RALSTON - It’s a problem across Nebraska — students not showing up to class. Ralston Public Schools are focused on putting chronic absenteeism behind them, and so far their approach is paying off. At Ralston Middle School, the number of students missing too much school has dropped from 34% just after the pandemic to about 15% today. Teachers at Ralston Middle School say it comes down to one thing: making kids want to come to class.

Walk into a Ralston Middle School classroom, and it’s easy to see why students show up. Teacher Ms. Fleischman goes desk to desk — smiling, hands-on, checking in with every student. “She’s a really good teacher, and she taught me a lot in science. She was always energetic,” said McKenna Leveau, an eighth grader at Ralston Middle School. Leveau said Fleischman’s energy in the classroom made a difference for her. “She teaches science very well. She explains stuff very well, and she’s really nice…She was always energetic, and she would, when we played games in class, we would earn stuff like candy,” Leveau said.

Four years ago, one third of students at Ralston Middle School were chronically absent. “The first full year that we were back in session…we were actually at about 34% chronically absent,” said Andy Parizek, principal of Ralston Middle School. Today, that number is down to about one in seven.

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