September is Attendance Awareness Month — one of our favorite times of year at TalkingPoints, because it puts a spotlight on something we believe in every day: families are the most underutilized lever districts have for improving student outcomes.
When schools and families partner, building trust through consistent, two-way communication, it moves the needle on attendance.
All month, we’re digging into what that looks like in practice: a webinar with district leaders and researchers, a partnership with Attendance Works, and a new post each week on reducing chronic absenteeism.
Written by: Danielle Dyess | Time to Read: 5 minutes
The first weeks of school can signal attendance patterns for the whole year.
Did you know that nearly half of students who missed just two to four days in September went on to be chronically absent that school year?
The data: A Baltimore Education Research Consortium study found that September attendance was strongly associated with attendance throughout the rest of the school year. Students with stronger September attendance generally maintained stronger attendance throughout the year, while students with higher September absence rates continued to miss substantially more school. Students who missed more than four days in September went on to miss an average of six to nine days in each subsequent month. While the study focused on Baltimore City students, Attendance Works points to this pattern nationally, a strong reason for schools everywhere to pay close attention to attendance from the very start of the year.
That makes the beginning of the school year an important opportunity for schools. Strong family partnerships can help districts identify barriers early, build trust, and create the conditions that support consistent attendance and student success.
Setting the foundation with best practices
Research points to practices that help schools prevent and address chronic absence, and one theme comes up consistently: strong relationships with families are key to improving attendance. These practices help districts build those relationships early, establish good attendance habits, and respond quickly when barriers emerge.
Five ways to build attendance-supporting family partnerships from day one
- Meet the Teacher, but make it authentic.
Traditional Meet the Teacher events help families learn their way around campus and meet school staff. But they can also do something more important: begin building a relationship. Consider a format that gives teachers a few minutes of individual conversation with each family while other families connect with staff or participate in activities. Add simple icebreakers that invite families and teachers to learn something meaningful about one another. For many families, Meet the Teacher is a first impression. Use it to communicate that family partnership isn’t just welcome—it is central to a successful school year.
For families who can’t make it, the relationship is just as important to build. A quick follow-up message is a nice way to let them know they matter too. Something as simple as “Can’t wait to meet [student] in person. We’ll catch up on Tuesday.” goes a long way.
- Show families why every day matters
Early in the year, give families a clear picture of what students will be learning and how the school day is structured. Highlight key projects, routines, and learning experiences so families can see what students miss when they are absent—not just in assignments, but in discussion, collaboration, and connection with classmates and teachers.
- Make it easy for every family to reach you
In the first weeks of school, make sure every family knows how to reach their student’s teachers, support staff, and front office. A phone number or email address isn’t enough if language, work schedules, internet access, or technology create barriers.
See how TalkingPoints makes this easy: With our text-first messaging model, families don’t need an app, a smartphone, or Wi-Fi to start a conversation. And two-way translation in 150+ languages means language is never the barrier that keeps a family from reaching out.
- Connect regularly and quickly
TalkingPoints research suggests that when schools follow up quickly with personalized messages in families’ home languages, families are more likely to respond and share why a student was absent. Our research also suggests that families who already have two-way conversations with school staff — even about topics unrelated to attendance — are more likely to share attendance barriers when they arise.
- Make it a conversation
Attendance outreach is less likely to surface the root cause of absences when it functions only as a one-way notification rather than the start of a conversation. A notification can let a family know there is a problem, but on its own it may not uncover why a student is missing school or what support would help. Even worse, it can leave families feeling defensive. To understand what is getting in the way of attendance, schools need two-way conversations in which families feel comfortable sharing barriers and asking for support.
See how TalkingPoints makes this easy: Our Attendance Improvement solution includes automated absence notifications and tiered groups based on attendance status, making it easy to reach families in a way that invites a response rather than delivering a one-way notification.
Start strong in September—and keep the conversation going
Attendance matters from day one, and districts can take concrete steps to make families feel connected, informed, and comfortable asking for help when barriers arise. These five strategies are also the foundation TalkingPoints was built to support – from everyday communication to attendance-specific outreach. What has worked best in your school to strengthen attendance?
More for Attendance Awareness Month
- Join our webinar, co-hosted with District Administration, “The Missing Piece in Attendance Improvement: Stronger Family Partnerships,” on September 17 at 2:00 PM ET.
- Explore the Attendance Works Attendance Awareness Month campaign, sponsored by TalkingPoints.
- Join the related webinar, “Ensuring Support All Year Long.”
- Follow along all month with new posts here on the blog.
Want to learn more about our Attendance Improvement solution? Schedule a demo.
