Most people who know me know that I am a stickler for routine and consistency. Especially with my kindergarten students.

In my class, every morning right at 8:15, my students are welcomed into the classroom and immediately they turn in their homework folders and place their lunches and backpacks in their cubbies. They make their way to their desks and once everyone is ready, we say morning prayer together and the Pledge of Allegiance. This routine works well for my students. They know what they can expect every morning when they enter the classroom.

It never fails though, just about every morning right in the middle of morning prayer or the pledge, we hear a knock on the door. And just about every morning when I welcome that same student into the classroom, he enters with his uniform disheveled and is typically scarfing down a powdered donut or a frosted poptart.

Not only is he still trying to fill his tummy to hold him over until snack-time, he still has to turn in his homework and put his lunch and backpack away before making his way to his desk and joining the rest of the class. 

The beginning of the year he would anxiously rush into the classroom and rush to  get caught up. As the year has progressed, and he is still late more days than not, his rushed demeanor has turned into him strolling into the classroom and him now taking his sweet time to unpack and make his way to his desk.

On my end, I have sent numerous emails to his parents about how important it is to have their son to school on time. I have also had conversations with them at conferences. Each email and conversation has included the school’s tardy policy straight from the handbook. Nothing has changed. What else can I do?

The boy is 6. It’s not his fault he is habitually late to school. He is only in kindergarten, and I have seen a change in his demeanor since the beginning of the school year. He is defeated. How is this going to affect his attitude towards school?

I can’t help but wonder what kind of impact being habitually late to school has on students.