Director of School Initiatives United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania Shauna McMillan Director of School Initiatives United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania 412-456-6833 Shauna.McMillan@unitedwayswpa.org

As of 2017-18… 30 school districts 82 schools 35,000+ students engaged In just this year: 1,200+ trained on chronic absenteeism, data, and attendance best practices From our start, we have connected with tons of schools to help improve their attendance. We will be walking through our current pilots, and will focus on soe specific items that we think will be most beneficial to starting a campaign.

Results

Results Pittsburgh Beechwood Elementary’ s chronic absence rate fell from 21.9% to 18.5% Verner Elementary School in Riverview School District reduced chronic absence rates from 13% to 6.4% Pittsburgh Westinghouse Academy demonstrated a 22% decrease in chronic absence Clairton Middle & High School decreased chronic absence by nearly 16% All 5 schools in West Allegheny School District reduced chronic absence rates to below 5%. 3 out of 5 schools in the district have reduced chronic absence rates to below 3%

Pilots and Partnerships School engagement: Attendance Challenges The Buddy Project Attendance Texting Attendance Corps Champions of Learning School Transportation

Community Messaging Messaging Materials Partner Engagement 3.Keeping the Momentum

Messaging Keeping the Message Keeping the Model Consistent definition of chronic absence Positive and proactive Focus on data Establishing caring relationships Establishing attainable goals Keeping the Model Attendance Challenges The Buddy Project Allow school culture, but keep what works

Partner Engagement Local connection: Be There Campaign “kickoffs” Large-scale connection: Be There Conference Partner power Results Ground Work Individual school relationships Individual school action When we first kicked off, we needed to make sure schools were going to actually participate. The last thing we all want is for us to put in a ton of work to get something started, and then have nobody on board. The rollout plan of your campaign is critically important, as you want to make sure folks know it is happening, know what it is, and know what their role is in it. Large- scale connection: to make the problem known in the community. This enabled us to connect with schools, and know they would be aware of the problem beforehand Throughout: Be clear and concise with expectations Follow-up, evaluate, reconnect

Keeping the Momentum Envision a year-long timeline Consider how you are engaging schools, community, providers, and summer programs Need a hub, a nudger, and a waterhole https://www.facebook.com/BeTherePgh/videos/490742391127019/