Calabasas High School has introduced a new attendance awards program for the current school year. The initiative was introduced by administration as part of an effort to improve attendance, which was at an all time low in 2023. This plan has received mixed reactions from students, with some questioning how the rewards will motivate students to improve their attendance. 

These attendance awards come at a time when schools across California are focused on reducing chronic absenteeism, which is the percentage of students who were chronically absent for at least 10 percent or more of the days that they were enrolled to attend school. According to the 2023 California School Dashboard, the Las Virgenes Unified School District had a chronic absenteeism rate of 14.5 percent, meaning more than one out of ten students missed at least 10 percent of the school year. The Dashboard marked the district’s attendance rate for 2024 at 8.1 percent, showing that the rate improved from the year before. Although the percentage has decreased, CHS wants to find new ways to get students back on campus more regularly.

According to staff, the goal is to remind students that being on campus matters not just for academics but for the social experience of high school. 

“We just wanted the students to realize how important it was to be here,” Attendance Secretary, Tricia Davern said. “Attendance does affect your grade, and I think it affects friendships.”

The process for selecting students is more detailed than some expect. Attendance is tracked through Aeries, and reports are pulled every five weeks. 

“It can show how many kids have increased their attendance, even by five percent or ten percent,” Davern said. “Some of the kids who are on the lower end of attendance… they’ll get an award for improving their attendance.” 

The idea is to recognize both consistency and growth, making the award accessible to a wide range of students.

The first reward students received was a visit from the Dunkin’ Donuts truck. 

According to Davern, the choice came from Assistant Principal Dr. Booth. 

“That was all, Dr. Booth,” she said. “I think she thought about what students like… and we reached out to them.” 

According to Dr. Booth, the attendance awards were created in response to a district-wide push to improve student attendance.

“We want students here because there is a direct relationship between being present on campus and student achievement,” Dr. Booth said. “The district challenged schools to improve attendance, and we were given the freedom to figure out how to celebrate students.”

She added that the program is designed to recognize improvement, not just perfect attendance.

“Even small increases matter,” Dr. Booth said. “If a student shows growth over five weeks, we want them to know that effort is noticed and appreciated.”

The district funded the reward, and staff hoped that bringing a popular food truck on campus would create excitement. 

“For the attendance incentives, we got money from the school district.” Principal Wutkee stated.

Still, students seem unsure about whether Dunkin’ is the right choice. 

“We’re in a very high socioeconomic class society where people already have the money to buy Dunkin’ Donuts when they want it,” junior Sophia Friedman said. “A five-dollar gift card would not incentivize me to come to school more often.”

Friedman also mentioned that she believes many students at CHS prefer different coffee shops.

 “I think more people like Starbucks,” she said. “If people got a Starbucks gift card, they would be more excited, but I don’t think it would motivate people to come to school more either way.” 

She received the attendance award herself, but said it did not make much of a difference for her personally.

 “I really don’t care about it because I don’t go to Dunkin’ Donuts,” she said. “Getting it won’t change my attendance next semester either.”

Some students shared the same opinion about the attendance awards. 

“I thought it was really generous of the school to provide that as an incentive for people to come to school and have good attendance, and it was kind of smart, but at the same time, the snack also sucked,” said sophomore Jade Redfield.

Even with these opinions, the school plans to continue shaping the program and offering rewards as the year goes on. Staff members hope that as the initiative grows, more students will feel recognized for their efforts and more encouraged to attend school regularly. The administration remains optimistic that raising awareness, celebrating improvement, and rewarding consistency will help build stronger attendance across campus.