The 2025 Attendance Awareness Campaign launched April 2 with our first webinar which explored how school teams can help educators build meaningful relationships with students and families, a foundational strategy for reducing chronic absence. Find the recording.
“Teams Make All the Difference for Improving Attendance,” hosted by Attendance Works and the Institute for Educational Leadership, began with Kwesi Rollins, vice president for leadership and engagement at the Institute for Educational Leadership and Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, sharing this year’s campaign theme: Here Today, Ready for Tomorrow!, and the 2025-themed badges, one each designed for younger and older students.
Kamie Cowan, principal at Compass Berclair, a charter elementary school in Memphis, Tennessee, showcased the power of a tight-knit school team and a consistent plan. Her four-member attendance team, including the school counselor and secretary, meets every Friday to monitor data, coordinate outreach and share student-level insights. Their approach includes daily personalized phone calls, structured morning meetings and a strong emphasis on relationship-building, not only with students but with families as well. Cowan explained that assigning each team member a caseload of students for daily check-ins has made attendance support more personal and effective. A culture of visibility and belonging begins with the school’s 8 a.m. morning meetings, which include consistent messaging, routines and engaging activities. These efforts have transformed the school community, reducing chronic absence from 55% to just 2%.
William J. Reilly, known as Jackson, principal of Nathanael Greene Middle School in Providence, Rhode Island, emphasized how full-school restructuring helped shift the school’s culture around attendance. When he started, nearly half of the student body was chronically absent and teacher absenteeism was also high, he said. Reilly formed an attendance team of assistant principals, guidance counselors and support staff to identify students on the verge of chronic absence and conduct family meetings before the school year began. He also restructured student scheduling so groups of 26 students now travel together with shared teachers, strengthening relationships and accountability. Chronic absence dropped from 50% to 29%, while academic outcomes surged. The school recently achieved record-high English language arts proficiency scores and rose from a one-star to a two-star rating in the state’s accountability system.
Jerimie L. Acree, attendance and residency coordinator for Euclid City Schools in Ohio, shared how his district is using data to drive steady, systemic improvements. In partnership with Proving Ground at Harvard University and the Stay in the Game! Network, Euclid created a cross-district attendance team with representatives from each of its eight schools. They meet monthly to review dashboards, identify trends and implement targeted strategies. A districtwide focus on class-period attendance revealed high rates of skipping classes. By implementing a check-in system and boosting adult presence, the district significantly reduced the number of missed classes. These and other efforts, contributed to a drop in chronic absence from 57% in 2021–22 to 42% in 2024–25.
Save the date and register today for the remaining Attendance Awareness Campaign webinars.
- Webinar 2: Health, Well-being and Safety is Essential to Showing Up
Wednesday, May 14, 12 pm-1:30 pm PT / 3 pm-4:30 pm ET
Register for webinar 2 - Webinar 3: Student Connectedness Fosters Attendance and Engagement
Wednesday, August 6, 12 pm-1:30 pm PT / 3 pm-4:30 pm ET
Register for webinar 3 - Webinar 4: Family Engagement is the Foundation for Attendance and Learning
Wednesday, September 24, 12 pm-1:30 pm PT / 3 pm-4:30 pm ET
Register for webinar 4
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