August 17, 2026
Today, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee and Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green recognized 30 public schools, including seven charter public schools, as Attendance All-Stars based on their 2025-26 attendance data. Additionally, students from RINI Middle College Charter School were recognized for winning 2nd place in the statewide student Attendance Matters RI video contest. Watch the students’ full video on YouTube.
In RIDE’s press release following the event, Commissioner Infante-Green stated:
“Attendance and student success are interconnected, and we are proud that Rhode Island continues to lead the way in making sure students are in class consistently and ready to learn. Thanks to the tireless work of our students, families, educators, school leaders, and community partners, we have recovered millions of hours of learning and are seeing tremendous momentum across our schools.”
The following charter public schools were recognized as Attendance All-Stars at the 2026-27 Attendance Matters kickoff event at the statehouse earlier today:
Elementary School Honorees
Nuestro Mundo Public Charter School improved its attendance by 18.1 percentage points, the largest gain among elementary public schools in the state.
SouthSide Elementary Charter School improved its attendance by 12.4 percentage points.
Middle School Honorees
The Compass School had the lowest public middle school chronic absenteeism rate in the state with a rate of 3.3%.
Segue Institute for Learning had a chronic absenteeism rate of 4.0%.
High School Honorees
Segue Legacy High School had the lowest chronic absenteeism rate among high school honorees, at 3.9%.
The Greene School had a chronic absenteeism rate of 10.4%.
RINI Middle College Charter High School posted the most improved public high school attendance in the state, gaining 16.6 percentage points.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why were so many charter public schools recognized for their student attendance?
Rhode Island’s charter public schools create conditions that help students show up consistently: supportive school communities, specialized and hands-on programming that makes learning relevant to students, and close relationships between educators and families that catch attendance challenges early. Charter public schools have been consistently recognized across multiple state initiatives and reports for their sustained focus on getting all kids in the classroom:
- During the Spring 2026 RIFC Attendance Challenge, six charter public schools were recognized for helping students show up and succeed.
- During the 2025-26 Attendance Matters kickoff event in September 2025, Governor McKee and Commissioner Infante-Green recognized eight charter public schools as Attendance All-Stars.
- Rhode Island’s Public Expenditure Council’s February 2026 report, Chronic Absenteeism in Rhode Island, found that “a greater share of charter and state schools outperformed predicted [chronic absenteeism] levels” (p.2) in 2024-25.
Author: Lauren Matlach