Attendance matters all year long
Students, staff and families play a vital role in making sure students are in class every day, and Dallas ISD is sharing ways to promote and celebrate attendance all year long through the Strive For No More Than Five campaign.
The initiative engages and challenges students and parents to commit to limiting absences to no more than five days for the entire school year. Having five or fewer absences annually is considered great attendance, and Dallas ISD’s Parent Services department believes all students can do it.
“We want to aim for perfect attendance, but we understand that absences are sometimes unavoidable,” said Sally Salinas, a specialist with Parent Services. “Instead, we are challenging students and parents to commit to limiting absences to no more than five for the entire school year.”
Salinas said best attendance practices for families include scheduling doctor, dentist and other appointments outside of school hours and planning vacations when school is not in session, if possible, and submitting excuse notes to their school’s attendance office. They can also keep track of their student’s absences by using the Parent Services attendance tracker.
Dallas ISD teachers and staff can support the Strive For No More Than Five campaign by displaying attendance yard signs and posters—which can be found on the Parent Services’ website—around campus and by encouraging families to take advantage of the attendance tracker.
Students who finish the year with five or fewer absences will be eligible to receive a prize. In past years, Dallas ISD has partnered with Six Flags Over Texas to provide a free admissions ticket for each student with the purchase of an adult ticket. This year’s prize is still being determined, so stay tuned for the final announcement of the Strive For No More Than Five prize.
“Attendance has an impact on students’ academic performance and success in the long run, so from the minute that a student is actually enrolled in school, we want to help them create good attendance habits,” Salinas said. “If our students can Strive For No More Than Five, then it is going to show that these students have limited their absences and have prepared themselves to be successful in school and begin good attendance habits that will last a lifetime.”
To learn more about the district’s annual attendance campaign or to find additional resources, visit Parent Services at https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/57331.
