Be Present

Chronic absenteeism remains a district-wide challenge, especially at the start of the school year when routines are still forming. To move from awareness to connection and action, Hicksville Public Schools launched the Fall initiative, “Be Present: School Is Better with You in It,” using storytelling as its core strategy. Rather than relying on statistics alone, the campaign centers student and staff voices through portrait-style graphics that feature real quotes about why being present matters. These visuals help make attendance personal, relatable, and human. Alongside these storytelling graphics, the campaign includes a refreshed webpage and multilingual family resources. Rollout began in September with coordinated social media posts, posters, newsletters, and messaging aligned to key milestones. Guided by the Attendance Works three-tiered framework, the campaign combines universal messaging with targeted supports and individualized outreach. Its impact is being measured through attendance data, engagement analytics, and feedback from families and staff. These insights will inform winter and spring efforts, continuing to reinforce a simple truth: every student matters–school is better when they’re in it.