Governor McKee, Commissioner Infante-Green Announce Activation of Statewide Attendance Leaderboard and Calendar Heat Map for 25-26 School Year
Published on Wednesday, November 12, 2025
State leaders recognize schools with best and most improved weekly attendance
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Governor Dan McKee, Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green, and the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) today announced the activation of the state’s nationally and internationally recognized real-time Attendance Leaderboard, now live on AttendanceMattersRI.org with data for the 2025-26 school year.
The Attendance Leaderboard dashboard is one of several innovative data tools the state has launched as part of the Attendance Matters RI campaign, providing transparent, up-to-date attendance and absenteeism data to schools, families, and communities across the Ocean State. The refreshed Attendance Leaderboard has been updated and now offers enhanced filtering and comparison features providing district trend insight and clearer prior-year comparison markup. The Leaderboard is updated daily.
RIDE’s newly launched, innovative Attendance Calendar Heat Map, is also now live with current-year data. The tool visually tracks daily attendance across all schools and highlights key timeframes when absences tend to spike. Data from last year revealed spikes in absences around weekends and holidays providing school leaders valuable insight for planning. The Calendar Heat Map is updated monthly.
Rhode Island has become a national and international leader in curbing chronic absenteeism, achieving a 12-percentage point decline since rates peaked in the state and across the nation during the pandemic.
"The data clearly shows that daily attendance is vital to a student’s long-term academic success and to the success of our state," said Governor Dan McKee. "Every school day matters. Through our Attendance Matters RI campaign and the advanced data tools we’ve introduced, Rhode Island is continuing to lead the way in improving attendance and student outcomes."
"In Rhode Island, we understand there is a strong connection between student success and consistent school attendance," said Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. "Through collective action, our nationally recognized Attendance Matters RI campaign, and the use of cutting-edge data tools, we’ve made real progress in reducing chronic absenteeism in the Ocean State. We are proud to serve as a model for other states and remain deeply committed to promoting regular attendance and helping all our students thrive."
By offering real-time data for all schools, the tool empowers families, educators, community leaders, and elected officials to identify trends, celebrate progress, and take swift action to reduce chronic absenteeism with the goal of improving student outcomes.
State leaders are also encouraging students to participate in the Attendance Matters RI Student Video Contest. Students are invited to create a short video (30 seconds to 3 minutes) that creatively conveys the message of why attendance matters. Student winners will receive exciting prizes specially curated by New England-based Hunt’s Photo and Video.
Weekly Attendance Leaders
As part of the Attendance Matters RI campaign, Governor McKee and Commissioner Infante-Green will once again begin recognizing schools with the highest weekly attendance and most improved attendance rates across elementary, middle, and high school levels.
The following schools are Rhode Island’s attendance leaders for the week of October 27, 2025*:
Elementary: Oak Lawn School, Cranston - 98.45% weekly attendance rate
Middle: Narragansett Pier School, Narragansett - 97.84% weekly attendance rate
High School: East Greenwich High School, East Greenwich - 96.68% weekly attendance rate
Special recognition is extended to the following schools for demonstrating the most improved average attendance rates from the previous week:
Elementary: Lincoln Central Elementary School, Lincoln - 2.91% improvement in weekly attendance rate
Middle: Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy Middle, Providence - 2.99% improvement in weekly attendance rate
High School: North Smithfield High School, North Smithfield, 1.71% improvement in weekly attendance rate
The following schools are Rhode Island’s attendance leaders for the week of November 3, 2025*:
Elementary: Oak Lawn School, Cranston - 97.75% weekly attendance rate
Middle: Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy Middle, Providence - 96.79% weekly attendance rate
High School: East Greenwich High School, East Greenwich - 96.60% weekly attendance rate
Special recognition is extended to the following schools for demonstrating the most improved average attendance rates from the previous week:
Elementary: Cranston Early Learning Center, Cranston - 6.12% improvement in weekly attendance rate
Middle: Woonsocket Middle School at Villa Nova, Woonsocket - 2.86% improvement in weekly attendance rate
High School: William E. Tolman Senior High School, Pawtucket - 4.95% improvement in weekly attendance rate
As of 6:00am on November 12, 2025.*
Governor McKee and Commissioner Infante-Green commend all Rhode Island schools for their continued commitment to student success and consistent attendance. These recognitions will be updated weekly and shared publicly to celebrate the hard work of educators, students, and families.
**Schools with multiple grade levels are categorized by RIDE according to their largest student population.