A Baltimore County school seems to have found a solution to one of Maryland’s biggest education obstacles.

McCormick Elementary, from the outside, looks like any other school in Baltimore County. But what’s happening inside the Rosedale school could hold the key to solving a significant statewide educational problem — chronically absent students.

Since 2020, the state has seen a more than 10% increase in chronic absenteeism. Meanwhile, McCormick is bucking that trend, scoring a significant drop.

McCormick Principal Ligeri Kourtesis says what her school recently achieved was not by accident.

“I am thrilled. I’m very thrilled about it,” Kourtesis said. “It is a huge accomplishment. And it took a lot of work and a lot of energy and collaboration.”

The Maryland State Department of Education last month released the 2024 state report card — where schools are awarded a star rating based on performance metrics such as student academic achievement, academic growth and graduation rates. One star is the lowest score, five stars is the highest.

Roughly 1,300 Maryland schools were rated. An analysis of the results found throughout the entire state , just five schools increased by two stars over the previous year. One of those schools was McCormick Elementary.

“It’s one of the best feelings as a principal. It made me feel really proud. And I’m humbled by that pride,” Kourtesis said.

McCormick in 2023 earned two stars, in 2024 the school increased to four stars. McCormick’s report card scores showed its two-star jump was largely because of an improvement in one key area — chronic absenteeism.

“In order to educate the kids, they have to be here physically. There’s nothing that replaces relationships — that one-on-one relationship with the teacher,” Kourtesis said.

In 2019, according to state data, the chronic absenteeism rate at McCormick was 24.4%. But starting in 2021, following the COVID pandemic, that rate began to increase. By 2023, 47.5% of McCormick’s students were considered chronically absent — meaning they missed 10% or more of the school year.

Kourtesis saw the 47.5% and did not like it.

“No, we did not,” she said. “And so that was our goal. How are we going to get kids into these seats?”

Kourtesis and her team got to work. First, she identified and made a list of the students in her school who were chronically absent. She and her assistant principal personally called every parent on the list — nearly half the school.

Kourtesis then set up in-person conferences to meet the parents, find out why their child was missing school and address each individual concern.

She said the concerns mostly involved transportation and health. After the pandemic, Kourtesis said parents didn’t know what to do if a child was coughing or had a fever. Do they need a mask? When should a student stay home if they’re sick?

“We did a lot of educating of parents,” she said. “It’s just really minimizing that confusion that’s happened in society and showing parents that, you know what? We’re still here. We’re still a functioning school system.”

Every two weeks, Kourtesis revisited the list of absent students. The remaining families were again contacted and offered additional assistance. Slowly, over time, the list began to shrink as attendance rates rose.

By the end of last school year, 47.5% chronic absenteeism at McCormick dropped to 9.7% — a massive improvement that helped propel this school’s star rating from two to four.

“It’s the foundation to increasing student achievement. If you’re not there and you’re not present, you can’t make the achievement goals that you set for yourself. So it is critical, absolutely critical,” Kourtesis said.

Chronic absenteeism, in recent years, has become a significant educational concern throughout Maryland. Since 2020, the rate of chronic absenteeism statewide has increased from 18.3% to 29.8%. That increase is considered a crisis by many education experts. School systems around the state are scrambling to find a solution. But it appears there already is one.

Kourtesis was asked if “there anything that you did here at McCormick that other schools couldn’t do?”

“No. It really is about your persistence,” Kourtesis said. “It literally was the consistency, the follow through and the persistence that we had behind making sure that kids were in school. That’s the biggest thing.”

Have a news tip? Contact Chris Papst at cjpapst@sbgtv.com.