This past December, UCS schools in four boroughs launched a pilot program and partnership with Clean Rite laundromats to allow students and their families to do laundry in their own neighborhoods. “The program’s objective is to help support and boost attendance” said Shell Lewis, one of the two UCS program managers coordinating the initiative. Washing machines can be a powerful took to reduce students absence from school, especially in underserved and under-resourced areas. The participating schools are PS40, PS335, both in Brooklyn, PS369 in the Bronx and Curtis High School Staten Island.