1. Here Together, All Day, Every Day
Harrisonville School Attendance Campaign
5 years ago campaign was Be Here when we focused on attendance our students attended more. , Here Together more collaborative- A community challenge

2. Our Reality...
Last year, 326 Harrisonville students were chronically absent. That was almost 1 in 5 students. The breakdown by building was as follows:
ECC - 14
HES - 40 McEowen - 32 HMS - 74 HHS - 166
school year received 75% of APR attendance points. Got us looking at why. Leadership Team in agreement students need to be present to learn. Simple as that. Looking at our data we had 18%, almost 1 in 5 of our students district wide miss over 18 days, at high school level it was 24% or 1 in 4 students chronically absent. 326 students total chronically absent.

3. We developed a campaign to partner with families and community - #HVHereTogether
Internal Communication:
Key Messages: We all need to be involved, “What can I do, what’s my role?”
We need to keep attendance on the forefront and in our conversations.
What are we doing to do this?How does entire school community play a role in this?
How are we celebrating attendance successes?
How are we connecting with chronic absentees? Critical Component
2 audience groups to communicate with External and Internal … We started with internal communication sharing the numbers, Here Together

4. External Messages: Key Messages:
When a student is absent, he/she misses the best opportunity for learning - in the classroom with his/her teacher.
We want all our students to succeed which means helping them be in school each day by teaching good attendance habits for life, supporting parents, and developing relationships.
We want to partner with our parents and community to come up with ways to decrease student absences.
We want you HERE! HERE is where it’s at HERE for success, HERE to grow

5. Window clings for businesses- school leaders went out to local businesses and Rotary/Kiwanis/Lions clubs- sharing the message of where we are at #s wise and what are goal is. Why attendance matters at school and relating that to their business. Asking them that when they speak with our students they bring up the importance of attendance.

6. Social Media Blitz -Daily Facebook and Twitter Posts
Sept. 3
September is Attendance Awareness Month. When a student is absent, he/she misses the best opportunity for learning - in the classroom with his/her teacher. Over the next few weeks, we will be posting statistics, links to resources, tips, and much more to ensure everyone understands how attendance can impact a student's ability to succeed beginning in kindergarten and continuing throughout his/her life. This is a team effort; everyone who touches our students’ lives has a role to play. We want all our students to succeed which means helping them be in school each day by focusing on relationships, teaching good attendance habits for life, supporting parents, and partnering with the community. #HVHereTogether
Research shows that chronic absenteeism can cause students to fall behind academically.
Students chronically absent in kindergarten and 1st grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade.
By 6th grade, chronic absence is a proven early warning sign for students at risk for dropping out of school.
By 9th grade, good attendance can predict graduation rates even better than 8th grade test scores.
#HVHereTogether

7. Thursday & Friday, October 18-19 (four-day weekend)
Sept. 6
The district’s attendance goal is that 90% of students will be at school 90% of the time. We realize some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. Therefore, we encourage parents to plan ahead when possible. Avoid scheduling vacations or doctor’s appointments when school is in session. And if you have to schedule an appointment during a school day, please try to only take your child out of school for the actual appointment. To assist with family scheduling, here’s a list of dates during which school is out and could be used for doctor/dental appointments and vacations. Friday, October 12 (½ day for students - end of quarter)
Thursday & Friday, October (four-day weekend)
Wednesday, Nov. 21-Monday, Nov. 26 (Thanksgiving Break)
Friday, December 21 (½ day for students - end of quarter)
Monday, December 24-Wednesday, Jan. 2 (Winter Break)
Monday, January 21 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) Monday & Tuesday, January (four-day weekend)
Monday, February 18 (President’s Day) Friday, March 8 (½ day for students - end of quarter)
Monday, March 18-Friday, March 22 (Spring Break)
Thursday & Friday, April (four-day weekend)
#HVHereTogether
Continuing target messaging through parent s, newsletters, social media throughout the year - for example, once we start seeing attendance drop from sickness, sending out reminders about how to stay healthy; reminding them about breaks & scheduling appointments/vacations

8. What else are we doing…. Individual School Attendance Tracking
Cass County Education Court- diversionary program
HHS attendance policy must be above 90% to participate in extracurricular events
Internal culture building- Celebrate Monday, High 5 Fridays…
Jill Filer Director of Communications
Dan Erholtz