.

“We have a serious problem with tardiness and with children missing classes,” she said, adding that every morning about 60 students line up outside of her office because they are late. “They are unable to take advantage of our education system if they are not here.”

Perez often meets with parents to discuss why a student is missing class.

When a student has missed more than 10 days, the child and parents are referred to a district attendance review board made up of community members and school staff.

The board’s goal is to help parents find ways to keep their children coming to school every day and on time.

Reasons for being late or missing class range from being sick and having car problems, to going out of town and not waking up in time, Perez said.

For Alex Ambriz, 10, the best part of having perfect attendance is keeping up with his schoolwork.

“When I’m sick and have to miss a class I always fall behind,” he said. “I never miss class because I go to sleep early and I get up early.”