ST PAUL, Minnesota — Carmen Houston, a fifth grader at American Indian Magnet School (AIMS) in St. Paul, has a new ride thanks to her attendance in school. 

The 11-year-old is sporting a brand new pink bike after winning it in a drawing at AIMS. 

Any student who signs an attendance pledge — and has good or improving attendance — is entered into a drawing to win a bike each quarter. 

It’s an added incentive that’s part of an initiative at Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) to improve attendance, particularly among the district’s American Indian students. 

“There has historically been a need around attendance for American Indian students. It’s historically been the one demographic group that has typically been lowest for attendance which often translates to lowest then in achievement,” explained Julie Hutcheson-Downwind, AIMS principal.

According to SPPS data, 50% of American Indian students in the district missed 20 or more days of school last year. That’s compared to the district average of 26%.

“Coming in as principal, we really talked a lot at the end of last year about what can we do to make an impact,” Hutcheson-Downwind said.

SPPS has created a new position to tackle the issue as part of its American Indian Education program and in partnership with the American Indian Parent Advisory Council. 

Jennifer Bush is now the American Indian attendance intervention specialist for the district. She previously spent the past five years as the family liaison for AIMS. 

“I feel like the importance of education and being in school has kind of fell to the wayside with a lot of families and so I think we really need to do a lot of extra work to get that back,” Bush said. 

Bush had already been working with families on attendance in her previous position but now she’s doing it on a larger scale for the entire district. 

“I grew up on the White Earth Reservation and there are a lot of barriers… transportatio- wise, mental health issues, there’s domestic violence. There’s a lot of issues that I think a lot of people deal with… not just American Indian families,” Bush said. “What I do now is, and having experienced those, I go into the homes. I call the families to find out and determine what their barriers are.” 

Bush said the number one barrier is transportation. SPPS used to have a second chance bus that would pick up students who may have missed their ride to school. Bush is now looking for a van that can serve as a “second chance van” to help address transportation needs. 

The district, like the rest of the world, is also still recovering from the pandemic. 

“We lost a lot of kids that just weren’t showing up. So the numbers definitely skyrocketed during the pandemic,” Bush said. 

Bush came up with the idea to have students sign an attendance pledge, promising to try their hardest to attend classes and be on time. Parents have also been signing a pledge at different school events. 

So far, more than 600 students across the district have taken the pledge. Besides incentives, Hutcheson-Downwind said they personally call parents or do home visits to talk to them about the barriers they may be facing and provide resources to help. 

“We’re really trying to have more time in class translate to higher achievement. So whatever barriers there are for students being out of class, we’re trying to address,” Hutcheson-Downwind said. 

At AIMS, Hutcheson-Downwind said the results in the first quarter have been promising. 

“Our overall attendance is up about 2% but our attendance for American Indian students is at 4%. So when you’re looking at the demographic group that has had the lowest, historically, and then to make more progress than the overall school, in general, feels like a huge success.” 

SPPS and the American Indian Parent Advisory Council have a goal to increase attendance by 10% at all schools that have American Indian students by the end of the school year. 

Houston already had good attendance but in the first quarter, she only missed a day of school. 

“I’m really proud of myself for winning it,” Houston said. 

In total, Bush said they have six bikes to give to students throughout the year. At AIMS, SPPS is giving away one bike at the end of each quarter. Two bikes will also be given away at other SPPS schools. 

“Our children are sacred. They are our future,” Bush said. “They deserve to be in school; they deserve an education and it’s up to all of us to make sure that happens.” 

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