|
Attendance Awareness Campaign Update
A project led by Attendance Works
September 16, 2022
| |
|
Healthy Students and Families
It’s clear there is a connection between physical and mental health and attendance. The Covid-19 pandemic has only heightened this link. Schools and districts can communicate clearly and often with families to address fears about Covid-19 and share the steps they are taking to ensure school is a healthy and safe environment. (Check out our back-to-school family letter for some messaging tips.)
Work with health professionals to communicate with parents, caregivers and educators about when students should stay home and when to return to school after being sick.
The American Academy of Pediatrics released new Covid-19 Guidance for Safe Schools and Promotion of In-Person Learning. It strongly advocates that daily school attendance be monitored for all students, and that schools should use multi-tiered strategies to proactively support student attendance. Find AAP’s new guidance.
| | Join the movement to get more kids back in school. Our ability to provide free resources depends on contributions from people like you. Donate today. |
Hedy Chang, Executive Director
Click on image to view
| |
|
Kohl’s Cares and Alliance for a Healthier Generation have teamed up on the Healthy Day messaging toolkit to help promote healthy habits at home and in your community. Find sample messages and downloadable graphics to spread the word here.
Healthy Children.org, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, offers a range of resources for families about managing student health, such as webinars, infographics, fact sheets and more. Read Staying Safe in School During Covid-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Adolescent and School Health resources includes strategies for schools to address health risk behaviors among students and creates tools to help schools implement these strategies.
Our Scan of Environment and Attendance Tool (SEAT) helps school leaders engage school staff, students, families and community members to identify strengths and opportunities to promote positive school culture and strong attendance. We have two separate modules for grades K-5 (Elementary) and 6-12 (Middle and High). Learn more about SEAT.
Starting the new school year with a strong family engagement and communication plan is essential! EveryDay Labs has a new back-to-school toolkit full of strategies (and downloadable checklists). Find it.
| |
|
State News
In CT, the Department of Public Health, Department of Education, and Office of Early Childhood released new school guidance entitled “Launching into Healthy Learning” for 2022-23. The guidance includes a Test-Mask-Go strategy for students and staff with mild respiratory disease symptoms and everyday prevention strategies related to Covid-19 community spread levels for schools and centers. Learn more.
| |
|
Policy Spotlight
The National Healthy Schools Collaborative has released the Ten Year Roadmap for Healthy Schools, with ten goals for stakeholders from the education and health sectors and all levels of government. The roadmap calls on stakeholders to work together to create systems that ensure that every school is a healthy school. It includes guidance for supporting the health of school staff, teachers and students. Find it.
| |
Attendance Awareness Celebrations! | |
|
Glendale Unified School District in CA is promoting its Student Wellness Services Attendance Awareness Month campaign 2022. Watch the video.
The CA State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond sent a letter urging districts to celebrate September as Attendance Awareness Month, and to initiate efforts to improve attendance and student engagement. (The letter links to a variety of AW resources!) View the letter.
The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in FL has brought back its Attendance Awareness Poster Contest with the theme Every Day Counts, Make Every Day a Learning Day. Learn more and watch the video!
The School District of Lee County in FL visited Edgewood Academy to learn about the importance of Attendance Awareness! Watch.
| |
|
Events
Join us for AAC Webinar #4: What Works to Sustain Engagement and Attendance? Wednesday, September 28, 2022: 12pm-1:30pm PT / 3pm–4:30pm ET. Speakers from Connecticut, Baltimore, Maryland and the Menominee nation in Wisconsin will share how they use data to inform action, engage local partners, and build capacity to ensure their approaches both achieve results and are sustainable. Sign up here.
| |
|
We're Hiring!
Join the Attendance Works team and help us respond to the very high levels of chronic absence seen across the country. Find more information and apply for the Assoc. Director of Programs position here!
| |
|
The National League of Cities (NLC) is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. Working in partnership with the 49 state municipal leagues, NLC serves as a resource to and an advocate for the more than 19,000 cities, villages and towns it represents. The Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, a special entity within NLC, helps municipal leaders take action on behalf of the children, youth, and families in their communities.
NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families is collaborating with Attendance Works and other organizations to continue highlighting local strategies to re-engage students who lost their connections with school during the pandemic. NLC has also joined with four other coordinating partners to support the U.S. Department of Education’s Engage Every Student initiative. This initiative aims to ensure that every student who wants a spot in a high-quality out-of-school time program has one. Find technical assistance resources and learn more here.
| |
|
Corporate Sponsors
Thank you AAC 2022 Corporate Sponsors! Your support helps to make it possible for us to offer – at no charge – webinars and resources that equip everyone to improve student engagement and attendance.
| |
|
Sample Tweet
When a student misses so many days they are chronically absent, (10% or more days), it means the lack of engagement in learning is an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed. Join the Attendance Awareness Campaign to learn more! http://bit.ly/1oqfID7 #SchoolEveryDay
| |
Campaign Convening Partners
See the full list of Attendance Awareness Partners here.
| |
Copyright © 2022 Attendance Works, All rights reserved | | | | | |
