For the first time since the program began in 2019, PEP Therapeutic Schools are part of the Cleveland Browns-sponsored Stay in the Game Attendance Network attendance initiative. Stay in the Game is part of a state-wide campaign led by the Cleveland Browns Foundation, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, and Harvard’s Proving Ground that encourages kids and families to make school attendance a priority.
Inspired by 2016’s Ohio House Bill 410, which sought to decriminalize truancy and promote truancy prevention, Stay in the Game provides participating Ohio schools with a “Campaign Playbook,” campaign materials like informative handouts for caregivers and kids, and incentives and activities to reward students for improved attendance.
PEP has received items like signed footballs, tickets for a November Browns game, ear buds, and Browns-branded items like gloves and lanyards that will be raffled off at individual schools’ attendance assemblies.
A representative from each PEP Therapeutic School serves on a committee where PEP staff can share attendance strategies, brainstorm new ideas, and support each other’s efforts.
PEP Willow Creek treated their kids to a Browns-themed cookout in September to kick off the initiative, complete with face painting, crafts, games, and prizes provided by the program, like keychains, hats, and lanyards. Kids were encouraged to sign an official attendance pledge.
PEP Chesnutt Principal Denise Milner, who is leading the initiative at PEP, says she is already seeing results for something as simple as a morning treat at her school. “As I’m handing out doughnuts, the kids are asking, ‘What are we getting next?’ They know they have to get to school by 8:50 to get their treat, and they do.”
One aspect of attendance that the Stay in the Game initiative campaign cannot address is the number of children who struggle to come to school on a regular basis due to more nuanced problems, like a lack of clean clothes, pressure to take care of sick family members or younger siblings, or transportation challenges.
In those cases, PEP steps up to address that child’s needs. Milner says they have bought clothes for struggling students or washed a child’s clothing at the school. In the case of one child who had to stay home to take care of a relative who’d had a stroke, PEP staff worked to get that family support to relieve the child of caretaking duties.
Ohio schools are required to share attendance numbers with the State of Ohio three times throughout the year. In addition to negative social and academic consequences for children and families, public schools face consequences for low attendance rates in the form of lower state school ratings, reduced state funding, and possible state oversight of individual schools.
For Milner, the measure of success isn’t the raffle prizes. It’s the kids who now make sure they’re through the door by 8:50, and the clean clothes for the child who needed them to get there. The prizes get kids in the door but the practical support and encouragement keeps them coming back.
More Information
For more information about what is happening at PEP’s Therapeutic Schools, visit our website. Contact Nicole Molnar, sr. director, clinical services, at 216-361-7760 ext. 110 or via email to see if a student in your district may be a good fit for Positive Education Program.
Please note, referrals to PEP’s Therapeutic Schools are made through school districts in consultation with parents. Interested parents or caregivers should contact their school administrator.