Thursday, September 10, 2026

Pasadena Unified Opens Attendance Awareness Month With Its ‘Showing Up Matters for R.E.A.L.’ Campaign

The district also says its board meets in special session Thursday, a middle school sports clinic follows Sept. 19, and the 79th Turkey Tussle returns to the Rose Bowl on Oct. 28

Pasadena Unified School District is marking September as Attendance Awareness Month with its “Showing Up Matters for R.E.A.L.” campaign, which the district says is now in its fourth year.

The stakes are set out on the district’s own attendance pages: chronic absenteeism means missing 10% or more of the school year, and a student who is chronically absent in any year between eighth and 12th grade is 7.4 times more likely to drop out.

The campaign runs from the start of August to the close of September. In the district’s version of the acronym, the letters stand for relationships, engagement, access and learning — building strong connections, increasing student involvement, connecting families to resources and supporting academic success. The framework was developed by Attendance Works, a national initiative on school attendance.

“Strong attendance reflects the Power of Us, with families, educators, and staff working together to make sure that every student feels welcomed and ready to learn,” Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco wrote in the district’s weekly update Wednesday.

The district’s rules put numbers on the problem. A student becomes truant after missing any combination of three or more full days of school or class periods, or arriving 30 minutes late, without a valid excuse. Four separate unexcused occasions may bring a School Attendance Review Team meeting at the school site, where families and staff look for what is keeping the student away.

The Board of Education meets in special session Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room, Room 236 at 351 S. Hudson Ave., the district said. Under the board’s own rules, a special meeting is called when a vote on a specific issue is needed before a regular meeting comes around, no business is transacted except what the meeting was convened for, and the agenda is posted 24 hours ahead as state law requires. Study sessions and special meetings are scheduled as needed on the second Thursday of the month. The next regular meeting is Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. in the same room.

Middle school students are invited to a Team PUSD Sports Clinic on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the district said, with instruction from district high school coaches in agility, sport-specific skills and competitive fundamentals. Snacks and lunch will be provided.

Further out, the district said the 79th annual Turkey Tussle between Pasadena High School and John Muir High School returns to the Rose Bowl Stadium on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. The game doubles as homecoming for both schools, with the winner taking the Victory Bell. The rivalry dates to 1947, and the bell has been the official trophy since 1955. Muir kept it last year, beating Pasadena High 28-20 in the 78th edition on Oct. 31.

Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month runs Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, and district students and staff will mark it in classrooms, in the arts and in campus-wide activities, the district said.

Families are also urged to verify and update their children’s emergency contact information through this portal or their school’s main office, and to prepare a family preparedness plan. School tour dates for the 2026-2027 year are posted here.