September is Attendance Awareness Month

September is Attendance Awareness Month, and it is an incredible opportunity to build awareness in our schools and community about how critical attendance is to the academic development and success of our students.

Study after study has shown that there are direct and substantive links between a student’s attendance and their literacy and graduation rates. Missing only a handful of days in a school year can cause huge academic problems for our students.

Chronic absence is described as missing 10 percent of the school year—or about 18 days – for any reason, excused or unexcused. Research shows this is the point at which absenteeism begins to affect student performance. Student attendance should matter to all of us, not just those with school-age children. When more of our students graduate on time, our communities and our economy are stronger. We also have more people who are prepared for the workplace and more engaged in our community’s civic life.

All students and families of the Baldwin County School District are encouraged to make every effort to not miss a single day all through the month of September to build stronger, smarter minds for all of our students.

What can you do to help? Please watch the video below from attendanceworks.org on how to combat chronic absenteeism.

Scroll down below to see the full photo gallery of students who have perfect attendance at Midway Hills Academy!