TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - A rural middle school on the Tohono O’Odham Reservation has cut chronic absenteeism in half using a Harry Potter-inspired house system that sorts students and community members into groups.

The Baboquivari Unified School District’s Indian Oasis Intermediate School decreased absenteeism by 50 percent in two years, from 120 students chronically absent to 57. According to BUSD’s definition, students were chronically absent when they missed more than 15 days of school. The statewide definition puts that number at 18 days.

The Helios Education Foundation found Native American students have the highest rates of chronic absenteeism in the state, with more than half of all students missing school. Statewide, about one-third of kids are consistently missing from their cl

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