Attendance Awareness Campaign Update

A project led by Attendance Works

April 10, 2025

Here Today, Ready for Tomorrow!

How are we highlighting the benefits of school attendance in this year’s AAC slogan? Here Today, Ready for Tomorrow! not only highlights how schools offer opportunities for students to gain a solid foundation for a healthy and productive life, it also lifts up the connection between regular attendance, success after graduation and a well-prepared workforce.

We’re excited to share a study showing that students with regular attendance – who participated in a Community in Schools program – were more likely to graduate, more likely to be employed, and by age 30, earning $1,500 more per year than their peers in similar schools without CIS. View the video clip of Rey Saldaña, president of Communities In Schools, explaining this working paper.

Local business leaders are ideal partners for districts and schools working to improve student engagement and attendance. Look below to find resources to help you partner with businesses as well as their local organizations.

Join the AAC! 

Sign up for our updates and stay informed about new resources, research and local celebrations! 

Webinars

The next AAC webinar, Health, Well-being and Safety is Essential to Showing Up, on May 14 will feature speakers who will share how schools, health providers and other community partners can make a difference by addressing health-related absences and investing in this key positive condition for learning.

Register for all 3 webinars! Everyone who registers will receive a link to the webinar recording and presentation slides. 

• May 14, Health, Well-being and Safety is Essential to Showing Up
• August 6, Student Connectedness Fosters Attendance and Engagement
• September 24, Family Engagement is the Foundation for Attendance and Learning

Help us to spread the word. Share this sample social media message: 

🌿 Student and staff health and safety matter at school. Join @attendanceworks on May for AAC webinar #2 exploring how schools and partners are creating healthy environments that support showing up. 🔗 Register: https://www.attendanceworks.org/resources/webinars/

Together we are making progress. Join the movement to get more kids back in school and engaged. Donate today!

Attendance Tools

We developed a list of five strategies states should use when developing their plan to improve student attendance. Check out these five "major routes" in our state toolkit. 

City leaders and elected officials can support improved student attendance and engagement in a many ways. Download the Student Reengagement Fact Sheet, developed with the National League of Cities, and share with your local officials.

It’s not too early to begin your plans for connecting with local officials who can issue a statement proclaiming the start of school as Attendance Awareness Month. View our 2024 proclamation page to see what others did last year. Check back for a 2025 proclamation!  

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's blog post urges communities to address the root causes of chronic absence and offers several action steps for businesses. 

Research Spotlight

Community school programs are proven to improve student and family engagement and improve attendance. A new research brief from Towson University illustrates how community schools are reducing chronic absence in Maryland!. 

Does student participation in applied career and technical education improve attendance? A 2018 study found that participation in applied STEM career and technical education leads to fewer absences and can reduce excessive absences. 

Events

Did you miss the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading’s April 1, 2025 webinar More Hopeful Futures or Children as Collateral Damage? Speakers discussed the potential implications for early childhood programs and schools that serve immigrant families, and shared information, strategies and tools for use by programs and communities. Find the recording. 

Is your district or school in Ohio? Register now for Attend – Ohio, a free one-day event hosted by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and the Stay in the Game! This May 16 conference will focus on three aspects of engagement: student, classroom and family/community.

Campaign Sponsors

A special thanks to the campaign sponsors who have already committed to supporting our 2025 Attendance Awareness Campaign. Their investment makes it possible for us to provide you with free strategies and materials.

Attendance in the News

A Rural California District Is a National Model for Reducing Absenteeism, Governing Magazine, April 4, 2025

Want to Tackle Attendance Apathy? Students Will Show You How, Education Week, March 4, 2024

Campaign Convening Partners

See the full list of Attendance Awareness Partners here.

Attendance Works is a non-profit, national and state initiative. Our mission is to advance success in school and beyond for all students by reducing chronic absence. Find free downloadable resources, research, consulting services and more on our website: www.attendanceworks.org

For more information contact: info@attendanceworks.org

Sign up for our newsletter: https://awareness.attendanceworks.org/contact/aam-updates

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