HIGHLANDS — In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, Henry Hudson Regional School Principal Kevin McCarthy knew something had to change. About 40% of students were chronically absent, or missed more than 10% of the school year, he said.

Without a serious intervention, many students risked graduating on time.

It was a problem not only for Henry Hudson Regional, but for many schools across New Jersey in the years after the pandemic.

“School culture was the first thing we needed to to address,” McCarthy said. “Coming out of the pandemic, it’s almost like you have to have the students unlearn (pandemic lessons) and then relearn… back to normal. And the best way to do that was to make them want to be in school.”

Students were anxious about returning to classrooms after months at home, the principal said. In addition, parents did not know the attendance rules in the shifting educational climate, he said.

To solve the problem, administrators consulted senior members of the student council. Together, they formulated a plan to bring learners back to the classroom, McCarthy said.

“These are the students who lost out on their dances (because of the pandemic),” he said. “They were home during the transition to high school… That was really traumatizing for those kids, when it comes to their school experience.”

Administrators and students came up with a plan to make school fun again: catered senior class lunches, tug-of war competitions, color wars, pep rallies, and various after-school clubs and activities, like bowling.

“I can always read them the numbers and I can read them the law and the codes (on missing school),” McCarthy said. “But in reality, it’s the other students saying, ‘hey, why don’t you come to this club with me after school. It’s a lot of fun.'”

The incentives kept Henry Hudson teenagers coming to school each day when they otherwise wouldn’t, the principal said.

Last year, the fruits the district’s hard work paid off. Chronic absenteeism dropped: from 40% after the pandemic to less than 20% now, the principal said.

The school also crossed a major milestone: 100% of Henry Hudson Regional’s senior class graduated. Five years prior, just 84% of the senior class graduated, according to the New Jersey Department of Education.

“I won’t lie, we were holding our breath every day, waiting to see kids come through the door or finish their final,” McCarthy said. “You know, 100% kind of blew me away. I didn’t expect it.”

Why aren’t New Jersey students motivated to graduate?

Henry Hudson Regional’s success marks one Jersey Shore school’s path to success after the pandemic, but others have struggled.

Neptune High School’s graduation rates remain stubbornly under 85%, both before and after the pandemic.

Neptune Township School District Superintendent Dr. Tami Crader said federal graduation rules that require a world language complicated graduation rates for students with special needs, many of whom had the language requirement waved in their individualized educational plans. The issue has since been corrected, she said.

Over the past two years, Neptune educators have also worked to engage students in order to keep them in the classroom and focused on their schoolwork, she said. So-called “courtesy” busing was extended to an additional 900 Neptune students to help them get to school, even though the state did not require the district to provide them transportation, she said.

Under state law, public schools must provide free busing to students if they are in elementary and middle school and live more than two miles from their building. High school students must be bused if they live more than 2.5 miles away, under New Jersey law. Any students who live closer but are bused receive transportation as a “courtesy” from their district.

Even when students do come to school, Neptune teachers face new challenges, Crader said.

“Students returned from the lockdown period during the pandemic with underdeveloped self-regulation, an increase in the use of social media, and a decline in their ability to persevere,” the superintendent said. “These factors, along with the state’s ever-changing testing practices and test content for assessing graduation readiness, have led to a decline in graduation rates.”

The problem goes beyond post-pandemic challenges, but also to the recent rise of social media and the subsequent decline of pro-social behavior, said Jason Fitzgerald, who chairs the department of curriculum and instruction at Monmouth University’s School of Education.

“There’s been a real focus on broadening our understanding of social-emotional learning, to include not just students who are disruptive in the classroom, but really are struggling in quieter ways,” he said.

By focusing on not just academics, but social skills, schools are helping to prepare students for life after graduation, Fitzgerald said. Yet it is difficult for teachers to foster those skills when students are engaged in online communities, rather than the physical world around them, he said.

As a result, schools like Henry Hudson Regional are finding ways to re-engage students. Many are teaching not just classroom academics, but real-world applications, Fitzgerald said. For example, Jersey Shore schools are involved in climate change learning collaborations, partnerships to explore New Jersey history, and mentorship programs between college students and high schoolers to promote academic involvement and achievement, he said.

“Districts are reaching out to community partners and trying to bring in relevant, authentic experiences for students… but also to help them see how what they’re learning in those four walls of the classroom extends out into their real life,” Fitzgerald said.

At the same time that district leaders and teachers are working hard to excite their students and keep them returning to the classroom, many New Jersey schools are facing shrinking school budgets, large numbers of teacher layoffs, and unpredictable fluctuations in state support, Fitzgerald said. The financial uncertainty threatens to derail the progress being made, he said.

“I think we need to take a look at some of our funding policies to help make them more predictable, so that districts and teachers can think really strategically with a one-, two- (or) five-year plan, rather than… the oscillation that goes on with…unpredictable funding structures,” he said. “It’s not all about the money, but the money certainly helps us plan and be strategic.”

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 15 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore schools take unique approaches to re-engage ‘pandemic’ students