By April Ritter, Guest Blogger
Emphasizing the importance of participation, or showing up, at the start of the school year is a well-timed strategy. District leaders can leverage September Attendance Awareness Month to share their expectations for learning time and engagement and to open the doors to conversations about supporting families as we transition back to school.
What will you do for September Attendance Awareness Month?
Reopening schools, whether online, in-person or in a blended model, has required flexibility, cooperation and an unprecedented partnership between students, families and their schools—but the importance of showing up has not changed. Metrics of participation need to include levels of student engagement, completing assignments on time, and staying in touch with teachers. Academic progress remains directly linked to attendance, participation, and learning time.
We’re helping our district partners share the importance of building good attendance habits with parents and students. We can help you support student participation and engagement with our ready-to-go Attendance Awareness Campaign. We’d like to see every district post attendance messages on school websites, hang posters, send emails, and post/tweet on social media to educate their families and the communities about the importance of attending school every day.
How will you make an impact?
I’d love to know what your schools are doing this month - send an email to AskErica@sia-us.com. And let me know how I can help you make showing up and participation everyone’s priority!
