Attendance Turnaround at Derry Area School District (PA)

By shifting from mailed letters to quick digital outreach, Derry Area School District (PA) made attendance communication faster, clearer, and more supportive for families, leading to a remarkable drop in truancy hearings. 

After the pandemic, Derry Area School District, located about 45 miles east of Pittsburgh, was facing a challenge familiar to many districts across the country: a noticeable rise in chronic absenteeism.  

And the impact was real. In the 2023–24 school year, the district held 78 truancy hearings related to chronic, unexcused absences.  

As Attendance Officer Tom Esposito explains, “Just like every other school district after the pandemic, absenteeism . . .  was at an all-time high, and we were just trying to find ways to decrease the number of absences by students.” 

But the district’s existing communication process with families made that difficult. Staff typed, printed, and mailed 3-, 5-, and 10-day attendance warning letters across grade levels. DASD had resorted to printed communication because phone calls, when attempted, often went unanswered.  

“It was very time-consuming,” Esposito reflects.  

Families needed more timely communication. Staff needed a faster process. And the district needed a system that encouraged early, supportive absenteeism intervention rather than reactive, punitive consequences.  

Partnering with PowerSchool 

Because the district already used PowerSchool SIS as its student information system, turning to PowerSchool Attendance Intervention for the 2024-25 school year was a smooth and logical step.  

To avoid overwhelming families with the transition, the district rolled out the software gradually. Over time, staff began using more of its features as they gained familiarity and confidence with the system.    

The new daily routine: fast, clear, supportive 

Now, attendance communication begins every morning with a simple step. Esposito prints a three-day report for each grade level. From there, he sends messages directly to parents. There’s no printing, no mailing, and no games of phone tag.  

“The parent receives a text, an email, and an automated phone call,” he explains. Messages are easily customizable, making daily outreach realistic and repeatable.  

And when communications need to go district-wide?  

“I can type a letter, attach it as a PDF, and send it across K-12 to about 2500 contacts in two minutes,” Esposito says.  

Rather than hours of manual paper processing, one person now completes all necessary outreach in minutes.  

A stronger connection with families  

The biggest shift Esposito noticed wasn’t just the efficiency of notifications: it was the responsiveness of the district’s families. Because parents can easily and immediately reply to messages, they feel informed and supported rather than surprised and frustrated.  

“Parents appreciate [it] because they know that our school district cares about their child and their education,” says Esposito.  

The ongoing communication also provides helpful documentation when needed, with messages stored throughout the school year.  

A system that feels intuitive to use  

For Esposito, doing attendance, once dreaded by staff, is now “actually fun . . . because of the progress we’re making in improving attendance.”  

That improvement is tangible. Those 78 truancy hearings in the 2023-24 school year dropped to 49 in 2024-25—an astonishing 63% reduction. This year so far (the early days of November), says Esposito, he’s “had zero truancy hearings of in-person learning for our students. Any student that’s in the building, I have not had a truancy hearing yet.”  

Year-to-date, the average attendance rate across the district is 94.6% and “there was a day not long ago when our elementary school had 98% [of its students] in the building.” The average attendance rate is 2% higher than last year, and while “that may not sound like a lot, it’s moving in the right direction.”  

Progress is meaningful for students, families, and staff alike. More consistent communication means clearer expectations, faster early interventions, and students coming to school with regularity.  

Open lines of communication 

What Esposito most appreciates about Attendance Intervention is how much more engaged families are in getting their students to school. “Parents appreciate the open line of communication . . . it shows that we really care about their kids.” 

And the staff appreciate the improved communication, as well: “Quite a bit of our staff also use the messaging system to contact parents as a check-in on their student(s) simply because they care, and they also provide classroom or grade level information to parents whether on an individual basis or by creating groups in a classroom or grade level,” Esposito adds.  

A simple change in how the district communicates with families has helped DASD reduce absenteeism, save time, and encourage students to come to class.