Tag Archives: Strive for Less Than 5

Absentee student problem, ambitious county landfill plan on WKTV Journal In Focus

3-bottom, Area Education, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, Kentwood Public Schools, Local Faces, WKTV Journal In Focus, , , , ,

 

K.D. Norris

ken@wktv.org

 

On the latest episode of WKTV Journal In Focus, countywide issues that impact public school students educational success rates and also the quality of the environment they will inherit.

 

We talk with two education experts on the Strive for Less than 5 effort to combat high rates of student absenteeism, and then we talk with the director of the county’s public works department about Kent County’s Sustainable Business Park Master Plan for 250 acres adjacent to the South Kent Landfill in Byron Center.

 

Explaining the importance of the “Strive for Less than 5” countywide campaign is Mel Atkins II, Executive Director of Community & Student Affairs for Grand Rapids Public Schools, and Kent ISD data researcher Sunil Joy, who has studied the importance of the reducing absenteeism.

 

Also on the show is Darwin J. Baas, Director of the Kent County Department of Public Works. Baas will discuss the details of the Sustainable Business Park Master Plan, which is intended to provide opportunity for partnerships and innovative approaches to managing waste in the county, with the goal of diverting 90 percent of trash from the South Kent Land ll by 2030.

 

 

 

“WKTV Journal In Focus” airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (see our Weekly On-air Schedule for dates and times). But all interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.

 

Snapshots: Wyoming and Kentwood news you need to know

3-bottom, Area Education, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, Community Health, Education, Health, Senior Living, Upcoming Events, ,

WKTV Staff

ken@wktv.org

Quote of the Day

"It occurred to me at one point it was like I had two diseases — one was Alzheimer's, and the other was knowing I had Alzheimer's."
                                                 - Terry Pratchett

 

What’s next in battling Alzheimer’s?

 

“Alzheimer’s Disease: A Look into the Future” is set for Monday, November 12, 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the L. William Seidman Center, 50 Front Ave. SW, on Grand Valley’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus. The event is free and open to the public.  For the complete story, click here.

 

What’s new (soon) at Ford Airport?

 

Construction on the second phase of the Gateway Transformation Project begins today at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GFIA), and will continue through Summer 2020. For the complete story, click here.

 

What’s the deal with ‘Strive for Five’?

 

The straightforward message behind “Strive for Less than 5”, the countywide campaign to reduce absences: The more school a child misses, the further they fall behind and the more at risk they are of eventually dropping out. For the complete story, click here.

 

Fun Fact:

5.0 million vs. 5.5 million

In fall 2018, about 1.4 million children are expected to attend public prekindergarten and 3.6 million are expected to attend public kindergarten. (Source) In contrast, An estimated 5.7 million Americans of all ages are living with Alzheimer's dementia in 2018. This number includes an estimated 5.5 million people age 65 and older and approximately 200,000 individuals under age 65 who have younger-onset Alzheimer's. (Source)

School News Network: County weighs in on attendance campaign

3-bottom, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, , ,
The Strive for Less Than 5 campaign seeks to improve attendance at all area schools

By Erin Albanese

School News Network

 

The straightforward message behind “Strive for Less than 5”, the countywide campaign to reduce absences: The more school a child misses, the further they fall behind and the more at risk they are of eventually dropping out.

 

Kent ISD and Kent County hosted a media briefing recently at the Kent County Building to share that message, backed by statistics presented by Kent ISD data analyst Sunil Joy. There is a 14 percent gap in third-grade reading scores between students who are chronically absent and those who aren’t, with the impact much worse for low-income students, Joy said. Also, students who have been chronically absent every year since kindergarten are performing at levels lower than those never chronically absent.

 

To address the issue, Kent ISD districts recently created a common definition for chronic absenteeism: missing 10 percent or more school days. Ten percent translates to two days per month or 18 days in a 180-day school year. Then they created the campaign, including flyers, posters, yard signs and a video, with the help of sponsors.

 

Kent County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Feeney said she helps to connect students who end up in front of her for truancy with transportation, mental health services, housing programs, removing whatever barrier might be keeping them from school.

 

“We are trying to impress upon parents that they need to take children to school all day every day,” she said. “It all starts with attendance. They have to show up to be successful.”

 

Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.