Team,
Without question, one of our largest challenges is student attendance. Over the weekend, I will run some reports in Aspen to see where we are as a school relative to student attendance for quarter one. This data is important. Equally important and critical is our efforts to address the issue. As I re-read the faculty handbook, I noticed a glaring omission - there are no clear instructions as it relates to addressing attendance issues. I know folks are making calls home, sending emails, and completing attendance cards and more. I also know that not everyone knows the protocol and efforts and documentation, while noteworthy and deeply appreciated, aren't common across the school.
At Tuesday's ILT meeitng, an agreement was made to shift from department meetings on November 20th to a faculty meeting. We shall review the protocol and get on the same page with respect to documentation. For your convenience I have pasted the general protocol from the Superintendent's circular below. Also below are the steps involved in creating a journal in Aspen (which is where family contact should be logged). This should give you a rough idea of the steps involved. We'll talk specifics at the meeting on the 20th. On the calendar, the meeting is scheduled from 2-3pm. Unless there is strong disagreement, I propose that we start at 2:10pm and end at 3:10pm. The goal: to allow you a moment or two to catch your breath for the meeting.
Best,
Pat
1. FIRST ABSENCE
The building administrator has responsibility to ensure that school staff notifies parents by telephone of a student's absence on the first and subsequent failures to attend school. This is best accomplished by the homeroom teacher. In these conversations, parents should be reminded of (1) the need to submit a note of explanation to document the reason each time a student is absent and (2) that unexcused absences could result in academic failure.
2. SECOND AND THIRD ABSENCE
Parents must be notified in writing of a student's absence no later than the third failure to attend school (even if the absences were “excused”) and on a regular basis thereafter. This notification should include the attendance requirement, the number of days missed and the number of school days in the marking period and the consequences of continued absence. Note: These need not be consecutive absences. This letter must be in the language of the home.
3. THIRD UNEXCUSED ABSENCE
After the third unexcused absence, the student must be referred to the Student Support Team (SST) or the Attendance Review Team by the homeroom teacher. The team will review the case and meet to develop recommendations to assist the student. The team may invite the parent/guardian to the meeting and, at the secondary level, the student; however, if the parent/guardian does not attend the meeting, an effort must be made by the Student Service Coordinator/Facilitator to contact and discuss the case with the parent/ guardian.
4. FOURTH UNEXCUSED ABSENCE
After the fourth unexcused absence in any term, a meeting shall be convened to which the parent shall be invited. If the school is unable to contact the parent, the Department of School Safety Services should be contacted to send a “locator” to the home. The implications of student absence from school, as well as the current academic status of the student, will be discussed at this meeting. The plan developed by the SST after the third unexcused absence should be reviewed.
5. FIFTH THROUGH SEVENTH UNEXCUSED ABSENCE
After the fifth unexcused absence, for a student younger than 16 years of age, the homeroom teacher shall fill out an Attendance Supervisor Information Form. These forms must be filled out completely and should detail the results of action(s) taken by the school in steps 1-4. For these guidelines, please see Superintendent’s Circular ACA-18B.
Manage a Student Journal in Aspen
Create and manage journal entries for students. For example, guidance counselors might create a journal entry each time they meet with a student.
To manage a student journal:
Log on to the School view.
Click the Student tab.
Select the student.
Click the Documents side-tab, and then click Journal.
Do one of the following:
To work with an existing journal entry, click the entry.
To add a journal entry for a student, on the Options menu, click Add. The New Student Journal page appears. Enter the information, and click Save.
