ARLINGTON, Texas — From his first day of kindergarten until his last day of high school, Arlington ISD graduate Connor Moore never missed a single day of school.
"Everyone would talk about it to me about it like, 'how did you do 13 years?'" he told WFAA in an interview Wednesday. "And I was just like, I don’t really know."
Connor's plan for perfect attendance started early on. His third-grade teacher noticed he’d never called out sick and said if he made it to sixth grade without an absence, he’d get a plaque.
"And uh…the rest is history I guess," Connor's father, Michael Moore said.
Watch the full interview with Connor Moore here:
Michael and Celeste Moore Cervantes, Connor's mother, rearranged schedules for 13 years when their son decided he was going to keep it going through high school. They begged Connor’s dentist, for example, to be flexible with appointments.
"They worked with us," Moore Cervantes explained. "We’d pull out the calendar like, 'oh, he’s got an early release day,' and they’re like, 'we’ll make it work."
Connor's parents also kept vacations short, only on school breaks.
"You take the kids out of school a couple days early to go somewhere we weren’t able to do anything like that," Michael Moore explained.
They even arranged his grandfather’s funeral with his class schedule in mind.
"You know, my dad wouldn’t have minded," Michael Moore told WFAA. "He was always proud of his grandkids, both of them, and he would have been really proud of Connor."
For those wondering, yes, Connor did get sick!
But COVID-19 came over summer break. Stomach bugs and colds hit, somehow, only at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Despite that luck, keeping Connor's attendance record was hard.
"I am very tired," he exhaled, one week after his final day of school.
Connor works at a pizza shop, played in orchestra. But even when he worked until 1:00am, even when senior “skip day” rolled around…
"I didn’t skip," he said. "I was there."
All of that backstory that explains how Connor accomplished what he did. But there is also a 'why.'
"I think it’s important to be present," he said. "And to always strive for your goals when it’s something you really, really want."
By the way, Connor's great-grandmother achieved a perfect attendance record at work for 45 years before she retired.
He plans to keep up his attendance streak in college, but won't put so much pressure on himself if it doesn't work.