Pittsburgh Steelers Team Up with the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network to Support Student Success and Tackle Chronic Absenteeism

(Photo of the Pittsburgh Steelers Logo Provided with Release Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) According to a release from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers are proud to announce their partnership with the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network (SITG!), a program dedicated to supporting student success and tackling chronic absenteeism. Eight Pittsburgh Public Schools will be the schools that the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network will work with in this initiative and this program will be launched this fall. When a student misses an average of two days per month during the school year, a student is defined as chronically absent, which is ten percent or more. According to data from a December 2024 A+ Schools Pittsburgh study, Pittsburgh Public Schools reported that 30 percent of their students grades K-12 were chronically absent and this number rose to 45 percent when analyzing attendance data for grades 9-12. Pittsburgh Arlington PreK-8, Pittsburgh Faison PreK-5, Pittsburgh Grandview PreK-5, Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5, Pittsburgh Milliones 6-12, Pittsburgh Morrow PreK-8, Pittsburgh Perry High School, and Pittsburgh Westinghouse Academy 6-12 are the schools where this program will be launched this fall. 

According to that same release from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, here is some more information about this initiative, in which plans are being made to expand to other school districts in the years to come:

  • This total team effort includes A+ Schools Pittsburgh who is helping coordinate the rollout by directly collaborating with Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) and the Pittsburgh Steelers on this program to mobilize resources and coordinate the support that is needed. Additionally, Everyday Labs will provide PPS with supports and metrics to improve student attendance, and Battelle will provide PPS and school personnel with tools and training needed to curb student
    absenteeism.
  • Schools that are participating in the program will be provided with a variety of resources like engagement calendars, educational programming, and activities that encourage students to attend school.
  • Additionally, the Pittsburgh Steelers have designed special incentives for students if they come to school and improve their attendance record. Students will have the opportunity to win tickets to Steelers games and events at Acrisure Stadium, official Steelers swag like t- shirts and hats, items autographed by players, and have Steely McBeam and Steelers players visit their schools.
  • The Stay in the Game! Attendance Network was founded in 2019 by the Cleveland Browns Foundation, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and Proving Ground out of Harvard and now partners with the Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati to positively impact more than 200 districts and 580,000 Ohio students. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the first professional NFL team to partner with the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network (SITG!) outside of Ohio.