Living and teaching in rural Alaska is not without its challenges, and home visits can be easier to accomplish there than in larger districts. New teachers can walk the village streets with an experienced colleague or community members and knock on doors to say hello before school starts.
Principal Nicholas Settle at Nome Elementary School takes it a step further. If a student is chronically absent, he makes a friendly visit home to see how he can help the family get their child to school. For one student, that meant stopping by the house every morning for a week. After that, the student built the habit of going to school every day.
Not sure what to say when first contacting families? Check out the start of the school year scripts from the Alaska Family Engagement Center.