Up to 10,000 D.C. students could earn Capitals and Wizards merchandise, game tickets and other rewards for showing up to school under a new pilot program announced Tuesday, Sept. 29.

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), attendance platform Rang and Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) are partnering to launch the incentive program in January 2027 at about 15 D.C. Public Schools and public charter schools, according to OSSE. School leaders can apply through Oct. 31. Selected schools will be announced in December.

The pilot targets a stubborn problem. In the 2024-25 school year, 39.5% of D.C. students were chronically absent, meaning they missed 10% or more of school days. Among high schoolers, the rate hit 57.6%, according to the OSSE Attendance Dashboard. D.C.'s total public school enrollment stood at 91,337 students that year, with 55% in DCPS and 45% in charter schools.

Those numbers have improved. D.C. has cut chronic absenteeism by nine percentage points since its pandemic-era peak of 48% in the 2021-22 school year, outpacing most peer cities including Chicago, Philadelphia and New York, according to a report from the Deputy Mayor for Education and EveryDay Labs. The pre-pandemic rate was about 30%.

Still, nearly four in 10 students miss too much school. Economically disadvantaged students are three times more likely to be chronically absent, the report found.

State Superintendent of Education Antoinette Mitchell said the partnership adds a tool to recognize progress and reinforce positive attendance habits alongside work schools are already doing.

In March, during a panel on the DC Policy Center's State of D.C. Schools report, Mitchell put the high school crisis in blunt terms: "When our kids hit the 9th grade, chronic absenteeism multiplies by a factor of three or four," she told WJLA.

Attendance data syncs nightly into Rang's platform. Students who improve or maintain good attendance can redeem rewards, including MSE team gear, event tickets and e-gift cards. The program accounts for each student's attendance history, so improvement counts regardless of starting point. All students at participating schools are eligible.

Rang, which launched in Chicago and now operates in Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and Texas, says districts using its platform reduced chronic absenteeism by an average of six percentage points last school year. That claim comes from the announcement itself and has not been independently verified.

MSE, whose teams include the Capitals, Wizards and Mystics, is the program's first corporate partner. Monica Dixon, MSE's president of external affairs and chief administrative officer, said the company plans to recruit other D.C. businesses to contribute rewards as the pilot grows.

OSSE will help select pilot schools, with priority given to campuses serving a range of communities and performance levels, including schools flagged for additional state support. Schools not chosen for the January launch will join a waitlist for fall 2027.

A public kickoff event is planned for winter ahead of the January start. School leaders interested in the pilot can apply through Oct. 31, with selections announced in December.