Attendance Awareness Month Update
A campaign from Attendance Works

August 8, 2018
Share Your Story with Attendance Works!

We are looking for your Attendance Awareness Campaign stories from communities, cities, counties and states, schools and districts, and national organizations that show how you engaged people around school attendance with the start of the new school year.

Submit your photos, videos, and a  brief description of your activities to receive a pin on the Share Your Story Map. It also may be featured on the Attendance Awareness Month website, in an AAM newsletter or on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Share your story here

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Attendance Works! 


Your gift will help fund more great resources to raise awareness of the importance of attendance for student achievement.
Launch A Video Contest

Hosting a video or poster contest is a way to engage and rally students and parents around attendance. Students can take videos on their smart phones, tablets or cameras. See our sample set of rules and guidelines that can be adapted for your school video or poster contest.

Last year school districts nationwide, including in California, Florida and Illinois developed videos promoting their attendance theme and celebrating Attendance Awareness Month. Find some of them here.
What to Do When

Late summer is a great time to launch a door-knocking campaign to remind families when school starts. See our tips for early outreach.

Line up incentives from businesses and other partners for contests. See our tips for incentives, and read our blog post highlighting research showing how to be more strategic about structuring effective incentives. Or plan student assemblies and parent summits.  See the resources in the Count Us In! toolkit for hosting special events.
Community Spotlight

NBA star LeBron James said he missed 80+ days of school in the 4th grade but was "surprised" to find himself in school every day in 5th. What happened? It was the caring adults, coaches & mentors who took an interest in him at school. He's opened a new school in Akron, OH. Watch his interview on ESPN.com
Webinar Spotlight

There is still time to register for the next AAM webinar ,  Team Up for Attendance: Community Matters, August 15th at 11-12:30 pm (PT) / 2-3:30 pm (ET). Everyone who registers will receive a link to the webinar recording, PowerPoint slides and discussion guide. Learn how community partners from health care, early childhood, and national service volunteers are helping students and families overcome barriers to getting to school every day possible. Find the list of guest speakers and register here

Look online for the PowerPoint presentation and recordings of Leadership Matters, (3/28) and Working Together Matters (5/8). Find them on our website.  

Tweet It!

Teaming Up for Attendance is critical to reducing #chronicabsence! Join @attendanceworks + 70 nat'l partners for the Community Matters webinar. Hear how health care, volunteer & early education providers partner w/ schools. Register Now: https://tinyurl.com/ydht8rz3 #SchoolEveryDay
Resource Spotlight

Quality mentoring can be leveraged as a strategy to improve attendance and boost student achievement. A new report from MENTOR, The Power of Relationships, is a comprehensive picture of adult engagement in the mentoring movement to date. It notes that mentoring unites people, and the movement is growing. Read the report http://bit.ly/2NE0rgL.

Relationships Matter: A Toolkit for Launching an Elementary Success Mentor Initiative, from Attendance Works is designed to help school districts, particularly the administrators charged with establishing an elementary success mentor program in local schools. The success mentor approach recognizes the power of using chronic absence (missing 10 percent or more of school for any reason) to trigger a cost-effective, early intervention that gets students to school so they don't miss out on important learning opportunities. Find the toolkit.
Teaching Attendance Online Curriculum

Do you have a chronic absence problem? Attendance Works has created the Teaching Attendance Curriculum, an online, interactive educational program designed to equip teachers and school support staff with an understanding of the issue, and the guidance and resources they need to reduce chronic absences in grades K-12. Each course contains videos, reflections and opportunities to apply concepts throughout. Start learning today! Register.
Partner Spotlight

GET SCHOOLED is a nonprofit that uses gamification strategies along with a unique recipe of "sizzle and substance" to improve student outcomes.

Middle and high schools can use Get Schooled's Fall Attendance Challenge as a fun way to tackle issues around attendance and gain exposure to all of the free college access resources online! Get Schooled has seen the Fall Attendance Challenge initiate a change in school culture and increase attendance as much as 10%. Students can earn individual incentives by participating and schools can earn grants up to $2,000. Contact Akeela.maxwell@getschooled.com.
Sponsor Spotlight

A special thanks to our Attendance Awareness Month Campaign corporate sponsors for their commitment to help ensure that every child is in school every day. Their investment makes it possible for us to provide you with free strategies and materials:


Scholastic - $20,000



Safe and Civil Schools - $10,000

French Toast - $10,000
 
Social Media

.@attendanceworks is calling on communities to Team Up for Attendance in 2018! Join the webinar Community Matters on August 15 to hear how health care providers, volunteers & other partners are reducing #chronicabsence. Register: https://tinyurl.com/ydht8rz3 #SchoolEveryDay

Attendance Awareness Month is September, but the campaign to end chronic absence is year round. It's a bigger problem than you probably think Learn more about #chronicabsence and join the Attendance Awareness Campaign today! http://bit.ly/1oqfID7

Missing 10% of school days, just 2 days each month, can put children at risk of academic failure. http://bit.ly/1oqfID7 #SchoolEveryDay

Facebook Post or Newsletter Item

Addressing chronic absence is a key component of improving graduation rates, increasing academic achievement and giving young people the best chance at success in their adult life. Join Attendance Works and 70 national partners and participate in the Attendance Awareness Campaign. Make a difference for your community! http://bit.ly/1oqfID7
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