Where Opportunity Meets Coffee:  How ECO is Brewing a New Approach to Attendance

John Sais noticed a pattern. Students were arriving late to Early College Opportunities High School in Santa Fe, with drinks in hand.

“Everybody who showed up late showed up with a drink,” said Sais, principal of ECO. “So obviously, they left in time. They had time to go to the store, Starbucks, or Dutch Bros. and get a drink.”

Instead of simply treating those late arrivals as an attendance problem, Sais wondered if the school could work with a behavior students were already choosing.

His solution? Bring the coffee shop to school. The result was Rise & Grind Coffee Shop, a student-run coffee shop at ECO that gives students a reason to arrive earlier while creating opportunities to build responsibility, communication and real-world skills.

“I thought, if I offer it here, maybe that will make them stop doing that and they could get here on time,” Sais said. “Just try to use what they’re already doing toward our advantage.”

Since Rise & Grind opened, Sais said he has seen a decrease in tardies. But the coffee shop has become about more than getting students through the doors on time. It has become part of ECO’s broader effort to make attendance positive, visible, and connected to school culture.

Getting Rise & Grind off the ground started with a conversation between Sais and the district’s Student Nutrition team. Staff also donated supplies to help the shop get started.

At ECO, students who work at Rise & Grind volunteer because they want to gain real-world experience and be part of something new at their school. While they are not paid, they earn Eagle Bucks that can be used in the school store for items and rewards.

The money raised through the coffee shop helps sustain and grow the shop while also supporting student incentives tied to attendance, positive behavior, and academic achievement.

For Sais, giving students ownership of the shop was just as important as getting them to school on time.

“I wanted to create ownership,” he said. “We always say, ‘It’s their school,’ but I really want them to experience that this is their school.”

For senior Zoë, working at Rise & Grind has become part of her morning routine.

She arrives around 7:45 a.m. to prepare the shop, setting out flavorings, creamers and other supplies before students begin arriving. Once customers come in, she helps serve them and works with the other students running the shop.

“It can get a little chaotic, but it’s about learning how to work with your team,” Zoë said.

The experience has helped her develop communication, professionalism and customer service skills she expects to carry beyond high school.

Having a role at the coffee shop also changes the way Zoë thinks about getting to school. Rather than arriving with nothing to do before the first bell, she has a responsibility waiting for her.

“You’re not just bored sitting around until the bell rings and first period starts,” she said. “It’s actually really nice to just come in, do something, and help out.”

She described the experience as giving her a sense of “ownership and being productive.”

Sais said Rise & Grind is only one piece of ECO’s broader attendance strategy. The school also tracks daily tardies, incorporates attendance into morning announcements and uses ECO Land, a Candyland-style attendance game where grade levels earn spaces based on their attendance percentage.

“There’s not one pill that will fix it all,” Sais said. “There’s not one sure thing that will cure attendance.”

Instead, he believes schools need to be willing to try different approaches and find what connects with their students.

On one recent day, ECO had 18 students arrive late. Sais has challenged the school to get that number down to 10 or fewer, at which point students will celebrate with a schoolwide event such as a dance, barbecue, or game day.

He has also noticed a pattern between the coffee shop and tardies: When coffee shop sales increase, he has observed tardy numbers decrease. However, Sais is careful not to suggest the coffee shop will solve every attendance challenge.

“But I think it’s working,” he said. “Again, it’s not going to fix all of our issues, but if it could take a little piece off that bigger group, then we’re doing something right.”

In the process, Rise & Grind has become more than an incentive to arrive on time. It is a place where students practice teamwork, communicate with customers and peers, contribute ideas, and take responsibility for something that belongs to their school community.

At ECO, attendance is still the goal. But the school is finding that sometimes, getting students to show up starts with giving them something meaningful to show up for.