This article is adapted from the RAISE Network’s Foundational Practices to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism. Receive more resources to address chronic absenteeism in your school by signing up for the RAISE Roundup newsletter.

Who this article is for

This is a quick guide for school and district leaders who want to strengthen student attendance, connection, and belonging from the start of the school year.

The key shift: From compliance to connection

The messages you send to families about attendance in the fall set the tone for the full school year. 

The 70 schools in the RAISE Network have found that they get dramatically better results by focusing on “connection” instead of “compliance.” This means that rather than treating attendance primarily as a set of rules to enforce, schools view it as a signal of connection—and absenteeism as a signal of disconnection. In the first year of practicing this technique, the schools in the RAISE Network saw chronic absenteeism drop by an average of 6.1 points, with ten schools cutting their chronic absenteeism rates in half. 

Three ways to optimize your beginning-of-year attendance messaging 

1. Messages should be clear, consistent, and connection-focused.

Audit all your beginning-of-school attendance communication by asking these three questions:

• Does it say why attendance matters?
• Does it match what our other messages are saying?
• Does it lead with compliance or connection? 

2. Messages should include the following information:

• Being in-person at school matters. It helps students build routines, stay connected, access learning, and feel they belong.
• Missing two days a month (excused or unexcused) can make it harder for students to keep up with learning, build strong relationships, and feel connected to their school community.
• Offer clear guidance about when to keep a child home for illness. Families need practical guidance, not just “stay home if sick.”
• What families can expect from the school:

• • We will check in after absences to see if your child is okay and how we can help.
  • We will send regular updates to help you keep track of your child’s total number of absences.

3. Messages should reach families through at least two channels, in their own languages.

It is critical to translate messages into the language spoken at home. First, this means caregivers will know what the message says. Second, it demonstrates that the school has a sense of who they are and wants to establish a connection. 

Whenever possible, include the name and contact information of a specific staff member they can reach with questions or for support.

Communication channels can include:

• Flyers sent home with students
• Texts
• Email newsletters 
• Automated calls
• Back-to-school night
• Messages through a parent portal