Lyon Township High 'Annoyance' Offers Benefits: Officials

LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School's parents won't have to go out looking for information on how their students are doing.

It'll come to them.

After Labor Day, the school plans to start emailing weekly progress reports to parents. They'll include grades, absences and tardies.

Now, parents can go online to get that information for their students.

Part of the inspiration is the school's number of absences. Last year, the school made the issue a focus.

This year, the school plans to launch a campaign on attendance, titled "We are present. We are engaged. We are LT."

"Hopefully, everybody gets sick of seeing it. That's the point of a campaign," Principal Jennifer Tyrrell said.

Tim Albores, the school board's president, said he liked the idea.

"I get it that we will annoy some people, but sometimes that annoyance will make some significant changes," he said.

Tyrrell agreed.

"The research shows that just families being aware of the number of absences that students have makes a difference in itself," she said. "Now people won't have to go out looking for the information."

In the 2023-24 school year, 23 percent of Lyons Township High's students were chronically absent, a reduction from 24 percent in 2022-23 and 28 percent in 2021-22, according to the Illinois Report Card. Pre-pandemic, the rate was 11 percent.

Statewide, 26 percent of students were chronically absent in 2023-24.

The state tracks the rate of students who are absent 10 percent or more of the days in a school year, whether excused or not. They are considered chronically absent. For a 180-day year, such students miss at least 18 days, or 3½ weeks.