September is Attendance Awareness Month -- 
Get Your School Involved, Let CCCOE Help!

EVERY SCHOOL DAY COUNTS! 
Year two of our county-wide
Attendance Awareness Campaign  is underway!

Welcome to YEAR two of the "Every School Day Counts" Attendance Awareness Campaign! Last year's campaign was amazing, with more than 160 schools actively participating, and 63 school leaders being recognized on the CCCOE Principal Honor Roll by promoting the importance of attending school each day!

After a very successful inaugural year, Contra Costa County Office of Education, Contra Costa District Attorney's Office, Contra Costa County Probation Department, and Contra Costa Juvenile Court are collaborating to promote year two of Every School Day Counts: Attend today, achieve for a lifetime!
 
This campaign is designed to assist schools in engaging their communities with the goal of reducing truancy and chronic absenteeism, and boost student attendance across the entire county. We are encouraging every school in Contra Costa County to participate and help us tackle this important issue and increase attendance at their school!

* While it is true that September is "Attendance Awareness Month," the importance of students attending school every day should be reinforced throughout the entire year.  That's why each month (starting with September), CCCOE will provide every school with tools and strategies to help you communicate the importance of school attendance to your communities. Look for these e-blasts each month. Most of the information will be easy for you to use by simply copying and pasting into your regular school communications.

If your school is not currently participating in the campaign, don't worry -- START NOW! Everything you need to fully engage in the Every School Day Counts campaign can be found on our website:  http://www.cocoschools.org/attendance 

The website includes information about the entire campaign including student contests, principal tool kits, links to downloadable printed materials and links to an endless supply of resources through Attendance Works.

Engage now, and help us boost school attendance and reduce truancy countywide! You can also follow the status of the county-wide campaign on social media (#cocoschooleveryday)

Theme for September:
"I love going to school because..."

Key Message: "A love of learning starts early! Build the habit of good attendance - school success goes hand-in-hand with good attendance."
 
Communication Tools/Strategies: Here are some statistics that you can use to help introduce the campaign to your community...

Why is school attendance so important?
  • Research shows that students who attend school every day in the primary grades are far more likely to read proficiently by 3rd grade.
  • For every day of school missed, it takes three days to make up what was taught.
  • By the 6th grade, chronic absence is a leading indicator of whether a student will drop out of high school.
  • In the 9th grade, school attendance is a better indicator than test scores of a student's likelihood to graduate from high school.
  • Californians who do not earn high school diplomas are eight times more likely to be incarcerated than those who do; 75% of prison inmates and 69% of inmates in county jail are drop outs.
Follow this link to an infographic which reinforces the importance of good attendance in early grades. ( English or Spanish)

Other Key Strategies - Try These Ideas
  • http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/attn/contest_winners.html
  • Incorporate into your existing parent communication the importance of daily attendance. Simply copy the above September Monthly Theme and Key Message into your parent newsletter, or create a back-to-school night PowerPoint slide to display while folks are mingling and being seated.
  • Send home letters to parents on the importance of daily attendance. Samples can be found here: http://www.attendanceworks.org/tools/for-parents/.  There are also letters to parents in your Contra Costa COE District Customized Toolkits here: http://www.cocoschools.org/attendance
  • Utilize social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to share information and/or messages regarding the importance of attendance. Use the hashtag  #cocoschooleveryday to share your ideas with other Contra Costa schools
  • Utilize one or more strategies from the Leading Attendance Toolkit, available here: http://www.attendanceworks.org/tools/schools/principals/
Principal Checklist
Once again, the CCCOE is poised to recognize the incredibly important work that principals are doing to raise awareness and address the issue of chronic absenteeism at their sites. Use this checklist to be reminded of the essential strategies that need to be accomplished at the beginning of the school year, as well as to learn about other strategies that can be used to improve attendance.  In October you will have an opportunity to tell us what you have effectively implemented at your school site and be recognized on the 2015-16 Principal Honor Roll. 

Superintendents Call to Action
Superintendents and school leaders play a pivotal role in monitoring and improving school attendance. Leaders across the country are joining Attendance Works Call to Action on attendance, jointly sponsored by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Learn more about how you can sign up and reduce the number of students in your schools and district who are chronically absent-missing nearly a month or more of school every year.  Get involved now -- click here!
Contra Costa County Office of Education | 925-942-3343
Bookmark our website and check back often for valuable resources.
www.cocoschools.org/attendance

Share your successes with us and other Contra Costa County schools on Twitter
#cocoschooleveryday