Attendance Awareness Month is a nationwide campaign and movement to stress that every school day counts. In APS, we know that our families are our partners in education and understand the value of strong attendance.
One of the goals of our strategic plan, APS 2026: Faces of the Future, is that every student has a plan for their future. In order for students to bring their plans to life, it is critically important for students to be at school and engaged in learning daily.
Across the country, millions of hours of instruction and learning are missed every year due to chronic absences of 15 days or more. Poor attendance can start as early as kindergarten and continue to impact achievement through high school. Research indicates that attendance is a major indicator for students eventually dropping out of school and significantly limiting their options for career choices and employment. In addition, a student who does not attend school regularly often has trouble making close friends.
We recognize that some absences are unavoidable such as when children get sick and need to stay home. However, the key to success is getting children to school when they are healthy and avoiding any unnecessary absences.
Parents and guardians play a critical role in helping students get to school on time every day. Supporting students to build habits of strong attendance, regular bedtimes and other routines can greatly contribute to their overall future success in school, college and when entering the job market.
APS maintains a robust and effective transportation system to transport students to and from school safely. At schools, staff will track your students’ attendance and communicate with you on how absenteeism can affect their learning and academic performance.
Our goal for the month of September is to reach 94% average daily attendance districtwide. Please check out the interactive Attendance Thermometer below and help us to reach our goal by ensuring that students attend school every day. Together, #WeCanDoIt!
We thank our parents for their partnership and we look forward to seeing our students in school.
