HIGHLANDS – In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, Henry Hudson Regional School Principal Kevin McCarthy knew something had to change. About 40% of students were chronically absent or missed more than 10% of the school year, he said.
Without serious intervention, many students risked graduating on time.
It wasn’t just a problem for Henry Hudson Regional, but for many New Jersey schools in the years following the pandemic.
“School culture was the first thing we had to address,” McCarthy said. “Coming out of the pandemic, it’s almost like you have to let the students unlearn the lessons (pandemic lessons) and then relearn… back to normal. And the best way to do that was to make them want to go to school.”
Students were anxious about returning to classrooms after months of being at home, the principal said. Moreover, parents did not know the attendance rules in the changing educational environment, he said.
To resolve the problem, administrators consulted senior student council members. Together, they formulated a plan to bring students back to the classroom, McCarthy said.
“These are the students who lost their dances (due to the pandemic),” he said. “They were at home during the transition to high school… That was really traumatizing for those kids, in terms of their school experience.”
Administrators and students came up with a plan to make school fun again: catered lunches for the upper grades, tug-of-war competitions, color wars, pep rallies and various after-school clubs and activities, such as bowling.
“I can always read them the numbers and I can read them the law and the codes (about missing school),” McCarthy said. “But really it’s the other students who say, ‘Hey, why don’t you come with me to this club after school. It’s a lot of fun.'”
The incentives kept Henry Hudson teens coming to school every day when they otherwise wouldn’t, the principal said.
Last year, the fruits of the district’s hard work paid off. Chronic absenteeism has fallen: from 40% after the pandemic to less than 20% now, according to the director.
The school also reached a major milestone: 100% of Henry Hudson Regional’s senior class graduated. According to the New Jersey Department of Education, only 84% of upperclassmen graduated five years earlier.
“I’m not going to lie, we were holding our breath every day waiting for kids to come in or finish their finals,” McCarthy said. “You know, I was 100% impressed. I didn’t expect it.”
Why are New Jersey students not motivated to graduate?
Henry Hudson Regional’s success marks one Jersey Shore school’s path to success post-pandemic, but others have struggled.
Neptune High School’s graduation rate remains stubbornly below 85%, both before and after the pandemic.
Neptune Township School District Superintendent Dr. Tami Crader, said federal graduation rules requiring a world language complicated graduation rates for students with special needs, many of whom had the language requirement waived in their individualized education plans. The problem has now been resolved, she said.
Over the past two years, Neptune teachers have also worked to engage students so they stay in the classroom and focus on their schoolwork, she said. So-called “courtesy buses” were expanded to another 900 Neptune students to help them get to school, even though the state did not require the district to provide transportation, she said.
State law requires public schools to provide free bus transportation to students if they are in elementary or middle school and live more than two miles from their building. New Jersey law requires high school students to be transported if they live more than 2.5 miles away. All students who live closer but ride a bus will receive transportation as a “courtesy” from their district.
Even as students return to school, Neptune teachers face new challenges, Crader said.
“Students returned from the lockdown period during the pandemic with underdeveloped self-regulation, an increase in social media use and a decrease in their perseverance,” the superintendent said. “These factors, along with the state’s ever-changing testing practices and test content for assessing graduation readiness, have led to a decline in graduation rates.”
The problem goes beyond post-pandemic challenges to the recent rise of social media and the subsequent decline in prosocial behavior, said Jason Fitzgerald, chair of the department of curriculum and instruction at the School of Education at Monmouth University.
“There has been a real focus on broadening our understanding of social-emotional learning to include not just students who are disruptive in the classroom, but who are really struggling in quieter ways,” he said.
By focusing not only on academics but also on life skills, schools help prepare students for life after graduation, Fitzgerald said. Yet it’s difficult for teachers to promote these skills when students engage with online communities, rather than the physical world around them, he said.
As a result, schools like Henry Hudson Regional are finding ways to re-engage students. Many teach not only academics in the classroom but also real-world applications, Fitzgerald said. For example, Jersey Shore schools are involved in climate change learning collaborations, partnerships to explore New Jersey history and mentorship programs between college and high school students to promote academic engagement and achievement, he said.
“Districts are reaching out to community partners and trying to bring in relevant, authentic experiences for students… but also to help them see how what they learn in those four walls of the classroom extends into their real lives,” Fitzgerald said.
While district leaders and teachers work hard to get their students excited and returning to the classroom, many New Jersey schools are facing shrinking school budgets, large numbers of teacher layoffs and unpredictable swings in state aid, Fitzgerald said. The financial uncertainty threatens to derail the progress made, he said.
“I think we need to look at some of our funding policies to make them more predictable so that districts and teachers can really think strategically with a one-, two- (or) five-year plan, rather than… the oscillation that continues with. ..unpredictable financing structures,” he said. “It’s not just about the money, but the money certainly helps us plan and be strategic.”
Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who is involved in education and the environment. She has been working for the press for over fifteen years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore schools take unique approach to re-engage ‘pandemic’ students
