{"id":6551,"date":"2026-07-20T17:06:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6551"},"modified":"2026-07-20T17:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:06:25","slug":"durham-public-schools-focuses-on-attendance-for-2026-27-academic-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6551","title":{"rendered":"Durham Public Schools focuses on attendance for 2026-27 academic year"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) \u2014 Monday marked the first day of classes for year-round Durham Public Schools students. Thousands are returning to the classroom. Keeping those students in school is the focus for district leaders this school year.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6549\">Police seek suspects in a break-in at Eagles\u2019 running back Saquon Barkley\u2019s home in Pennsylvania<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The first school drop-off was an emotional one for Brittany Caldwell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s exciting, new beginnings,\u201d Caldwell said. \u201cMy first baby, she\u2019s already in first grade. It\u2019s bittersweet, but we\u2019re excited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caldwell and her daughter, Joi, practiced letters and numbers all summer long.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI basically didn\u2019t want her to unlearn what she learned, so it\u2019s important to sometimes, even if it\u2019s 15-20 minutes a day, to at least keep the memory somewhat fresh,\u201d Caldwell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She wants to make sure her daughter is set up for success.<\/p>\n<p>Durham Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis is making sure to welcome students himself as they arrive on the first day of school for year-round students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe certainly are excited about the momentum and the progress that we\u2019ve been making over the past couple of years, despite the challenges that we\u2019ve had to overcome,\u201d Dr. Lewis said.<\/p>\n<p>One of the superintendent\u2019s biggest challenges is ensuring students come to school all year long.<\/p>\n<p>DPS reported that 37.3% of their students were chronically absent during the first six months of instruction last school year. Their data showed that more than half of those students were at the high school level.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6547\">Endangered bats found in western NC for first time in over 10 years<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have some ways that we\u2019ll continue to enhance our two-way communication with our families to make sure that they understand the importance of coming to school each and every day,\u201d Dr. Lewis said.<\/p>\n<p>Among the largest districts in the state, DPS reported the highest levels of chronic absenteeism at the start of the last school year. Attendance is something the superintendent will ask parents for help with this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s more than just compliance and attendance, compulsory laws,\u201d Dr. Lewis said.\u00a0\u201cWhat we know is that when students come to school every single day, they learn.\u201d<\/p>\n<section>\n<div>\n<h2>MORE FROM CBS 17<\/h2>\n<section>\n<h2>\n<p>\t\tDURHAM COUNTY NEWS<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<div>\n<article>\n<!-- Next line is not the perfect\/ideal way to control hiding the items. Can revisit later. --><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>\n<p>\t\t\tDurham year-round students return to school<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<p><span><br \/>\n<span><br \/>\n<svg><\/svg><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article>\n<!-- Next line is not the perfect\/ideal way to control hiding the items. Can revisit later. --><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>\n<p>\t\t\tLightning strike sparks Durham house fire, officials say<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<p><span><br \/>\n<span><br \/>\n<svg><\/svg><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article>\n<!-- Next line is not the perfect\/ideal way to control hiding the items. Can revisit later. --><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>\n<p>\t\t\t2 at hospital after rescue from pair of Durham fires<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<p><span><br \/>\n<span><br \/>\n<svg><\/svg><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>With more than 4,000 students in Durham now back to school, parents like Caldwell are excited for the learning and the new chapter in their children\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed \u2013 \u2018Mommy, I\u2019m ready to get dressed. Let\u2019s do it,&#8217;\u201d Caldwell said. \u201cI\u2019m happy she loves learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Early colleges and specialty schools will open their doors on Aug. 6. Traditional schools will start on Aug. 24.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6542\">Could the SEC really break away? Commish says conversations are real but that\u2019s not what they want<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) \u2014 Monday marked the first day of classes for year-round Durham Public Schools students. Thousands are returning to the classroom. Keeping those students in school is the focus for district leaders this school year. The first school drop-off was an emotional one for Brittany Caldwell. &#8220;It&#8217;s exciting, new beginnings,&#8221; Caldwell said. &#8220;My [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Durham Public Schools focuses on attendance for 2026-27 academic year - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6551\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Durham Public Schools focuses on attendance for 2026-27 academic year - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) \u2014 Monday marked the first day of classes for year-round Durham Public Schools students. Thousands are returning to the classroom. Keeping those students in school is the focus for district leaders this school year. 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