Early identification is one of the best ways to keep clogged arteries—or empty classes—from ruining your day. If your school is already experiencing issues with student attendance, don’t fret; it’s never too late to turn things around with some behavioral changes.

While teaching phenomenal classes is the foremost way to build a healthy school, a staff meeting I call “The Student Review Count” runs a close second.

This meeting acts as a vitamin pill, fitness program, and medical check-up for your school, focusing on prevention rather than therapy.

It starts by meeting with your staff and reviewing every student in your school with a rating of A, B, or C.

A is enthused and active

B is attending class with some enthusiasm 

C is border line drop out

Step #1: Weekly Student Count and Rating Start by counting the total number of students who were in class in the previous week. Set aside the “On Vacation” box, the “Sick and Hold”, and any other places they might be. For instance, let’s say there are 300 students in total.

Step #2: Determine Active and Inactive Counts Next, determine how many of those 300 students did not attend classes in the past seven days. If 225 students attended, that is your ONE WEEK ACTIVE COUNT.

The remaining 75 are your INACTIVE COUNT. Record these numbers for future reference. Set aside the active student cards and focus on the inactive ones.

Step #3: Analyze Non-Attenders Sort the non-attendees by rank and spread the cards out for a visual overview. Patterns will emerge, such as specific belt ranks with higher non-attendance. This information helps identify areas needing improvement, such as class size adjustments or additional instructors.

Step #4: Investigate Reasons for Absences Go through the inactive cards one by one to check for reasons behind their absences. For example:

  • John Smith: If a student is on vacation, re-file them in the active count for the next week.
  • Tom Jones: If a student is losing motivation, plan a private lesson to re-engage them.

Step #5: Implement Follow-Up Strategies Use this time to brainstorm with your staff ways to address and prevent absences. For example:

  • If a student is held back from testing, schedule an immediate private lesson to get them up to speed and test them privately before the next exam.
  • Ensure staff members note any phone calls or interactions with students on their cards for accurate records.

Step #6: Ensure Financial Accountability Check if non-attending students are also late on payments and plan to discuss financial arrangements if needed.

Step #7: Reinforce Attendance Policies During introductory lessons, emphasize the importance of regular attendance and the policy of making up missed classes.

Step #8: Encourage Staff Participation Get your staff involved in suggesting and designing new ways to keep students engaged, such as a homework sheet for missed classes.