Albuquerque Public Schools
Attendance Efforts Show Progress Across APS
Success Systems & Attendance Support Unit helps schools build systems that identify barriers, strengthen relationships and support students in getting to school every day.
As Albuquerque Public Schools marks Attendance Awareness Month this September, the district is highlighting the work happening across schools to improve attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism.
Leading that effort is the Student Success Systems & Attendance Support Unit within the Coordinated School Health Department. The team provides coaching and technical assistance to schools, helping staff use data and layered systems of support to identify attendance concerns early and connect students and families with the resources they need.
“If kids aren't here, they can't learn,” Daphne Strader, senior director of Coordinated School Health, said. “It's a critical piece, and we're working to align everything with the district Goals and Guardrails.”
Building Systems That Support Students
The unit recently hosted its fall attendance conference, bringing together about 400 school employees under the theme “Designing Whole Student Layered Systems of Success.” The conference has been held twice each year for nearly a decade.
Participants included principals, assistant principals, counselors, teachers, teaching and learning coaches, resource teachers, student success staff and others who support students.
Strader explained that every APS school develops an annual School Attendance Improvement Plan, and during the conference, school teams have dedicated time to examine their plans, work with district staff and receive coaching to strengthen their strategies for improving attendance.
“We utilized this time for the teams to be able to understand what's in that plan,” she said. “We facilitate activities where they really understand the rubric that connects with that plan and how to use that rubric as a tool to make sure that it's strong, because the annual plans are part of the school's accreditation.”
The work is part of a broader effort to build consistent, data-informed systems that support the whole student.
“All of it is about systems work and a tiered approach, using data to early identify students and respond to them automatically,” Strader added.
Schools Are Seeing Progress
The work is showing results. A comparison of annual chronic absenteeism rates from the 2024-2025 to 2025-2026 school years shows that 59 APS schools reduced their chronic absenteeism rate.
The five schools with the largest year-to-year reductions were:
| School | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom High School | 91% | 58% | -33 percentage points |
| Wilson Middle School | 55% | 38% | -17 percentage points |
| New Futures School | 89% | 74% | -15 percentage points |
| Edmund G. Ross Elementary School | 43% | 33% | -10 percentage points |
| A. Montoya Elementary School | 38% | 29% | -9 percentage points |
These improvements reflect the work of school teams, families and community partners to understand barriers to attendance and develop strategies that help students stay connected to school.
Turning Learning Into Action
For school leaders, the attendance conference provides an opportunity to build their understanding of attendance expectations while working directly with colleagues and district specialists.
Oñate Elementary Principal Allie Weeda has attended four of the conferences. She said the conference workshops have become increasingly helpful as her school has worked to build a stronger team approach to attendance.
“It really helps us understand the district's expectations about attendance and gives us an opportunity to connect with our attendance coordinator,” Weeda said. “This year, we're trying to get a more cohesive team, so being able to focus on the beginning steps is good.”
For schools like Oñate, Attendance Awareness Month also provides an opportunity to turn that planning into action with students and families.
“With Attendance Awareness Month in September, this has also given us time to plan things that we're going to do,” Weeda said.
Looking At the Whole Student
Attendance is often connected to other factors affecting a student's ability to succeed. Attendance Social Worker Rebecca Bowen emphasized the importance of looking at those connections rather than treating attendance as an isolated issue.
“There could be multiple indicators that a student might have a specific need, such as chronic absenteeism, behavioral concerns, and academic hurdles,” Bowen said. “These areas overlap and can significantly affect students' ability to be successful and graduate from high school.”
At the end of the 2025-2026 school year, 24,028 APS students had at least one identified data point related to academic, behavioral or conduct concerns, according to data shared at the workshop.
“One out of three of our students is struggling academically, behaviorally, or with conduct, maybe more than one. That's a lot of kids,” Bowen said.
The goal of the Student Success Systems & Attendance Support Unit is to help schools recognize those challenges early and build systems that respond to students' individual needs.
“We want them to have access to high-quality education, and the opportunity to develop the skills they need,” Bowen said.
As APS celebrates schools making progress and continues working to reduce chronic absenteeism, Attendance Awareness Month serves as a reminder that every school day matters and that improving attendance is a shared responsibility.