Red Sox slugger Ortiz records wake-up calls for Boston kids

Boston schools superintendent Tommy Chang said Monday the goal of the Ortiz calls is to help kids get to school on time and fight absenteeism.

Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Education says more than 6 million students — 13 percent of all school-age Americans — missed at least three weeks of school in the 2013-14 academic year, the most recent for which figures are available.

Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said he hopes the calls, which are being offered free of charge, will help "inspire, motivate and encourage" children to attend school.

Boston's school system ran a pilot of the wakeup calls last year, trying them out on two dozen students at the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, a charter high school in the shadow of Fenway Park.