SHUTESBURY — State education officials have recognized Shutesbury Elementary School’s success in reducing chronic absenteeism by students with the presentation of a signed, gold-colored basketball from the 18-time NBA champion Boston Celtics at a recent schoolwide assembly.

The school was one of 10 across the state named an Attendance All-Star School by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for achieving a significant drop in the percentage of students who missed at least 10% of enrolled days through March 1. Missing at least 10% of enrolled days is considered being chronically absent.

During the 2022-2023 school year, 33.6% of Shutesbury students were identified as being chronically absent, a figure that dropped to 14.3% in the 2023-2024 school year.

Principal Anne Magill spoke to students, teachers and staff during the event, stressing the importance of being present.

“Going to school is like practicing a sport or a game — you get better the more you do it,” Magill said. “When you attend school every day, you learn new things, get better at your subjects, and make friends.”

Otherwise, she said, “If you miss too many days, you might fall behind and have a harder time catching up. Plus, being at school helps you build good habits for your future.”

Magill drew a comparison between education and how athletes prepare for their biggest games.

As the school’s new principal as of July 1, Magill complimented those who got students back on track during the previous academic year, including by sending letters to and speaking directly to families, and helping to support students who had been missing time to be in school as much as possible.

Those she credited include office administrator Laura Feltman, school nurse Katie Harrington, office assistant Martina Dooley-Carvalho and former Principal Jacqueline Mendonsa, asking that a round of applause be given to them.

Another school in the region recognized with an Attendance All-Star was the Anne T. Dunphy School in Williamsburg, which had a similar reduction in chronic absenteeism and whose principal, Stacey Jenkins credited prioritizing relationships among students, staff and caregivers when the award was given over the summer.

Magill also thanked state officials and described what they do in terms the K-6 students could understand.

“The Massachusetts commissioner of education is like a big helper for schools. They make sure that schools are doing a good job teaching kids and following important rules,” Magill said. “They also help decide what needs to be done to make schools better and work with other people to fix any problems.”

In fact, the state identified chronic absenteeism as a widespread problem in Massachusetts, with 24.5% of students chronically absent statewide as of March 1, 2023. As a growing issue following the pandemic, the agency asked districts, schools and families to work with officials to help make sure students were attending and welcomed to school consistently. Statewide, chronic absenteeism dropped to 19.6% as of this past March 1.  

Those eligible to win the award were schools with at least 100 students and where the chronic absenteeism rate was less than 20% as of March 1, 2024, with those figures then compared to chronic absenteeism rates from a year earlier.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.