The Attendance Works mailer intervention is provided by Windham Public Schools to keep parents informed about their child's status regarding chronic absenteeism. 

The mailings are a tool, directed to families of students who have missed 5% or more of schooldays at any given time during the school year. Our goal is to prevent students from becoming chronically absent. 

This intervention does not distinguish excused or unexcused absences and its goal is to prevent students from becoming chronically absent. Chronic absenteeism consists of missing more than 10% of the school year at any given time. For example, if we are at day 80 of the school calendar, any student who has 9 or more absences is considered chronically absent.

Chronic absenteeism rates reported to the State do not distinguish whether the absence is excused or unexcused, which can be confusing to parents with students who have long-term medical conditions and who receive these mailers.  

The mailer series reminds parents of how many absences the student has, it compares to the average number of absences the student’s peers and provides information on how absences impact student achievement. Here is how it works and samples of the mailers:

Mailings are composed of three different types (shown above): 

• A Reminder mailer informs parents of the importance of absences and their ability to influencing consistent student attendance,

• A Total Absences mailing adds information about a student's total absences.

• The Relative Absences mailer contains further information about the number of absences among target students in comparison to his/her peers

Please contact your child's school if you need further information about his/her attendance record.