Our Mission: Transforming Attendance Through Compassion
At Attendance Accel, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to succeed in school. We're committed to eliminating chronic absenteeism as a barrier to student achievement by providing compassionate, evidence-based support that meets families where they are.
Founded by educators who understand the complex challenges families face, we've built a platform that combines cutting-edge AI technology with heart-centered design to make attendance support accessible to everyone.
Our Vision
We envision a world where no student falls behind due to attendance barriers—where every family has the resources, support, and encouragement they need to help their children show up and thrive.
By 2030, we aim to help reduce chronic absenteeism by 50% in the communities we serve.
What Makes Us Different
Unlike traditional attendance solutions that focus solely on schools, we serve the entire family ecosystem.
We don't just track attendance—we support families with practical tools, daily encouragement, and resources that address root causes.
Every resource, every message, every tool is available in both English and Spanish—designed by native speakers.
We keep our tools free for families because we believe access to support shouldn't depend on ability to pay.
Our AI understands attendance-specific challenges and provides relevant, actionable guidance—not generic responses.
We include tools that help students track their own progress and build ownership of their attendance journey.
Our evidence-based approaches are grounded in research and refined through real-world implementation.
How We Compare
See how Attendance Accel stacks up against traditional attendance solutions.
| Feature | Traditional Solutions | Attendance Accel |
|---|---|---|
Serves Families Directly Tools and support for parents and caregivers | ||
Fully Bilingual Complete English and Spanish support | ||
Free for Families No cost for family-facing tools | ||
Student Self-Tracking Empowers students to own their progress | ||
AI Parent Coach 24/7 personalized support via SMS | ||
Equity-Centered AI Designed to reduce bias and increase access | ||
District Dashboard Comprehensive analytics for administrators |
Our Philosophy
We believe improving attendance requires collaboration between families, schools, and communities—not blame or punishment.
We focus on proactive support and early intervention rather than punitive measures that often worsen outcomes.
We design with historically underserved communities in mind, ensuring our tools reduce rather than reinforce barriers.
Our Core Values
The principles that guide everything we do
Every student deserves to feel they belong at school
Fair access to support regardless of circumstances
Collaboration over compliance
Intervene before problems become crises
Clear communication builds trust
Meet Our Founder
Built by someone who understands the journey
Dr. Franky L. Simmons
As a former chronically absent student from the Bronx, NY, I understand firsthand the barriers that keep kids out of school and I know that blame and punishment aren't the answer.
After two decades as an educator, administrator, and attendance specialist, I founded Attendance Accel to build the tools I wished existed: compassionate, practical, and accessible to every family.
My mission is to ensure no child's potential is limited by attendance barriers, and no family faces these challenges alone.