Being absent may not seem like a big deal, but it can all add up in the long run.

Freshman Hope Wills has been negatively affected by being absent before.

“Being absent affected my grades by making them drop letter grades faster due to me not knowing what to do,” Wills said.

Students who are not frequently absent are more likely to succeed in school.

Mr. Michael Simms has seen how being absent can affect a student.

“Typically students who miss frequently do not do as well when compared to students with good attendance,” Simms said.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Michigan’s high school rate of attendance per day is 88.8 percent.

A missed school day is a lost opportunity for students to learn.

During this time of increased accountability for states, districts, and schools, the connection between student attendance and learning is being studied more than ever before.

Freshman Seth Bowie has experienced the difficulty of being absent.

“I have missed some important information in my math class specifically,” Bowie said, “and I had to catch up on the work, which took me a day or two to completely understand.”

When students bring up their attendance rates, they improve their academics and chance for graduating.

Mrs. Karen June, KHS counselor, talks about how being absent can affect your exams.

“The obvious impact that absences can have on student grades has to do with exams,” June said. “If a student accumulates over nine absences in a semester, they are held to the C+ rule, which states that they must earn at least 77 percent on the exam to earn any kind of credit in the class.

“Another consequence that accumulated absences can have on grades is that the student misses out on content, discussion, and explanation of course material. Playing catch-up can take its toll on being able to learn the material.”

Students who go over the nine absences in any class can attend Saturday school to lower their number of absences. But these make-up days are limited.

“Each semester, three Saturday schools are offered,” June said. “A student can only attend a Saturday school if they exceed nine absences. So as a long as a student has nine or less absences, they do not have to have an exam grade of C+ to earn credit.”

Senior Spencer Wolfe didn’t do so well with attendance in his first year of high school.

“Well, back in my first freshman year I failed because I constantly missed school, so it has definitely caused my grades to fall,” Wolfe said.