Our goal?
Get more children to school, more often.The more children are at school, the more opportunities they have to learn. It seems simple, right?
Research shows that attendance is a key indicator for students to be academically successful. Missing as few as two days of school a month creates learning gaps, negatively impacting reading proficiency, skills development, and on-time graduation.
Who is Chronically Absent?
Children can have problems with missing school even as early as Kindergarten.
- 1 in 10 children in kindergarten and first grade are chronically absent
- More than 8 in 10 chronically absent kindergartners and first graders will not read at grade level by the end of the third grade
- Students from families in under-resourced neighborhoods are four times more likely to be chronically absent than their peers
Why Do Children Miss School?
Children chronically absent often want to go to school but can't because of circumstances in their lives that are out of their control. While families are doing the best they can, they may face obstacles that make it difficult for their children to attend school consistently. It may be a lack of transport, housing instability, chronic health conditions, or other home issues.
Why is this important? 
It's common to think of chronic absenteeism as a problem for only schools and families. But the more children go to school, develop strong skills, and graduate, the more likely our communities will grow and thrive. Children in school today are the future employees of local businesses, future neighbors on our streets, and even future leaders in our community. Helping these students be successful today means they will be strong contributors to our region tomorrow.
That's why United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra, through its leadership of the Northern Nevada Reading Coalition, is excited to promote an attendance awareness campaign to raise awareness to attend school for our youngest learners. Visit uwnns.org/attendance for more information.
How can you help?
UWNNS believes that our entire community can help us raise awareness of the importance of attending school. Our campaign materials are available for your use to help us spread the word by visiting uwnns.org/attendance.
- Print the flyer and place it in your breakroom or store window
- Share a message on social media accounts or reshare UWNNS's attendance messages
- Display Attendance Awareness PSA in your lobby or on a digital display
- Including messaging about attendance in your next newsletter
To receive shared materials, go to uwnns.org/attendancepartners to request materials!
Thank you for joining us. Together, we are changing lives and LIVING United to build stronger, thriving northern Nevada!
- Michael Brazier
CEO and President