Canvass Reaches Absent Students’ Families

Quinnipiac Elementary School students got a special reminder to show up for picture day the next morning — from their principal, who appeared at their doorsteps to personally deliver the announcement.

Principal Grace Nathman was one of about 30 volunteers who turned out one recent evening to the district’s fifth community canvass, this time focused on raising awareness about the importance of attendance for students in Fair Haven.

Five groups of volunteers divided by school hopped into cars and visited houses of students who have been habitually absent, to alert them of specialized resources the district can offer struggling families throughout the rest of the school year.

Canvassers represented a diverse cross-section of the school community, including security guards, school truancy workers, city employees, police officers, and teachers. They toted folders with informational packets in Spanish and English, as well as boxes of small light-up alarm clocks, enough for each student on the list to have one.

Gemma Joseph Lumpkin, executive manager of leadership awareness for the district, said she stresses compassion in dealing with absent students. It is crucial to ​“figure out the family’s needs. Where are they in life? How can we connect them with community support? It doesn’t matter how many academic programs are in place … if [students] are not there,” she said.

Canvassers split up a list of about 100 students from Quinnipiac School, Columbus Family Academy, Clinton Avenue School, Fair Haven School, and John S. Martinez School, all in Fair Haven. The five large groups each took at least one police officer and one bilingual person, later splitting up into smaller teams of three to five, as they realized it would be more palatable to the families opening their doors to unexpected visitors.

Principal Nathman drove around a caravan of five to knock on doors of Quinnipiac School parents. In 45 minutes, the group knocked on five doors and handed out alarm clocks and packets to four of those families.

“A lot of our kids come far to school,” said Quinnipiac physical education teacher Lu-Ann Espozito, noticing the actual distances between the houses as they drove.

Irene Marks, grandmother to a first-grader, opened her door to find a train of five people lined down the entry hallway. She seemed startled, until Nathman introduced herself and reassured her the visit was a positive one.

Officer Jinett Marte accompanied the Quinnipiac crew, turning heads as she pulled up in a police car and walked through the neighborhood in uniform. Despite the attention, Nathman said police involvement increased the event’s security; during last year’s canvass, she felt unsafe knocking on doors unannounced.

Marquis Moore (pictured at the top of the story) walked up to his house as the group stood on the porch. Nathman introduced herself and her purpose. Moore explained that his daughter has been absent five days so far this year because the school keeps sending her home when she suffers from seasonal allergies.

“She came to school, and they sent her back home,” he said.

“It’s good that you told me that,” Nathman said, explaining that she was there to help, not chastise. ​“I’ll speak to the nurse tomorrow.”

The Quinnipiac and Columbus groups unexpectedly converged at one house, where a family had one child enrolled in each school, both with poor attendance records.

Parents often do not realize that they can put their children in one school or figure out alternate transportation routes to fit their schedules, Nathman said.

“A lot of parents don’t know the resources” available for them, said Jubie Lopez, who works in the district magnet office and volunteered to canvass for Quinnipiac. She said she wished there was a more systematic way of figuring out individual families’ needs.

Canvassers reconvened in Fair Haven art gallery Arte at 19 Grand Ave. to share their experiences and give feedback. Most said the lists of students could have been organized more logically, by address instead of by name or grade, to save volunteers time driving around.

Fair Haven School Assistant Principal Jaime Ramos got back and began to fill out follow-up forms for three families whose problems ran deeper than school absences.

One mother with whom he spoke was a victim of domestic violence. She took her child with her whenever she had to flee or hide. He said he informed her of available resources for her situation and made a note to keep an eye on that family.

“Spanish was the language I needed to communicate with most parents,” Ramos said. The familiar language offset the foreign formality of his suit and made parents ​“feel more comfortable and at ease.”

Edita and Natali Solano (pictured) formed a mother-daughter tag team to canvass for Columbus Academy. They stopped at the house of one girl, who said she felt unconnected to the school since her best friend had become seriously ill. The girl’s mother worried she would stop talking altogether.

A fifth-grader at Columbus, Natali said she would try to befriend the girl to prevent her from feeling alone.

“A mi me encanta involucrarme,” her mother Edita Solano said. ​“I love to get involved. I’m going to go to the next one, too.”