Here Today, Ready for Tomorrow

Attendance Awareness Month takes place every September to highlight the vital role consistent school attendance plays in student success and to address the critical issue of chronic absenteeism.

This year Gilbert Public Schools launches a new attendance campaign, Here Today Ready for Tomorrow!

In Gilbert Public Schools, we believe that regular school attendance is essential to student academic success, social development, and feeling a sense of belonging and connectedness to their school community. Would you be surprised to learn that 21% of GPS students were chronically absent (missed 10% or more of instructional time) during the 2025-2026 school year?  Years of research consistently demonstrates the impact of chronic absenteeism on K-12 student success, including:

• Based on a study conducted by Read On Arizona and Arizona State University, data analysis showed that a 1% increase in school-level attendance was associated with a 1.5% increase in students passing Arizona’s third grade English Language Arts assessment (2025). 
• Chronic absenteeism in elementary students results in lower reading and math achievement overall because students are missing foundational instruction in literacy, numeracy, and learning behaviors (Gottfried, 2014).  It also reduces classroom engagement, increases the likelihood of grade retention, and results in poorer long-term education outcomes (Institute of Education Sciences, 2025). 
• 9th-grade attendance is a stronger predictor of high school graduation than 8th-grade standardized test scores, making freshman attendance one of the most important early warning indicators for student success (Allensworth & Easton, 2007). 

Join us in making on-time daily attendance a priority this year to ensure that every GPS student is “HERE TODAY, READY FOR TOMORROW”!