The second webinar in the 2025 Attendance Awareness Campaign series, “Health, Well-being and Safety Are Essential to Showing Up”, took place May 14! Find the recording and materials here.
Kwesi Rollins, chief program officer at the Institute for Educational Leadership and Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, opened the session by underscoring this year’s campaign theme, Here Today, Ready for Tomorrow!
Elliott Attisha, DO, FAAP, senior fellow for health at Attendance Works, shared national data on health-related barriers to attendance, including asthma, vision problems and behavioral health conditions. He highlighted the growing impact of anxiety and depression among students, and explained how schools can take action by partnering with health providers, improving access to services and using data to target interventions. Elliott described a “Learning Burst” developed with Attendance Works and the American Academy of Pediatrics to support health professionals working inside and outside schools, explaining strategies for addressing absenteeism and strengthening school-health partnerships.
Elliott shared a short video, Attendance Team in Action, that emphasizes the importance of forming dedicated attendance teams comprised of staff including administrators, attendance clerks, counselors, social workers, nurses and teachers who can develop and implement attendance improvement plans, conduct outreach and perform home visits when necessary.
Chelsea Montgomery, assistant superintendent of student services at Atlanta Public Schools, outlined how her district is integrating health, mental health and safety supports into a tiered system of interventions. Atlanta schools benefit from a full-time nurse in every building and partnerships that provide vision exams, hygiene products and a range of social services. Montgomery explained how the district’s student support hub connects families with groceries, household items and community resources to reduce absenteeism. She also recommended FindHelp.org, a free national directory that helps schools and families locate nearby services without maintaining long lists of local providers.
Beatriz Barajas-Gonzalez, Ed.D., director of family engagement at San Bernardino City Unified School District, shared how her team has built trust with families by addressing health and basic needs. A key strategy is the use of ‘community health education workers, or CHEWs, who conduct home visits, distribute food and help families navigate services. Beatriz noted that this approach has helped significantly lower chronic absence rates across the district.
Kimberly Stanislo, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, LSN, chief clinical officer at the National Association of School Nurses, described the essential role of school nurses in improving attendance. She outlined how nurses contribute strategies of student care—offering preventive care, identifying students with chronic health conditions and connecting families to health services. Nurses, she said, also play a key role in fostering school connectedness and creating safe environments.
Heidi Schumacher, MD, FAAP, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, presented examples of successful partnerships between health providers and schools. She highlighted an initiative in Washington, D.C., where families can consent to securely share student absenteeism data with their child’s healthcare provider through a health information exchange, enabling doctors to identify barriers to attendance and coordinate follow-up care. For tools and strategies to support school-health partnerships, explore the School Health & Attendance Playbook from United Health Foundation.
A full list of resources shared during the webinar is available here.
Be sure to register for the next two webinars!
- Webinar 3: Student Connectedness Fosters Attendance and Engagement
Wednesday, August 6, 12 pm-1:30 pm PT / 3 pm-4:30 pm ET
Register for webinar 3 - Webinar 4: Family Engagement is the Foundation for Attendance and Learning
Wednesday, September 24, 12 pm-1:30 pm PT / 3 pm-4:30 pm ET
Register for webinar 4
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