In the past six years Mason Santos has never missed a day at Dana Elementary School. He has a flawless attendance record and wants to keep that perfection going through junior high and high school.
Mason’s mom Tamara said it’s something her son has made a priority every school day, even if it means flying out the door with shoes in one hand and breakfast in the other.
“He is really proud of himself and so is everyone who loves him,” Tamara said. “He has accomplished what seems to be rare these days.”
Amy Jacobs, a spokesperson for the Lucia Mar Unified School District, said students get awards for one school year’s worth of perfect attendance. On June 6, during the sixth-grade awards ceremony at 2:15 p.m.—as Mason leaves the halls of one school and enters the classrooms of another—he will receive a special recognition for his accomplishment.
Jacobs added that six years of no absences has to be some kind of record, but she’s not 100 percent sure if it is.
“I’m actually looking into, oddly, because it is such a thing,” Jacobs told the Sun. “It’s a big deal if someone goes a whole year.”
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2013.