It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

by DR. MELISSA K. AMON, Superintendent Cushing Public Schools

Back to school is absolutely one of my most favorite times of the year.

Back to school is a time of new experiences – new friends, new teachers, new schools, and new opportunities.

hether your student will be attending school for the very first time or starting their senior year, back to school is a time of excitement, hope and promise for the school year to come. Back to school is also the perfect time to remind everyone about a few things that can help make the new school year a safe and rewarding experience.

First, prepare to slow down! Back to school means that we are going to start seeing more students, buses, and cars on the road both before and after school. While it is important to pay attention and slow down all year long, it is especially important in the first few weeks of school as both students and parents learn new school routines.

Please watch for students waiting at bus stops, loading or unloading buses, and walking to school. School buses are the most regulated vehicles on the road; they are designed to be safer than passenger vehicles in preventing crashes and injuries; and in every state, stoparm laws exist to protect children from other motorists (NHTSA, 2022). Yellow flashing lights on a school bus mean slow down because the bus is preparing to stop. There are likely students waiting to get on the bus or parents waiting nearby to pick up students. Red flashing lights mean stop, and wait at least 20 feet behind the bus, because children are getting on or off the bus. Stay stopped until the red lights stop flashing, the extended arm is withdrawn, and the bus begins to move. Even when lights aren’t flashing, watch for students, particularly in the morning or mid-afternoon, around school arrival and dismissal times. Be alert as you back out of a driveway, or drive through a neighborhood, school zone, or bus stop.

Please remember to slow down in school zones when the lights are flashing. The flashing lights are an indicator that students are in the area and may be walking near or crossing the road. We will face a unique challenge in Cushing as the school zone near Cushing High School is also under construction. Cushing High School is an open campus during lunch and there is a

large number of students who walk to nearby restaurants which requires them to cross the highway. Please be sure to stop and allow students to cross the street using the marked crosswalks.

Second, help ensure that your student is in attendance as often as possible. A growing body of research tells us that student attendance is one of the biggest indicators of academic success. Simply being present at school matters! Chronic absenteeism (missing 10 percent or more of school days for any reason) can have devastating effects on student performance at all levels of education (Attendance Works, 2022).

Although students must be present and engaged to learn, thousands of this country’s youngest students are academically at risk because of extended school absences when they first start their school careers.

Although students must be present and engaged to learn, thousands of this country’s youngest students are academically at risk because of extended school absences when they first start their school careers. Nationally, an estimated one in 10 kindergarten and first-grade students are chronically absent (Chang and Romero, 2008). Attendance for older students is equally as important. High numbers of absences for secondary students correlate to higher risks of dropping out before finishing high school. Attendance rates in sixth grade can be used to predict sixty percent of students who will not graduate from high school (Balfanz, Herzog, and Maclver, 2007). Ninth grade student attendance has been found to be a better predictor of high school graduation than eighth grade test scores (Allensworth and Easton, 2007). Good attendance makes a difference for students of all ages.

Finally, providing students with balanced, nutritious meals is another key to student success. Students who eat a complete breakfast have been shown to work faster and make fewer mistakes on math problems and to perform better on vocabulary tests than those who ate only a partial breakfast. They also showed improved concentration, alertness, comprehension, memory and learning (Levin, 2011). The child nutrition program at your child’s school provides healthy, balanced meals for both breakfast and lunch. Although the USDA is not continuing free school breakfast and lunch for all students in the 20222023 school year, financial assistance is still available for families. Please be sure to apply for Free and Reduced Meal benefits for your student, even if you are not sure you will qualify. Multiple factors are taken into consideration when applying for Free and Reduced Meal benefits including household size and income. Even if you have previously applied for and received Free and Reduced meal benefits, a new application is required yearly. In addition to providing free or low cost meals for students, Free and Reduced meals are important for district funding. Even if your child doesn’t need meals through the program, Free and Reduced meals are an important way for school districts to receive funding. n

Students who eat a complete breakfast have been shown to work faster and make fewer mistakes on math problems and to perform better on vocabulary tests than those who ate only a partial breakfast.

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