The pandemic responses of Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, North Carolina, offer insights on how navigating the COVID-19 crisis can inform district and school practices to curb student absenteeism and support student engagement in learning. Guilford used ESSER money to develop pandemic response programs that addressed wide-ranging and shifting student needs stemming from the pandemic. Authors Ayesha K. Hashim, Clark Wright, Sonya Stephens, and Miles Davison discuss seven key insights into how the district transitioned those programs to help engage students after the pandemic while working to ease absentee rates.