Sophomore Juan Munguia makes a point of stopping to talk to kids he sees lingering in hallways between classes at Roosevelt High School in south Minneapolis.
He offers a pep talk of sorts, a one-to-one connection to say, here is someone who believes in you, who knows you can do your best and can get your grades up, if you’re in that room. And it is precisely the sort of advice Munguia needed when he was struggling to stay in school.
“Getting their trust is a big thing,” he said of his interactions with his fellow students.
Positive peer pressure is one way schools are trying to boost the dismal attendance numbers of recent years, and in turn lift achievement and graduation rates. There’s been much talk and a lot of ideas, and they’ve been in play since the start of the 2024-25 school year.
The new year began with the state’s annual release of student test scores showing that 1 in 4 students were chronically absent statewide — a 5% improvement but still a major issue. Lawmakers were meeting on the subject. Districts like Minneapolis began to pilot ways to keep kids engaged.
The 12 school systems venturing into that work represented a mix of urban, suburban and rural, and it has been hoped that their approaches — funded a year ago through a special legislative appropriation — could be replicated elsewhere. It is a three-year initiative, and next year, Minneapolis plans to take it up a notch.
But for now, the district is showcasing the work of its students — they were part of a panel at a recent daylong school attendance conference that included Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan — and while officials have yet to assemble data to show just how much the endeavor has paid off, the kids they’ve enlisted are believers.
“We think there’s been improvements with what we’ve done so far,” said Jessica Baruch, one of the 10 to 12 members of Roosevelt’s student-led attendance team. And it’s not just the personal connections they have forged with their peers, she said, but the research they have shared.