Hoa Nguyen is a Clackamas Education Service District student and community engagement specialist on our student services team who helps Clackamas County school districts address chronic student attendance issues.
Hoa spent several years as a school attendance coach before coming to Clackamas ESD, and her expertise is further informed by her background as the eldest daughter of Vietnamese refugees. She understands the outside forces that can affect students’ ability and desire to attend school regularly.
“My parents owned a neighborhood convenience store, and I would spend every day after school and on weekends at the store and helping my three younger siblings with their homework,” Hoa recalled. “At age 13, I often had to help my parents translate at medical appointments and school conferences. I sometimes had to miss school because of a sick parent to work at the store. So that lived experience has really informed my work with students and families to provide comprehensive, wraparound support for family success and improved educational outcomes for students.”
Hoa’s multi-faceted work includes helping train school front-line workers such as school secretaries on how to build stronger relationships with students and parents, and guiding smaller and more rural school districts as they enhance and refine their efforts to track student attendance and try innovative approaches that get more kids to class regularly.
“Relationship-based interventions are the most effective,” Hoa explained. “You have to meet students and families where they are to navigate uncomfortable conversations about what’s at stake when the student is absent.”
Data is a big part of the work. Hoa is practiced in helping developing stronger, transparent systems to track student attendance and test and tweak improvement strategies – everything from home visits, to referrals to mental health services, to supporting families who have basic needs such as food or housing.
“Absenteeism has a lot of different causes, and there is no one-size-fits all solution,” Hoa said.
In addition to her “regular” job, Hoa is a state legislator and a member of the David Douglas School District Board of Directors. Her multiple roles provide her with unique insights into the challenges K-12 education faces.
“There are so many competing priorities, and everyone is trying to fight for their own cause,” Hoa reflected. “I’m always trying to find that commonality and build those relationships. That really makes all the difference in how we serve the state of Oregon equitably and well. I try to ask good questions that will move us in the right direction.
“I believe in the power of strong communities that are coming together to tackle challenges and ensure students have opportunities to thrive. It’s why I do this work.”
