Middle School Twins Conquer Over 1500 Days of Perfect Attendance

By DAYNA DRUM | Reporter

Children are often taught that perfection isn’t attainable. But that lesson seems to have escaped Nicholas and Sophia Arvin who have completed nine years of perfect school attendance.

The 13-year-old twins are graduating from Paul Revere Charter Middle School with an unblemished attendance record after accomplishing the same at Palisades Charter Elementary School. 

This brings their total number of attended school days to over 1,500—no sick days and no vacations. But they aren’t introverted bookworms, their dad Chris Arvin said, they’re just driven.

“They value their education,” Chris told the Palisadian-Post. “We love it that they own their work.”

This type of no-days-off approach to school not only helps their studies but their extracurricular activities, and their future as a whole, according to their parents.

“At times I really wanted to stay home and sleep in, but now I am happy that I never missed a day of school. I never felt lost or confused in my classroom work because I could hear the explanations from my teachers,” Nicholas said.

The siblings inherited this achiever personality from Chris and his wife Monique Lafia, both of whom did well academically in their school careers.

As an attorney Chris works long hours with few days off, and interior designer Lafia also never misses a day of work.

“At first, this was difficult not skipping school to go on longer vacations, kids in Honors and working on their Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) courses. However, this is all part of their lives and we are all used to it,” Chris said.

Outside of regular classwork, the Arvins participate in programs for advanced students at CTY, as well as play various sports and instruments and are members of other groups like the Boy Scouts. While the kids are unrelenting academics, their parents insist they also know how to have fun and are plenty social.

“I feel good about accomplishing perfect attendance. Going to school every day was never something I thought a lot about, I just went to school every day. Stopping and looking back I guess it’s something to be impressed and proud of,” Sophia said, reflecting on the achievement.

As the kids enter adolescence and high school, the question lingers whether the kids will shift their priorities.

“As parents you always worry how the next 10 years will go,” Lafia said. “We hope that the solid foundation we have given them will affect their decisions as they continue to grow into their teenager years.”