Even before dozens of Arlington ISD teachers, staff and community members scattered Saturday to knock on doors to learn the whereabouts of students who had not returned to school, they were coached on the laundry list of excuses they'd most likely receive.

I'm working. I'm a new parent. I need transportation. I'm taking care of my ailing parent.

No matter, said AISD Superintendent Dr. Marcelo Cavazos.

"There is no excuse we can't overcome," Cavazos said Saturday morning in the Lamar High School cafeteria during the start of the district's annual Operation Graduation Walk. "We provide instruction down to the minute. If you can only come 20 minutes, we can help you. If you can only come in the evenings, we can help you."

AISD's Operation Graduation Walk is where volunteers (more than 300 last year) accompany school administrators to drive to homes of students enrolled in school last spring who have yet to return this fall.

Teams of three to five people go door-to-door to find out why the students have not returned and what can be done to change that. Enrollment packets and other information on exactly what's needed for their return are left for those who are not at home.

Each of the city's high schools had teams canvassing their neighborhoods. At Sam Houston High School, more than 70 volunteers reached out to 80 students.

"The main purpose of that day is to try and encourage students to come back on that very day," said Dropout Prevention Coordinator Electra Kitchin, who added that each school was staffed on Saturday with counselors with re-enrollment paperwork at the ready. "We do that by letting them know that it's actually doable."

At Lamar alone, 101 students were on the list to be visited on that day, said Principal Dr. Larry Harmon.

"Our mission for the walk is to show to our students that even though they have temporarily given up on school that it's never too late to return," Harmon said.

Speer Elementary Teacher Steve Villarreal volunteered for one of the teams because "I wanted to be involved first hand in making a difference." Warning signs of at-risk dropouts are seen at his level of teaching.

"If there's no support at home, if the student is for the most part being watched by brothers and sisters, it's clear they are not getting the kind of support they need to thrive," he said. "That can certainly be a problem down the road."

AISD would rather catch students before they go down that road, said Dropout Prevention Director Wendy Carrington.

"The main thing we want to convey is that we can work with you no matter your situation," said Carrington. "That's the beauty of it. Wherever you are in terms of credits, we start there and work out a plan to get that diploma. It's never too late."