Attendance rate at pre-pandemic levels at Taft HS, up about 10 percentage points from last year

by BRIAN NADIG

The attendance rate at Taft High School is up significantly this school year, while enrollment has dropped from a high of about 4,200 in recent years to 4,100 — with more than 90 percent of its students coming from its attendance and preference zone areas.

Taft principal Dr. Ryan Glowacz said that this school year at Taft is off to the best start he’s seen during the 16 years as a teacher and administrator at the Northwest Side school.

“I’ve never seen the hallways clear out faster” when classes start, said Glowacz, who also is a graduate of the school.

The attendance rate at Taft during the first five weeks of the semester is approaching 90 percent, compared to an average of 79.5 percent for all of last school year.

Taft entered this school year wth a goal increasing the rate to 85 percent over a 3-year period, or about two percentage points a year.
Prior to the pandemic, Taft had about an 89.5 percent attendance rate, which for an urban non-selective enrollment high school was considered high. However, school attendance has dropped nationwide since the pandemic.

“Everything is digital,” Glowacz said. “If your  student misses school, it is very easy to catch up” since the assignments are online.

While the digital age is great for students who are truly ill, it can encourage students to skip school for other reasons, Glowacz said.

This year parents are getting detailed updates about any missed class time by their child due to a digital scanning process, which requires students to scan their ID when they enter the building, obtain a hall pass or are late to class.

This information is included in the weekly “soar” reports which are sent via text to parents and which include updates on academic progress and possible behavioral issues.

Having easy access to students’ missed class time facilitates intervention efforts to help address any issues, Glowacz said. He added that parents also are helping out by asking their child why they were late to a certain class or absent.

As an incentive, students with good attendance can earn extra “late work tokens,” which allow assignments to be turned in up tothree days late without penalty, Glowacz said.

Glowacz acknowledged that its is early in the school year and it won’t be easy to maintain the current rate, but he’s very encouraged, especially given that attendance is up across all grade levels.

In recent years Taft’s enrollment has been steady, averaging between approximately 4,150 to 4,200 students, but this year’s number dropped to 4,100 due in part to changes in the JROTC application process.

As part of the citywide admissions process, students from outside an attendance area can no longer apply to that neighborhood high school for admittance to a JROTC program. That restriction does not apply to stand-alone military academies such as Rickover Naval Academy.

The JROTC program at Taft was about the last way non-local high school students could be admitted to Taft, Glowacz said.
The school’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Program can accept students from outside its attendance area, but local students receive a 50-point boost on their application, making it difficult for others to get in, Glowacz said.

Taft also has experienced a recent drop in immigrants enrolling. A few years ago it was enrolling dozens of students from Ukraine and Central and South America.

Taft is expanding its Seventh and Eighth Grade Academic Center, a selective enrollment program, by adding a fourth seventh-grade class this year and a fourth eighth-grade class next school year. That will help off set the recent enrollment decrease, Glowacz said.
Taft has 20 feeder elementary schools, including some in its preference zone, which was created in 2019 for the neighborhoods surrounding its freshman campus at 4071 N. Oak Park Ave. These students are not guaranteed admittance into Taft, but administrators have said in the past that those who apply were not turned down.

“We have the largest attendance area in the city, (and) we are the truest community high school in the Chicago,” while still being “incredibly diverse,” Glowacz said.

Glowacz added that he’s “committed” to keeping Taft a strong local high school and that he visits each feeder school once a year to help promote Taft and encourage students to attend their neighborhood high school.

In 2025, 86 percent of Taft’s graduates attended college.

This is just part of today’s coverage. Get the full story - every article, every ad, every page. Subscribe now.

The Latest From Our Community