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Attendance Awareness Campaign Update
A project led by Attendance Works
September 3, 2026
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Keeping All Students Healthy and In School
It’s still true: health-related concerns top the reasons families give for student absences. It’s also true that many health-related absences are preventable!
Explore the new toolkit, "Prevent Health-Related Absences" that we developed with the Johns Hopkins University Center for School Health, National Association of School Nurses, and Healthy Schools Campaign. It offers collaborative actions to enable schools and health partners to:
- Promote health and well-being
- Engage in messaging
- Identify health needs
- Collaborate across teams and agencies
These strategies improve attendance by helping to keep students from getting sick in the first place, clarifying that only missing school when ill and showing up regularly is important for overall well-being, and increasing access to school health supports (nutritious meals, nurses, mental or behavioral health supports, etc.).
Help to spread the word!
Looking for social media to celebrate about Attendance Awareness Month? Find sample language on the AAC website.
Start the school year off strong by helping to keep kids healthy and in school. Find more resources below.
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What works!
Mobile County Public Schools, the largest district in Alabama, significantly reduced chronic absence from 31.5% to 12.8% in just two years, a rate lower than before the pandemic. The district’s approach is centered on the whole child. Peer mentoring, efforts to build belonging and state support for school-based mental health services, are helping students feel safe, supported and engaged. Monthly data reviews are a priority as well as family outreach to identify barriers and connect students with support. Read our new Success Story!
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Webinars
Join us on September 23 for AAC Webinar #4, Ensure Support All Year Long. Speakers will focus on a systemic approach to addressing attendance during every school season.
Webinars are on Wednesdays at 12-1:30pm PT / 3-4:30pm ET. Register for the last webinar in this year’s four-part series.
Sample social media
💬 Join Attendance Works, the Institute for Educational Leadership and campaign partners on Sept. 23 at 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET for the fourth webinar in the 2026 Attendance Awareness Campaign series: Ensure Support All Year Long.
Consistent support for attendance throughout the year starts with positive relationships, prevention and early intervention. #YourPresenceMatters
🔗 Don’t miss this free event!
https://www.attendanceworks.org/resources/webinars/
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Attendance celebrations
Sumter County Schools in Alabama celebrated students at Sumter Central Elementary School. Five students were recognized as First Day Attendance Challenge winners with the message, “Great Attendance Leads to Great Futures!”
Blanche Moore Elementary School in Texas is engaging students with its "Be There for the Bell" campaign. Students who arrive on time are regularly featured on the school's live feed and receive surprise visits from the school’s Prize Patrol.
Glenwood School District in Washington had an impressive reason to celebrate its first day of the 2026–27 school year: every student was present. The district shared photos from the first day and celebrated the strong start along with the smiles, connections and excitement of being back in school.
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State news
The Colorado Department of Education and the Denver Broncos Foundation, in partnership with Attendance Works, launched the Denver Broncos Attendance Network, a two-year initiative supporting a group of districts. Participating districts will receive coaching, professional learning and opportunities for statewide collaboration to strengthen attendance and engagement, advancing Colorado’s Every School Day Matters campaign and its goal of reducing chronic absence.
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Attendance tools
Many families are still not sure when to send a sick child back to school. Download our When is Sick Too Sick for School handout to clarify when to send a child to school if they show signs of illness. We have a handout with tips for managing chronic health issues for schools and another for families, and handouts about keeping students healthy and in school.
Missed us at the Start Strong on Attendance: Partnering With Families to Stay Connected webinar? Watch the recording to hear practical strategies for reducing chronic absence by strengthening student connection, belonging and family engagement. The webinar, sponsored by ParentSquare, also features Mansfield ISD sharing its successful strategies.
Now is a good time to enlist local elected officials — mayors, school board members and superintendents — to signal the importance of school attendance by declaring September Attendance Awareness Month. Download our 2026–27 proclamation template. State leaders and boards can easily adapt or tailor the template. Invite the media to the proclamation announcement.
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Research
Research published in March found that school reopening during the pandemic was associated with a drop in monthly mental health diagnoses and a drop in related healthcare spending. The researchers say these findings point out that in-person learning is an important component of children’s mental health.
Health-Related and Social Drivers of Chronic Absenteeism in an Urban School District, published in late 2025 found that health-related and social barriers were commonly reported reasons for chronic absence in an urban school district. These findings are a call to action for pediatricians and pediatric health systems to recognize the interrelatedness of school attendance and health, according to the researchers.
A Broader View of Recovery: Exploring Non-Test Student Outcomes in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, a report from CALDER, finds students who participated in summer school and tutoring showed improvements in attendance and discipline the following year, highlighting how these interventions can also support student engagement and well-being.
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Partner spotlight
FutureEd is an independent, solution-oriented think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. Its areas of study include chronic absenteeism in state accountability systems.
Check out FutureEd's state attendance tracker, which includes chronic absence rates from the last pre-pandemic school year, 2018–19, through 2025–26. The tracker will be continuously updated as states release their data.
Healthy Schools Campaign (HSC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making schools healthier places for all students. HSC provides leadership development and tools to school stakeholders and advocates for better access to nutritious school food, physical activity, school health resources and clean air to shape children’s lifelong learning and health.
Join HSC Oct. 8 to hear student and parent leaders, health and education champions from across the country discuss the vital role schools play in providing the health services that students need to be successful and ready to learn. Register for The Power of Public Schools: The Hidden Healthcare System Behind Student Success.
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Campaign convening partners
See the full list of Attendance Awareness Partners here.
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Campaign sponsors
A special thanks to the campaign sponsors who have already committed to supporting our 2026 Attendance Awareness Campaign. Their investment makes it possible for us to provide you with free strategies and materials.
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News highlights
Three things parents miss about their teens’ lives, EdSource, August 25, 2026
Doctor visits, excused absences now count toward Ohio chronic absenteeism rates, Dayton Daily News, August 17, 2026
We stopped saying 'you're late.' Here's what happened with attendance, District Administration, August 20, 2026
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