New 90-day winter pilot pairs home visits with Concentric360 data.
Ask a family in January why their child missed school, and the answer is rarely boredom. More often, the answer is the flu, a long walk in the cold, or a missing ride.
Chronic absenteeism has eased since peaking at 28.3% in 2022, but 22.6% of students still missed 10% or more of the 2024–25 school year, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Winter makes the problem harder.
Concentric Educational Solutions built its new 90-Day Winter Pilot Program for K–12 districts around those winter barriers. The pilot pairs home visits by trained community support teams with real-time reporting from Concentric360, the engagement and data platform Concentric launched in September.
What Winter Absences Really Look Like
The pilot draws on an analysis of Concentric home-visit data by Ivory A. Toldson, chief of research at Concentric and a professor of counseling psychology at Howard University. After reviewing nearly 28,000 home visits from the past two school years, Toldson found winter absences driven by logistics, not motivation.
From December through February, families cited illness, transportation, and weather more often than in other months, with weather mentions roughly tripling. Lack of interest came up less often in winter than the rest of the year.
Real-Time Insight for District Leaders
During the pilot, Professional Student Advocates (PSAs) hold structured conversations with students and families. Concentric’s voice-to-narrative technology turns what families say on those visits into written summaries for school teams, and the results flow into Concentric360.
A principal sees which barriers families named this week, how many students PSAs have reached, and where patterns are emerging across the school, all while the pilot is still underway.
How the Pilot Works
Toldson and his team lead a districtwide root-cause analysis. After winter break, PSAs conduct 150 home visits per pilot school for students who are chronically absent, disengaged, or at risk of withdrawal, and they connect each family to school, district, and community supports. The pilot closes with a district-level report and recommendations for spring.
Districts provide a pilot lead, attendance and contact data, and time for biweekly check-ins. Concentric handles the fieldwork.
After 90 days, Concentric helps districts plan support for reconnected students through June, and pilot results give districts the evidence to weigh a full-year partnership, including the full Concentric360 platform.
Free Webinar on Nov. 17
Toldson and Paul DeAngelis, regional partnerships director at Concentric, will host a free 30-minute webinar, “Why Students Disappear After Winter Break, and How to Bring Them Back,” on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT).
Toldson will cover the research, DeAngelis will cover the pilot details, and everyone who registers will receive the recording.
The Winter Pilot at a Glance
- Webinar: Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 1 p.m. ET
- Dates: Jan. 15 to April 15, 2027
- Cost: $15,000 per school, as part of a national cohort
- Enrollment deadline: Dec. 11, 2026, with limited cohort spots
- Track record: More than 400,000 home visits and 200,000 students re-engaged
Districts interested in joining the 90-Day Winter Pilot Program are invited to register for the Nov. 17 webinar and learn more on the initiative’s website.
To learn more about Concentric Educational Solutions and its work addressing chronic absenteeism, visit the company’s website, follow the organization on X, or connect on LinkedIn.
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