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Project First Day aims to improve school attendance

Fulton County school social workers will pound the streets August 2-7 to remind parents and students that learning begins on the first day of school, and that any time missed from school is detrimental to academic success.

To share this message, Fulton County Schools each year implements “Project First Day,” an information campaign aimed to educate students and parents about the importance of attendance on the first day of school. More than 75,000 students are expected this school year, which begins August 9.

Project First Day was started in 1998 to combat the “wait-a-week” or “wait-until-Labor-Day” attendance syndrome. Many families move from other states where school starts after Labor Day and mistakenly assume that Georgia also follows the same school calendar. Others just don’t realize the impact that missing those first few days or weeks can have. If students begin even a day or two late, they fall behind their peers and can struggle to catch up.

The six-day promotion officially begins on August 2 with a campaign kick-off at the school system’s Administrative Center. Forty school social workers pick up their Project First Day materials and later that week visit apartment complexes, churches and other houses of worship, neighborhood businesses, playgrounds, and any other places where parents and school-age children gather. The social workers also will call parents of chronically absent students to remind them of the first day of school and to answer any questions they may have about the new school year.

Although not part of the official campaign activities, school social workers will share their back-to-school messages at a National Kids Day celebration July 24 at John D. Milner Sports Complex, 3009 Randall Street in East Point. Social workers will pass out Project First Day fliers and school supplies from noon to 3 p.m.