While it may seem to students that teachers often complain about students missing class, a recent analysis of attendance data shows that U-High students are in class nearly all of the time.

Colin Rennert-May, English department chair, attributes teacher concerns to a limited perspective.

He said, “You notice that this student, who is is struggling or is frustrated in some way, has been absent four times over the past two weeks or something, and is behind and is struggling and is not doing well because of that.”

To address observations like this, Learning Counselor Kevin Van Eron coordinated a study with the help of three faculty last year. Dr. Van Eron analyzed absence data across all grades, classes and departments, finding the average attendance rate was 96.3 percent.

Dr. Van Eron determined students average 6.89 absences per class period per year, one third of which were attributed to illness. The next highest contributors were extracurricular activities, field trips, family travel and student retreats.

There was little notable variation of absences across departments. Debate and Model UN contributed the most to absences due to extracurriculars.

In November 2017 Dr. Van Eron presented his findings at a faculty meeting, mollifying many teachers who had voiced concerns.

“One thing I admire about Lab is that the faculty is very passionate about what they teach,” he said. “People take seriously being in school, trying to do well, and I think that if there’s anything I discovered in this study, it just proves that that’s the case.”

Mr. Rennert-May agreed that many teachers were satisfied.

“Missing class is never ideal, sometimes there are consequences that come out of it,” Mr. Rennert-May said. “It’s hard to recreate that in other circumstances, but also it seems like, in many cases, students are finding ways to be successful despite those absences.”