Colin Hogan

Robert Cox, Chief Two Running Elk, walks the land that his ancestors have treaded for thousands of years — and that his fifth great uncle Paul Cuffe and fifth great-grandfather Michael Wainer bought the deed for in 1797. This is part of a series of stories commemorating the 250th anniversary of American Independence and the legacy of the Revolution.

A small park overlooks what used to be the crossroads of the world. Gently singing birds and tourists, both en route to somewhere else, pass by what once were the stinking, crowded roads of America’s fourth largest shipping port. Visitors to this corner of New Bedford might see the sign, “CAPTAIN PAUL CUFFE PARK,” on the small terrace that now presides at the intersection of a brewpub and a YMCA parking lot.

This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Today, we explore the solutions that school officials are implementing to address absenteeism and tardiness. Yesterday, we explored local schools’ challenges with the issue. New Bedford’s Superintendent Andrew O’Leary sits in his office and pulls up a dashboard that offers a suite of insights. With a few clicks, he can see a raft of information about New Bedford’s almost 13,000 students, including predictions about their future attendance based on recent trends.