We sat down with DPSCD’s Marcus Garvey Academy Principal Elijah Rozier to discuss how he is helping his students to rise by being in school every day. 

Garvey, the Place to Be! 

“We began this narrative at the start of the 2022-23 school year by hosting three events (Parent Orientation, Monday Harambee with students, and School Open House), said Principal Rozier. “During these events we communicated the importance of attending school every day, all day. We also led discussions about attendance, chronic absenteeism, and misconceptions about how absences are calculated.” 

Driving Garvey Students Rise with Support Services: 

“We also discussed the negative impact chronic absenteeism has on a student’s ability to perform in school and backed that up with schoolwide and districtwide data illustrating how students that were not chronically absent had a better chance of being on or above grade level as compared to their counterparts that were chronically absent,” said Principal Rozier. “Furthermore, our efforts to motivate our families and students to attend school each day continues with our weekly recognitions to students/classes that have achieved perfect attendance, as well as communicating our monthly classroom, village, and school-wide attendance incentives for students with the best attendance. Finally, phone calls, and home visits to families of students that have yet to return to school also help us to remove barriers and provide resources for those that had difficulties which prevented them from coming to school. We believe that doing these things early has ignited an excitement about school from our students and families,” he added. 

Parents Needed!  

Encouraging MGA families to help re-establish a PTA (Parent Teacher Association) at the school as well as volunteer and attend various school events has helped keep them informed, Principal Rozier noted. “Doing fun things also helps strengthen our partnership and, in school community," he said. “It is our experience that when parents are properly informed, and consistently participating in school related activities, they will work diligently at our schoolwide initiatives which includes but is not limited to daily attendance.”  

To see how the Future is Rising for your student at Marcus Garvey Academy, which serves students in Pre-K to 8th grade as well as offering a high-performing, African-Centered Learning Environment, watch their 2021-22 school spotlight video.