As the new school year begins, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) is delighted to welcome students back to the excitement of reconnecting with friends, meeting teachers, and diving into new lessons. To ensure every student thrives, we’ve launched our Every Day Counts campaign to promote daily attendance and set students up for success.

The Power of Showing Up

Daily attendance fuels success:

• Students with strong attendance in early grades are 4x more likely to read proficiently by third grade.
  
• Regular attenders have higher GPAs (3.2 vs. 2.8) and are 37% more likely to graduate high school.
  
• Graduates earn roughly $1 million more over their lifetimes compared to dropouts.
  

On the flip side, chronic absenteeism increases dropout risks and can lead to challenges like suspensions or juvenile justice involvement. By showing up every day, students build a brighter future.

Our Commitment to Addressing Chronic Absenteeism

NOLA-PS is taking action to reduce chronic absenteeism in eight key areas:

• Attendance Hearing Office: A new initiative to support families through collaborative Attendance Conferences, identifying barriers and creating personalized plans.  
• Policy & Enforcement: Ensuring that attendance requirements are clear to parents and the community and working with businesses to ensure they are not employing or selling to students during the school day. The truancy center is located at Mahalia Jackson for drop off of students who are caught missing school.
• Data-Driven Approach & Systems: Closely monitoring attendance, discipline, and case management data to spot trends early and understand what is working.
• Staffing & Capacity Building: Providing professional development for school staff to ensure they are equipped with the proper expertise to effectively manage attendance/attendance interventions. This includes the training of specific personnel crucial for data management purposes and direct student/family support (e.g., data managers, secretaries, etc.)
• Collaborative & Systemic Development: Building collaborative working relationships with community partners and government agencies that support chronic absenteeism (e.g., Families in Need of Services, Juvenile and Municipal Courts).
• Early Identification & Intervention: This category emphasizes proactive strategies to identify and support students before absenteeism becomes severe. 
• Community Engagement and Awareness: We are promoting a community-wide understanding of the importance of attendance via an attendance campaign throughout the year. 
• Resource Mobilization: Case management is provided by our Student Well-Being/Case Management team to support families in removing barriers to attending school. Our basic needs closet is stocked with common items needed by families. 
• Community Partnerships: We’re seeking vendors to offer student support, parent training, and data-driven solutions to keep kids in class.  
• Truancy Support: After five unexcused absences, schools reach out to families to resolve issues. Unresolved cases may escalate, with consequences like fines or court orders, but our focus is on support, not punishment.

Join the Every Day Counts Campaign

Our year-long campaign kicks off with billboards, radio ads, and social media hashtags like #AttendTodayAchieveTomorrow, #PowerOfPresence, and #StriveFor95. Students can shine through art and video contests, and seniors with perfect attendance can enter a raffle to win a car at our 20th annual Stay in School event, thanks to Premier Automotive Family. Schools will also receive a calendar of monthly attendance themes to keep the momentum going.

A Community Effort

Reducing absenteeism is a shared responsibility. We’re calling on families, mentors, businesses, and community leaders to help. Programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters cut absenteeism by 20%, and businesses can offer internships or avoid sales during school hours.

OUR ASK:

• Record a short video sharing why attendance matters, tag NOLA-PS on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps, or X @NOLAPSchools, and use #EveryDayCounts. Together, we can ensure our students are in class, ready to learn, and prepared for a bright future.

Let’s Make Every Day Count!

Join NOLA-PS in fostering a culture of presence and purpose. With your support, our students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally—unlocking their full potential.