SchoolStatus Launches Nationwide Initiative to Get More Kids in Class in 2025-2026

Mission: Attendance is a new, year-long initiative that will provide resources and tools to help K-12 schools and districts address chronic absenteeism and improve student attendance.

SACRAMENTO, CA, August 12, 2025—This back-to-school season, SchoolStatus, a leading provider of K-12 solutions for attendance, student insights, and family engagement, is launching Mission: Attendance, a nationwide initiative to help K-12 schools and districts across the country improve student attendance. The program will provide monthly resources with proven strategies for addressing chronic absenteeism at no cost to districts. The initiative aims to support districts in addressing one of the most pressing challenges in education, with 23.5% of U.S. students chronically absent during the 2024-2025 school year. 

“Our goal is simple: more kids in class, period,” said Dr. Kara Stern, Director of Education at SchoolStatus, who helped to develop the program. “We’re excited to support K-12 educators doing this critical work by sharing the strategies and tools that are working.”

Complete Monthly Resource Packages

Each month focuses on a specific attendance theme and delivers everything educators need to take action. Some examples of what educators can expect:

• Downloadable Tools: Ready-to-use templates, messaging, calendars, and attendance tracking that can be implemented immediately or adapted for any school or district context.
• Actionable Guides: Short, practical guides based on attendance data from 1.3 million students. Educators can implement strategies and tactics that are working for hundreds of districts right away.
• Newsletter Templates: Professional communications for families and students that can be sent as-is or customized for each school. These templates will help educators maintain consistent outreach throughout the year, celebrate attendance successes, and build stronger relationships between school and home.
• Expert Insights: Tips from education experts who have successfully reduced chronic absenteeism and improved attendance will be shared in email and videos.

Supporting Educator Success

This year-long initiative celebrates the systematic interventions that have helped SchoolStatus partners achieve improvements in chronic absenteeism that are more than double the national improvement rate. By sharing these successful strategies, Mission: Attendance supports educators in implementing approaches that can create real change for thousands of students. 

Recent analysis of over a million students revealed that chronic absenteeism almost doubles from 5th grade (14.26%) to 12th grade (27.55%), even in districts using systematic interventions. This pattern shows districts where to focus intensive efforts while developing specialized approaches for secondary students who face different challenges and barriers than earlier grades. To support these efforts, many tools will include complementary materials for different grade bands. 

“We’re sharing these resources because we believe in the incredible daily impact educators have on students’ lives,” Dr. Stern explained. “When students show up to school consistently, everything else becomes possible. These tools support school leaders, teachers, and staff in making that happen.”

Mission: Attendance is launching with September Attendance Awareness Month resources, including social media posts, printable flyers in English and Spanish, and a complete 30-day attendance challenge toolkit with student calendars and progress tracking materials.

“Our analysis of 1.3 million students shows structured frameworks create impact. These districts outperformed national recovery efforts,” Dr. Stern explained. “Our data also reveals exactly where more direct support is needed and challenges assumptions about family engagement in secondary years. The steep decline from middle school onward suggests that maintaining strong family partnerships may be even more important as students get older.”

Mission: Attendance is free and open to all educators. Sign up at: schoolstatus.com/mission-attendance. Monthly resources and the September toolkit are available immediately. New tools and insights will be delivered twice a month throughout the school year.

Media Contact
Annmarie Ely, Senior Strategist
0to5 for SchoolStatus
267.454.4686
[email protected]