BCP Attendance Initiative Mid-Year Update

Since the launch of the Baltimore Curriculum Project’s (BCP) Chronic Absenteeism Attendance Initiative in August 2025, BCP has made strong progress in building systems, strengthening school practices, and increasing awareness around student attendance across all six BCP neighborhood conversion charter schools. 

The Initiative, which is generously funded through The Abell Foundation and The Richman Foundation, has a goal of reducing chronic absenteeism by 17% over two years. Findings and lessons learned from this initiative will be shared in a 2026 summer report to highlight best practices and inform broader attendance efforts across BCP’s partner, Baltimore City Public Schools.

Using prior-year data, BCP successfully identified students who were chronically absent (18+ absences) in SY24–25 and began monitoring their attendance patterns throughout SY25–26. This shift has enabled schools to move from reactive responses to earlier, more targeted interventions.

Innovative strategies include:

Direct and consistent family communication: All schools distributed customized, bilingual attendance flyers during September Back-to-School Nights that defined chronic absenteeism, clarified attendance expectations, and highlighted the academic impact of missing school. Attendance reminders are shared through social media, school newsletters, and ClassDojo. Together, these efforts have strengthened alignment in attendance messaging across schools while allowing flexibility to meet each school’s unique needs.

Charter-wide engagement efforts: On September 30, 2025, BCP implemented a coordinated “Count Day” attendance initiative focused on celebrating the importance of daily school attendance. Schools offered incentives and student-centered activities like fairs, resulting in all six BCP schools achieving attendance rates of 90% or higher on Count Day. 

Ongoing weekly, monthly, and quarterly incentive programs: Each school’s attendance team has created incentive programs that connect to the school’s culture and spirit. Programs for individuals, classes, and parent/guardians reinforce positive attendance behaviors and support a culture of accountability and engagement.

Attendance report cards: To further support family understanding and early intervention, attendance report cards were sent to families of students who were chronically absent in the previous school year and continued to struggle with attendance in SY25-26 Quarter 1. These communications outlined students’ absence totals, explained chronic absenteeism, and connected families to school and community resources. The initiative was later expanded to include students newly identified as chronically absent in Quarter 1, as well as students trending toward chronic absenteeism in Quarter 2, helping schools take preventative action before attendance patterns worsen.

Leadership of the BCP Attendance Initiative

While challenges have emerged, they are being actively addressed by BCP’s Lead Attendance Monitor, Jayla Pope, who coordinates and strengthens attendance efforts across all six BCP schools. Jayla, a Fulbright Fellow, works closely with each school’s attendance team to analyze attendance data, identify trends and priority students, and provide guidance on effective interventions and family outreach. She also supports schools in implementing charter-wide initiatives, shares best practices across campuses, and serves as a consistent point of connection between school-based teams and BCP leadership.