March 17, 2017—Leaders from the Rochester City School District, ESL Charitable Foundation, The Strong National Museum of Play and Causewave Community Partners assembled at Mary McLeod Bethune School No. 45 today to announce mid-point results of its “Cold Can’t Stop Us” student attendance initiative. Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Dr. Kendra March announced that 3,097 students in grades Pre-K to three in the 14 target schools are meeting the 97% attendance goal, which is nearly double the number of students meeting that goal as compared to the same time last year.

Ajamu Kitwana, executive director of ESL Charitable Foundation, announced support of a $30,000 grant to support the effort, and The Strong National Museum of Play announced a donation of family passes to all Pre-K to third-grade students in the 14 target schools who meet the District goal.

The “Cold Can’t Stop Us” Winter Attendance Challenge targets a districtwide goal of 97% attendance—which means students can miss no more than two days of school between the target dates of February 6 and April 28. It is part of the Every Minute in School Matters community-wide campaign to help families improve school attendance, with a focus on students in grades Pre-K to three. Students in the 14 target schools had high rates of chronic absenteeism during the 2015-16 school year.