Especially if your schools open in August, plan first-day-of-school events stressing the importance of attendance. Print banners and posters to hang on the walls and outside of school. See our promotion materials.

Plan student assemblies and parent summits. See our talking points for families of PreK-12 and talking points for teens. Help parents make the connection between absences and academic trouble through conversations in the community and by building a welcoming environment at school, in letters sent home and in parent-teacher conferences. Find our sample back-to-school letter and script for back-to-school robo calls here.

Consider reaching out to your local superintendent to sign on to our Superintendents Call to Action. We have a variety of resources to help superintendents get started.

In CA, Kern County will be recognizing Attendance Awareness Month from mid-August through mid-September 2018. The Kern County Superintendent of Schools developed an attendance awareness campaign with an overview of chronic absence, PSAs, and a School Attendance Resource Booklet, in English and Spanish,  for families that includes contact information for local services to help families overcome challenges to getting to school every day. The campaign includes downloadable resources by Attendance Works. Check out the campaign here!

High levels of chronic absence can be addressed when schools and communities collaborate with multiple stakeholders! Our August 15th webinar, Team Up for Attendance: Community Matters, on August 15th at 11-12:30 pm (PT) / 2-3:30 pm (ET), will feature speakers who will share how early childhood programs, pediatricians and national service volunteers can partner with schools to make a difference. Everyone who registers will receive a link to the webinar recording, PowerPoint slides and discussion guide. Register here.

Everyone Graduates Center combines analysis of the causes, location, and consequences of the nation's dropout crisis with the development of tools and models designed to keep all students on the path to graduation. That includes tracking of early warning indicators, including chronic absence.

The 2018 Building a Grad Nation report shows that 39 states have a graduation rate above 80 percent, marking a major milestone toward reaching the country's goal of a 90 percent graduation rate. Building a Grad Nation, authored by Civic Enterprises and the Everyone Graduates Center, and released in partnership with the Alliance for Excellent Education and America's Promise Alliance, highlights the challenges facing key student subgroups and low-graduation rate schools and urges states to focus on ensuring every student receives a quality education through the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Find the report.

Use the 2018 Attendance Awareness Month image to display on your Facebook page or website to help spread the word about Attendance Awareness Month and show your participation. The graphic highlights this year's theme: Team Up for Attendance! Download the image here.

Our sample tweets and Facebook posts send the message that we can all work towards reducing chronic absence. Use them to educate others about the negative impact chronic absence has on student achievement, and to promote participation in Attendance Awareness Month. Find our sample tweets and Facebook posts in Spanish too!

Tweet It!

3/4ths of students who are chronically absent in 6th grade will drop out of high school: bit.ly/1oqfID7 #SchoolEveryDay