HIT program reaches four Dallas ISD schools after first-year gains
For Oak Cliff expanded its attendance initiative to John Lewis and Boude Storey schools following an 8.6% increase in daily attendance at Todd Middle School.
By Adrian Parker ·
The Home Visits, Incentives and Training program now operates in four Dallas Independent School District campuses.
For Oak Cliff, a Dallas-based nonprofit, added John Lewis Social Justice Academy and Boude Storey Middle School to its roster for the 2026-27 academic year. The program previously served Dr. Frederick Douglass Todd Sr. Middle School and Albert C. Black Jr. STEAM Academy in South Oak Cliff.
The expansion follows a pilot year in 2025-26 where the initiative targeted chronic absenteeism in feeder schools for South Oak Cliff High School. Todd Middle School recorded an 8.6% increase in average daily attendance, the largest year-over-year gain among the district’s 228 campuses. The school also improved its Texas Education Agency accountability rating from a D to a B.
At Black STEAM, an elementary campus, chronic absenteeism rates dropped by 9% during the pilot period. Shareefah Mason, director of cradle-to-career education at For Oak Cliff, noted that absenteeism often signals barriers that educators must understand before removing them. "Chronic absenteeism is rarely about a student or family simply not valuing school," Mason said in a statement.
The HIT model combines teacher training, targeted incentives, and home visits with students and families. During the first year, students received monthly, semester, and annual awards for consistent attendance. The nonprofit’s Go to School Dallas website reported that 120 students at Black STEAM maintained perfect attendance during the fall 2025 semester, a 500% increase. Todd Middle School also saw perfect attendance rise from fewer than five students to 24.
For Oak Cliff celebrated these results during the inaugural World Chronic Absenteeism Awareness Day event held at the Dallas Zoo on Monday. The nonprofit received a $1 million grant from the Communities Foundation of Texas earlier this year to support middle school attendance in South Oak Cliff. Additionally, Dallas ISD board members approved spending up to $5 million in December for programs aimed at returning chronically absent students to classrooms.
Xavier Henderson, chief strategy officer at For Oak Cliff, stated that absenteeism costs Dallas ISD an estimated $17.5 million annually. In the Oak Cliff area alone, that figure is estimated at $5 million. Taylor Toynes, the nonprofit’s CEO, said chronic absenteeism rates in the district sit close to 50% at some campuses. Henderson emphasized that lost funding affects curriculum, building improvements, and classroom teaching.
The program continues at Todd Middle School, Black STEAM, John Lewis Social Justice Academy, and Boude Storey Middle School for the current school year.
