Turnkey Solution to Increase Attendance and Reduce Tardiness and Early Check-outs at Lake Hills Elementary in Riverside, California
“We have used the ZooZingo Attendance Program for several years now with success. What I like most about the program is that it includes everything we need and it is easy to administer. I have not been able to find another program that is this easy to use for such an important issue – increasing attendance and reducing tardiness. The ZooZingo program also helps reduce the number of students being checked out of school early by their parents. The students love the reward cards and the plush animals and they learn something with each set.”
Jason Burns, Principal, Lake Hills Elementary, Riverside, California.
Attendance Intervention at Hall Elementary in Aurora, Illinois
“Our elementary school has struggled with disappointing attendance records for a number of years. Attempting punitive measures met with very limited success. We have always maintained that if there was meaningful truancy intervention at the elementary school level, the pattern of on-time attendance would be established from the very start of a child’s school journey. When our principal learned about ZooZingo, we decided to try this method of encouraging students to take ownership of their attendance. We have been very happy with the results! We have seen the students become steadily more determined to get here on time, every day, and not be signed out early for appointments unless absolutely necessary. I have overheard students tell parents who are signing them in tardy, “Oh, now I don’t get a chance at the animal drawing this week and I won’t get all my cards!” In the end, only the parents can fix the problem, but now the students have a vested interest in trying to get here on time and every day possible.”
Debby Reinking
Administrator, Hall Elementary, Aurora, Illinois
Solving Early Check-outs and Tardiness Problems at Meadowview Elementary, Meadowview Virginia
“At our school, we have had an ongoing problem with unexcused tardies and early dismissals. On average, between 10% and 15% of our school population was missing some hours of instructional time each week. While we have policies and laws in place to help combat the absences, these two types of time missed were never addressed in policy or law. That’s when we brought in the ZooZingo products.
In just a few short weeks, the motivation of the program had helped to decrease our tardies/early dismissals from 15% to a mere 1%! Students get so excited to receive their cards each week and the information on the cards ties in perfectly with much of our curriculum! The animals are so beautiful and of such great quality that the students are on pins and needles waiting to see who walks away with them. Bringing this program into our school has not only changed the attendance at our school, but has actually helped to create a climate of excellence and desire to attend school. Thank you ZooZingo!”
Tammy Williams
Principal, Meadowview Elementary, Virginia
Reduced Tardiness and Increased Attendance at R. L. Young Elementary
“At the end of 2009 school year R. L. Young students had over 1,000 tardies. We implemented your program in the fall of 2010 with great success. It was a beautiful thing to watch the steady decline of tardies, checkouts, and absences each year. 2013 ended with only 335 tardies. We have certainly come a long way from 1,000 tardies just four years ago! The number of students achieving perfect attendance has also been astonishing. Good attendance plays a vital part in the educational process and you are helping us encourage our students to come to school every day. Our students have taken control of the unnecessary absences and checkouts. When parents arrive to take them home, I hear, “I don’t want to check out because I won’t get my animal card”! Our parents are more apt to make doctor appointments after school.
Fridays are very exciting as students wait to see who will win the beautiful plush animals provided each week, and even if their name is not called, they know that they will earn a weekly reward of a beautiful animal card. One of our parents flagged me down in the bank drive-through one day to tell me how great the cards were. She said her son wouldn’t miss a day because of the program. This child had a very poor prior attendance record!
Your company has truly thought of everything to make it easy on teachers. We like the classroom attendance posters to record any absences, checkouts, or tardies. This also serves as a reminder to students to have good attendance. The children love the plastic sleeves for housing the weekly cards. There is nothing for teachers to do but pass out the cards on Friday, mark attendance on the chart, and praise students when they come to school. Thank you so much for creating this program!”
Pattie Thomas, Principal, RL Young Elementary, Talladega, Alabama.
Outstanding Improvement in Attendance at Pioneer Elementary, Brentwood California
“I am writing this letter in reference to the success the Sharp (ZooZingo) attendance program has brought to our school in the past two years. Prior to running the program Pioneer had an overall attendance rate of 96.2%. Upon implementation of the Sharp program in the middle of the 2010-11 school year our attendance rate increased to 97% by June 2011. This year our attendance improved to 97.4%. This is an outstanding improvement and led to an increase in student achievement, school revenue and an overall success for all stakeholders: students, families and our school.”
Sincerely, Amy Wallace
Vice Principal, Pioneer Elementary, California