Attendance

Our School is Brighter When You Are Here!
Ready to give your child their best chance to SHINE? It all starts with regular school attendance! Every day in the classroom is a chance to learn, grow, and connect. Don't let your child miss out on valuable learning experiences.

Why Attendance Matters:

• Building a Strong Foundation: Early learning is key! Regular attendance in elementary school sets the stage for future academic success.
• Learning is Cumulative: Each lesson builds upon the last. Missing class means missing crucial building blocks.
• Beyond the Books: School is more than just academics. It's where students develop friendships, teamwork skills, and discover their passions through clubs and sports.

Did You Know?
Missing just a few days of school each month adds up. Chronic absenteeism (10% or more of school days) has a significant impact on a child's future. We want to see every child SHINE and achieve their fullest potential.

10 Facts About School Attendance

1. Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year. Half the students who miss 2-4 days in September go on to miss nearly a month of school. Read more: Why September Matters: Improving Student Attendance
2. The most recent federal data show that in the 2020-21 school year, at least 14.7 million students nationwide were chronically absent. This means that chronic absence has almost doubled from the more than 8 million students, pre-Covid-19, who were missing so many days of school that they were academically at risk. Read more: Turning Back the Tide: The Critical Role of States In Reducing Chronic Absence
3. Absenteeism and its ill effects start early. Read more: Present, Engaged, and Accounted For The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades
4. Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by the end of third grade or be held back. Read more: Attendance in the Early Grades: Why it Matters for Reading
5. By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school. Read more: Sixth Grade  Early Warning Indicators for Baltimore City Schools Their Prevalence and Impact
6. Research shows that missing 10 percent of the school, or about 18 days in most school districts, negatively affects a student’s academic performance. That’s just two days a month and that’s known as chronic absence. Read more: Why Attendance Matters for Achievement and How Interventions Can Help
7. Students who live in communities with high levels of poverty are four times more likely to be chronically absent than others often for reasons beyond their control, such as unstable housing, unreliable transportation and a lack of access to health care. Read more: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades
8. When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and chances for graduating. Read more: Preventable Failure Improvements in Long-Term Outcomes when High Schools Focused on the Ninth Grade Year
9. Attendance improves when schools engage students and parents in positive ways and when schools provide mentors for chronically absent students. Read more: Preschool Attendance in Chicago Public Schools: Relationships with Learning Outcomes and Reasons for Absences
10. Most school districts and states don’t look at all the right data to improve school attendance. They track how many students show up every day and how many are skipping school without an excuse, but not how many are missing so many days in excused and unexcused absence that they are headed off track academically. Read more: Chronic Elementary Absenteeism: A Problem Hidden in Plain Sight

TOGETHER WE SHINE!
We are here to help, please reach out to your school counselor, administrator or health care professional for help. Visit the Caring First Attendance page for more information.