ATTENDANCE MATTERS for success, both in school and in life. When a student is absent from school, he/she misses out on opportunities to learn and succeed. The Empty Chair is a symbol that stresses the importance of attendance and the fact that a teacher cannot teach an empty chair. This initiative by the Mayor’s and Superintendent's Attendance Task Force is part of a strategy to develop a culture of attendance. The task force is working to raise awareness of the value of education and how regular student attendance is essential for life-long success. The group has been meeting monthly to assess various initiatives being implemented in the schools as well as to research and develop other innovative solutions to the problem. Understanding that everyone in the community has a stake and a role in ensuring that every student attends school every day, the group is seeking to engage different sectors of the community and work together to improve attendance. As part of the initiative, schools and social service agencies throughout the community will display The Empty Chair to reinforce the message that ATTENDANCE MATTERS and that we are all working together to improve attendance. Community stakeholders are doing their part to fill The Empty Chair. Click here for the Herald News article.  For more information on what YOU can do to fill the Empty Chair, visit www.fallriverschools.org and click on the Empty Chair. (Photos courtesy of Annemarie Holly)

(Top row, left and right) Boys and Girls Club Youth Activities Director Mimi Larrivee and Executive Director Peter McCarthy sit in red chairs at the Club placed there to remind students to not miss school. (Top row, center) School Physical Education Teacher Jason Springer sits in a chair at the Highland Park Playground. (Middle row) Staff at Greater Fall River Re-Creation spray paint some discard chairs red for delivery to the schools. (Bottom row, center and right) Vice-Principal Rich Leeman sits in a red chair at Viveiros Elementary School while one sits in the lobby of B.M.C. Durfee High School.