SANTA BARBARA, CA—Aug. 27, 2025—ParentSquare, the award-winning school-home engagement platform, today announced the launch of ParentSquare Attendance Plus, a powerful new solution designed to help K–12 districts reduce chronic absenteeism through early, compassionate communication. Built directly into the ParentSquare platform, ParentSquare Attendance Plus supports every stage of attendance outreach from tiered data insights to intervention documentation while further strengthening relationships between families and schools.
With this launch, ParentSquare sets the standard as the leading school-home communications platform with a built-in attendance intervention system, enabling districts to act faster and engage families more effectively—all from a single, trusted platform.
Chronic absenteeism remains a serious concern in U.S. public schools. During the 2023–24 school year, approximately 19 % of students (about 9.4 million nationwide) missed at least 10 % of their school days.1 Although this represents an improvement from pandemic-era highs, it still far exceeds pre-pandemic levels.2 Research shows that strong family engagement is one of the most effective strategies for reversing this trend,3 and schools that foster strong connections with families report significantly lower rates of chronic absenteeism and improved long-term outcomes.4 Yet too often, schools lack the tools to put these strategies into practice, which is where ParentSquare Attendance Plus comes in.
“At its heart, chronic absenteeism is a sign of a broken connection between school and home. ParentSquare Attendance Plus is designed to help schools mend that bridge right within the communication platform they already know and rely on,” said Alex Meis, MPA, chronic absenteeism expert and Senior Director of Product at ParentSquare. “It shifts the focus from chasing absences to building relationships that empower administrators to spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering a simple, powerful message to families: ‘We miss you at school.’ That is what creates real change.”
Unlike standalone systems that sit outside a school’s day-to-day operations, ParentSquare Attendance Plus is part of the ParentSquare platform that millions of educators and families already know and trust for school-home communication. By uniting data with real-time attendance insights, staff can act quickly, personalize outreach, and strengthen support systems before absenteeism becomes a pattern.
“As an early adopter of ParentSquare Attendance Plus, South Whittier School District has transformed how we support students and families,” said Michelle Ryan, Lead Data Integrity Specialist. “Our attendance clerks start each day with a clear view of who needs outreach and why, and they can act immediately sending personalized, multilingual messages from the same platform families already use and trust. We’re seeing stronger engagement, quicker interventions, and real improvements in daily attendance.”
Key benefits of ParentSquare Attendance Plus for school districts:
● Proactive Engagement: Shift from reactive absence alerts to tiered, supportive outreach that celebrates good attendance and encourages positive habits.
● Data-Driven Decisions: Real-time dashboards highlight attendance trends and at-risk students, with guided intervention suggestions aligned to Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS).
● Inclusive Communication: Reach families through their preferred channels, including app, email, text, or voice, with translation for equitable access.
● Culture-Building Impact: Foster trust and collaboration with families by pairing actionable insights with proactive recognition efforts that celebrate consistent attendance and strengthen the school-home connection.
ParentSquare Attendance Plus is now available to districts nationwide as an add-on purchase for the ParentSquare platform and can be easily activated for existing accounts.
To learn more, visit: https://links.psqr.io/parentsquare_attendance_plus
About ParentSquare
ParentSquare is the trusted leader in school-home engagement, helping K-12 districts nationwide reach every family with an award-winning, all-in-one communication platform. Reaching over 20 million students across the country, ParentSquare replaces one-size-fits-all legacy systems with personalized messaging, websites, forms, payments, and more—built together in one easy-to-use platform. With powerful features for achieving 100% contactability, two-way translation into 190+ languages, and purpose-built AI enhancements, ParentSquare empowers districts to invite every family to be involved in their student’s education, no matter their home language or the device they use.
Recognized for growth and innovation by Inc. 5000, GSV 150, and more, ParentSquare was founded in 2011 in Santa Barbara, California. Learn more at parentsquare.com.
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Sources
- Chronic absenteeism strategies for school engagement. K–12 Dive. https://www.k12dive.com/news/chronic-absenteeism-strategies-school-engagement/725864/
- Chronic absenteeism. U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/teaching-and-administration/supporting-students/chronic-absenteeism
- Reduced absenteeism relies on family engagement. National Association of Elementary School Principals. https://www.naesp.org/resource/reduced-absenteeism-relies-on-family-engagement/
- How family engagement can improve student engagement and attendance. Carnegie Corporation of New York. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ5PNTJZ-Kc
