JCPS Shares Dropout Prevention Images

Jefferson County Public Schools are using a multi-faceted approach to raise awareness about the new compulsory attendance policy, which takes effect next school year. Eleven different posters and image designs by Dodie Wrocklage-Harp are circulating Louisville, and soon the Commonwealth of Kentucky, because JCPS has graciously shared their work with KYSPRA for use in all schools!

Background info: Kentucky’s new compulsory attendance policy will begin next year. In the spring of 2013, Senate Bill 97 raised the attendance age to 18, and the policy was voluntary until 55% of districts adopted the policy. After 55% was reached, the statute mandated all district adopt the policy within two years. As of January 14, 2015, all 173 districts adopted the policy to raise the attendance age to 18.

What does this mean? Students that have already or are planning to drop out out under the current law (at age 16 with parent/guardian permission) will be required to re-enroll in school next year and attend until they are at least 18 years of age.

The task: communicating the new law and preventing dropouts in all Kentucky schools.

The JCPS posters and images target teens that are at-risk of dropping out of school and feature retro-characters and blunt truths that are noticeably different than most school campaigns. Prior to launching, JCPS spent two days working with focus groups, including twenty teens that had dropped out of school, gauging the effectiveness of the images. The unique characters and honest “wake-up calls” were popular among teens in the target audience.

Three copies of each of the poster have been printed and shared with all middle and high schools in JCPS. Images have also been shared with community-based non-profit organizations that work closely with at-risk teens, and are being shared on social media, with hopes of generating a more teen-initiated viral campaign.
Click here to access all images and if your district would like images with a higher resolution, please contact Mandy Simpson at mandy.simpson@jefferson.kyschools.us.
A special thanks to Mandy Simpson (mandy.simpson@jefferson.kyschools.us) and Dodie Wrocklage-Harp (dodie.wrocklage-harp@jefferson.kyschools.us) for sharing their work with Kentucky public schools!

Courier-Journal story with more info on the campaign.