Spring in a beach town is beautiful and a bit of a nightmare for school attendance. At Keansburg High School in Keansburg, NJ, where chronic absenteeism peaked at 40% post-pandemic, the warming weather often signals a drop in engagement. With its beach, boardwalk, and amusement park, our town is known as the gateway to the Jersey Shore. But rather than accept the spring slide, we’ve developed a multi-tiered approach to keep our students showing up, learning, and feeling like they matter.
In the spring, we double down on attendance awareness. We send digital postcards, create fresh posters, and push out reminders through TalkingPoints in multiple languages. The message is consistent: Attendance matters, especially now. We remind students and families that chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10% of the school year, can derail academic progress and graduation goals. We also remind them that they’re not alone and that we’re here to help.
We also invest in our teachers. Our school’s spring professional development focuses on student re-engagement. Teachers are trained in trauma-informed strategies and inclusive practices that help make classrooms feel more welcoming. Students who feel supported feel like they belong and are more likely to show up to school.
For students who have missed 10 or more days, we hold family meetings where we review academic and attendance patterns and develop plans together. These meetings are solutions focused. We talk about everything from transportation to mental health to morning routines and working with families instead of pointing fingers.
However, the most significant shift in our approach has been launching Titan Connect, a mentor-student text messaging program (the Titan is our mascot). Each participating student chooses a teacher as their mentor. That teacher sends encouraging messages each morning through Remind or Google Voice. “Can’t wait to see you today!” or “Don’t forget, we’ve got something fun in fifth period!” might not seem revolutionary, but those small messages carry weight. They tell students someone is waiting for them, rooting for them, and holding them accountable non-punitively. Teachers report that even students who don’t always reply start to show up more often. One mentor put it best: “Even if they didn’t text back, they knew someone was thinking of them.”
Several students in the Titan Connect program have improved their attendance enough to eliminate chronic absentee status entirely. Mentors have said the experience reminded them why they got into teaching in the first place.
Relationships—genuine, consistent, positive relationships—are what bring students back when motivation fades. and the beach starts calling. And that’s what we’ll keep building every season.
For more on chronic absenteeism, check out articles like this one in Principal Leadership magazine.
