The ‘Beat the Bell’ challenge is a fun and random way to celebrate students who arrive before the tardy bell, reinforcing the importance of attendance across all grade levels.

“At Ring, we’ve always emphasized that every school day counts, and it was important for us to incorporate not only the importance of coming to school every day but also being on time,” Principal Trussalo explained. “We want to celebrate students at the individual, classroom, grade, and building levels.”

The ‘Beat the Bell’ challenge occurs at random, adding an element of surprise and excitement for the students. Every student has a number assigned in their classroom.

“When I hop onto the announcements in the morning, I pull a ball from the jar and read the number,” Trussalo said. “If students who have that number are in their classroom by the time the tardy bell rings, they are the winners of the challenge. Winners come to the office to receive a certificate and pick a small prize, like a pencil or eraser.”

Ring School student Elizabeth Garcia receives a prize from secretary Kathy Colburn for “beating the bell” at C.C. Ring Elementary School. Looking on is paraprofessional Jacara Tate.

Attendance is further celebrated at Ring School on multiple levels. Each morning, classrooms with perfect attendance from the previous day are recognized with a certificate, and the students work together to earn a certain number of certificates for a larger classroom celebration of their choice. Every Monday, Trussalo also announces the grade level with the best overall attendance. Additionally, students with perfect attendance for the entire month receive certificates celebrating their achievement.

“At the elementary level, we are the foundation of every student’s educational experience, and this starts from the beginning of UPK. School is every child’s first and most important job,” Trussalo said. “It’s our goal to provide a safe and welcoming environment where our students thrive academically, socially, and behaviorally. We aim to create a partnership with our Roadrunner families to support our students and give them opportunities to be part of their children’s educational experience.”

Trussalo also emphasized the importance of addressing chronic absenteeism, which can occur if a student misses just one day per month.

“Our hope is that students feel a strong sense of belonging at Ring and additional excitement for what each day might bring — not just for themselves, but for their classroom, their grade, and the school as a whole,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for students to be recognized individually while contributing to something much bigger.”

The proof is already in the pudding.

“Last year the overall daily attendance for C.C. Ring was an 88%,” Trussalo said. “Our building goal for this year is 91% and at this time, we have consistently reached that goal every week. We want to do our part by helping students and families become even more excited about coming to school.”

Students at Ring are excited about the ‘Beat the Bell’ challenge and other attendance-related incentives.

Leah Irgang, a second grader in Claire Griffith’s class, noted the importance of starting the day on time and going over classroom routines.

“We start the day by picking our lunch, pick your feelings, putting our stuff away, and doing our morning work,” she said. “We talk about what our schedule is and talk to our friends about our feelings. It’s important to come to school every day so that you can learn. I love math — we’re learning about hundreds and place value right now. If I missed a couple of days, it would be hard to catch up.”

Irgang also enjoys working toward class rewards for perfect attendance.

“If everyone is here, we get a certificate as a class. We’re trying to get 100 certificates,” she said enthusiastically.

First-grader Justin Soto Pacheco from Melissa Schrader’s class also appreciates the ‘Beat the Bell’ challenge. “If you beat the bell, you get a prize like a pencil, an eraser, or something like that. It makes me want to come to school on time,” he said.

Soto Pacheco understands the value of punctuality.

“It’s important to get to school on time so that we can become smarter!” he said with a smile. “We get a prize and get to sign the WOW board, too.”

“I refer to Ring as our ‘Roadrunner Family,’ and this is a great way to show how doing something small, like being on time, can lead to greater things for everyone,” Trussalo added. “I think that’s an empowering realization that everyone matters.”