• To Report or Verify an Absence

    Regular attendance and promptness to class are important components of a student’s academic success. Students who are frequently absent may be jeopardizing not only their immediate academic success but also their ability to graduate. One all-day or period absence could result in a significant loss of instruction for your child. Being tardy to class interrupts classroom instruction and may hinder attendance accounting. We solicit the help of all parents and guardians to encourage their child to attend every class on a daily basis and to be on time.

    To contact the Attendance Office, please call (626) 974-6100.

    Clearing Absence with a Note or Call

    A written absence note or parent/guardian phone call is required within Two (2) days.  We recommend bringing a note or calling the Attendance Office the day of return. The Attendance Office is located in the Administration Building and opens at 7:30 a.m. daily. For your convenience, the Attendance Office makes use of an answering machine during busy times or off hours. 

    All notes and phone calls MUST include the following information:

    • Full name of the student
    • Grade level
    • Date(s) of absence and period(s) missed
    • Specific reason for absence
    • Parent/guardian signature
    • Parent/guardian contact phone number

    The Attendance Office will only accept notes from parents, doctors or dentists to clear absences.

    Notes will be kept in the student’s file. Parents may contact the Attendance Office to check the status of notes. Students with excessive “health excused” or “parent request” absences will be referred to an administrator and doctor’s notes may be required.  Chronic absences or tardies may result in a school attendance meeting with an administrator.

    Check out procedure – Leaving Campus Early

    Students who need to leave campus early must be checked out in person by a parent or guardian.  ID will be required. 

    Excused Absences

    The following absences are considered the only excused reasons to be absent from school. Students are allowed to make up work for these reasons:

    • Illness
    • Medical appointments (with verification from the doctor’s office)
    • Quarantine
    • Funeral
    • School-related activities
    • Court appearance (with verification from the court)
    • Jury duty
    • Religious observance
    • Personal reasons with prior administrative approval

    All other absences are considered unexcused. Detention hours are assigned for all unexcused absences, both period and all day absences (see below).

    Unexcused Absences

    An unexcused absence is defined as follows:

    • All absences not cleared through the attendance office by parent, guardian, or doctor are considered unexcused.
    • A student missing any class without parental knowledge.
    • Oversleeping
    • Car trouble
    • Babysitting
    • Vacation

    Students will not be allowed to make up any missed assignments, quizzes, tests, or exams in any class for which they have been marked with an unexcused absence. (By law, teachers are under no obligation to accept make-up work due to truancies and unexcused absences.)

    Please note that unexcused absences may lead to disciplinary action up to and including SARB referral.

    Auto-Dialer

    The district auto-dialer is utilized for all absences, period and full day. Upon receiving the automated message, please call the school or write a note explaining the absence using the guidelines above. Please note that attendance staff cannot clear tardies in any case.

    Extended Absences

    When a student is absent because of an infectious illness or for personal reasons for an extended period parents/guardians must contact the Attendance Office. Should an absence continue longer than first reported to the attendance office, the parent/guardian must call with the new information. Any student returning to school with a physician’s note (including physical education limitations) must report to the Attendance Office with the note.

    Family Vacations

    Arrangements for family vacations should be made during non-school days. If vacations are planned, it is the student’s responsibility to acquire his/her homework. It is also the student’s responsibility to meet with the teacher and obtain any missed assignments. 

    Makeup of Missed Work

    Following an excused absence, a student shall be given a reasonable time by his or her teacher within which to make up the work the student missed during the absence. A student shall not be provided the opportunity to make up the work missed during an unexcused absence and could result in a lower grade.