As we kick off the 2019 season, and better yet, the 2019-2020 school year, we're excited to feature Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) as part of this week's Attendance Champ Spotlight! CMSD strives to continuously enhance their curriculum and promote strong attendance by offering a variety of unique, interactive student activities. From calls to student homes featuring Browns players and coaches to hosting pop-up parties with local radio personalities, CMSD consistently finds creative ways to emphasize the importance of each day in school – keeping students engaged and ready to learn. In addition, CMSD works to remove lack of clothing as an attendance-related barrier by providing their most vulnerable, in need students with school uniforms through the Cleveland Browns Special Teams Package, in partnership with Shoes and Clothes for Kids.

As a result of CMSD's ongoing school improvement efforts and attendance programs, the district's graduation rate has seen a 22 percent increase since 2010, currently at 74 percent. Additionally, students who missed 10 days of school or fewer boosted their math scores by 15 points, reading scores by 12 points and chances of graduating by 34 percent, truly demonstrating that every school day counts!

Please join us in celebrating CMSD for their commitment to strong attendance and student achievement.

Want to learn how you can make school attendance a priority in your community? Visit Get2School.org, check out the online resources and take the attendance pledge!