Anthony, one of my 5th graders, told me often that he hated school. I knew he didn’t hate learning. He focused intensely on the things he was interested in, like maps, flags, and musical instruments. But when Anthony’s attention wandered in class, his teachers would take away his flag art and gas station maps and turn off his music. He would leave his classroom to escape frustration. Why even come to school at all? He’d ask me.
Anthony is not the only one. In Arkansas, chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10 percent or more of the school year, has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of chronically absent public school students in our state is a staggering 23%. Chronic absenteeism disproportionately affects at-risk and minority students like Anthony for whom long-term consequences include delays in reading and math proficiency.
Luckily, Anthony found a refuge: Our music room. When things got overwhelming, he’d hide under the piano. One day, he told me: “I only come to school on time on Tuesdays, because that’s when we have music. I wish I could have music on other days too.”…