Attendance

Attendance Hotline: 858-676-6963, available 24 hours.

Notifying the school of absences/tardies/early dismissals:
Please call the Attendance hotline for all student absences, tardies, and early dismissals. The messages are checked throughout the day, but we appreciate you calling as early as possible. The hotline is available 24/7. For planned appointments, you can always call days in advance.
The Attendance office also accepts written notes. All Attendance notes should be given to the Attendance secretary, NOT your student’s teacher.
**As a reminder, only parents and legal guardians may call the hotline or write attendance notes.

CLEARING ABSENCES:

If your student is absent, please call the Attendance hotline as soon as possible each day your student is absent (unless you give us a date range for multiple days). A parent or legal guardian must make this call.
In the message, please state:

Your student’s first and last name
Their grade
The date of the absence(s)
The reason (if sick, please list symptoms)
Your relationship to the student
A phone number where you can be reached.

Students will be listed as truant if we do not receive a call or note from a parent/guardian.

Excessive Absences and Truancies

The law in California regarding compulsory school attendance for minors is very specific and carries penalties for parents and minors for failure to comply with these regulations. The process is explained below with the purpose of providing full disclosure about the legal responsibility all parents have to make sure their children attend school on time, every day. Thank you for your cooperation as we work together to provide your children with the finest education.

Excessive Excused Absences:
- 12 full-day excused absences in one school year are considered excessive. Parents will receive a letter from the school office as notification. 16 absences will trigger a 2nd letter, and 20 will trigger a 3rd.
Truancy:
- 3 truancies (unexcused absences) in one school year will trigger a letter home.
- 6 truancies will trigger a 2nd letter, and 9 will trigger a 3rd.

Copies of the above letters are sent to the district’s Student Attendance and Discipline office.
Students with truancies or excessive excused absences will be referred to a Student Attendance Review Team. This team is comprised of Poway Unified School District personnel and works with the student and parents to eliminate attendance problems and issues appropriate disciplinary measures.

OFF CAMPUS PASSES (Early Release):

Student safety is a major concern for us. Students must be signed out at the attendance desk before departing early. Students are not allowed to wait in front of the school to be picked up during school hours.
If your student needs to leave early from school, please call the Attendance hotline, or send a note with your student. Notes should be given to the Attendance secretary, NOT your student’s teacher, before school. Calling the school in advance, or sending a note, will prevent delays for you (such as trying to get your student while they are running cross-country) and will help us to minimize interruptions to the classrooms.
When calling the hotline, or writing a note, please indicate:

Your student’s first and last name
Their grade
The time your student needs to leave school
Whether or not your student will return that day
If your student is being picked up early by someone other than the parent/guardian, please let us know the person's name in your message. We will not release your student to anyone but a parent/guardian unless we have prior approval.

Please meet your child at the attendance desk to be signed out at the time of departure. Be prepared to show your identification when checking out your child.
If your student returns to school after being picked up early, please have him/her check back in at the Attendance desk before heading to class.

TARDINESS:

If a student is not in their seat by 8:00am (9:20am on Wednesday), he or she is tardy. If your student’s tardy is to be excused, please either:

Accompany your student to the office, and sign them in at the Attendance desk.
Call and leave a message on the Attendance hotline.
Send a note with your student. Notes should be taken to the Attendance desk, not your student’s teacher.

All students need to check in with Attendance when they are late.
Parents may not excuse tardies which occur between classes during the school day.
If your student believes a tardy was given incorrectly, please have him/her notify the attendance office.

PLANNED ABSENCES (OCIS Contracts):

Attendance is vital for school funding, and any absences reduce the funding the school gets from the state (unless the student is on an Off-Campus Independent Study Contract [OCIS]

OCIS CONTRACTS:
If there is a planned extended absence, please see information below about obtaining a homework contract.
An OCIS contract allows your student to do the work that he or she would be doing if they were in class - and helps the school to continue to be funded by the state.
Absences accumulated while on an OCIS Homework Contract do NOT count toward a student’s absence total (unless the student does not complete all assignments before returning to school).

OCIS Contract Request

Thank you for your interest in obtaining an OCIS Contract for your student. Our office requires 7 school days’ notice via email ([email protected]) in order to start a contract.

Please email us with the following information:

Full name of student
First date of absence
Last date of absence
Date student returns to school
Reason for absence

Here are some details about the contract:

The contract is shared electronically as a google doc, closer to the student’s first date of absence.
Please read the contract over with your student.
Please check off the agreement box and fill out the parent/student signature and date boxes electronically as soon as you receive it.
All assignments are listed by the teachers on the contract.
All assignments are due to the teachers on the date the student returns to school, or the date assigned by the teacher.

- Students must print and complete the OCIS PE Worksheet linked on the PE assignment section of the google doc.