Attendance

Every day of school is a “regular” day for attendance purposes at Columbine Hills Elementary School. Attendance is the responsibility of the student, the parents, and the school. The importance of regular, daily attendance as a basis for academic achievement cannot be over-emphasized. Absences hurt instructional continuity, regardless of the attempts to make up work. Our school has designated a target goal of 96% attendance this year and reviews attendance monthly to ensure all students are helping to meet our goal.

There are two types of absences – excused and unexcused. Absences will be excused for illness, family emergencies, and religious holidays. Absences for any other reason such as missing the bus, bad weather, waking up late, staying out late the night before and no excuse at all are unexcused.

Parents are to call the Columbine Hills attendance number before 8:00 a.m. to report a student’s absence. Emailing and communicating with your child’s teacher does not excuse an absence. You must call the attendance line to report the absence. This is a 24-hour voice mailbox so you can leave a message any time, day or night. It is a parent’s responsibility to notify the school regarding a student’s absence from the office. 

If we do not hear from a parent regarding an absence, the attendance secretary will make every effort to contact the parent and any emergency contacts to establish the student’s whereabouts. The absence will be marked as unexcused if a phone call from the parent/guardian is not received within 24 hours of the absence. To ensure safety, if a parent cannot be contacted, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department may be asked to help locate the child.

Students are expected to be on time. We believe that consistent daily attendance is an integral and essential part of the learning process. Elementary school is the best time to teach children to get in the habit of being on time. Being on time to school and class teaches students responsibility for promptness in their adult lives.

Students must attend school for the entire day. Tardies are counted when a student arrives at school late. If a student leaves early, it will be marked as an early release. A tardy/early release is marked when a student arrives after the tardy bell rings and/or misses up to an hour and a half in the morning or the afternoon. A half-day absence is marked when a student misses more than an hour and a half in the morning or the afternoon.

When a student arrives after 7:45 am they will be tardy and should report directly to the office to sign in and receive a pass. Late arrivals will not be excused unless a parent or guardian calls the attendance line or personally speaks with the school secretary regarding the reason for the tardy. Otherwise, late arrivals will be marked as unexcused.

Make-up work for absences will be given when a student returns to school. This allows the teacher to determine exactly which work needs to be made up. A general rule of two days of make-up time for each day missed will be given. Credit will be given for make-up work that is completed promptly.

Families are expected to plan family outings and vacations in conjunction with school holidays. If your child will be absent more than two days for a scheduled absence, a pre-arranged absence form must be completed three days prior and turned in to the office for approval. 

Approvals will only be granted to students with good attendance and good academic standing. If not approved, the absences will be marked as unexcused. Pre-arranged Absence Form.

Parents of students who are repeatedly tardy or have excessive absences will receive a letter and be asked to meet with the school to come up with a plan to improve attendance. Excessive absences and/or tardies will result in action by the school, district, and in an extreme case, juvenile authorities. 

District policy states that four unexcused absences in a month or ten unexcused absences in a year is cause for district action. Please see the Jeffco Student and Family Handbook and Policy JH: Students Absences and Excuses for further information.

Chronic attendance AND tardies will be referred to the Student Truancy Office. This office works with the court in compliance with the school attendance law of Colorado.

Concerns

• The classroom teacher will contact the parent and explain that even though absences may be valid, they still affect the child’s progress and explain that state law requires that students be in school a certain number of days each year.
• A letter from Mrs. Wilson will be sent to parents of students who have missed ten or more school days and a conference will be scheduled. The purpose of this letter and conference is to emphasize the importance of school attendance and the effects of absences on school progress.
• A letter from Mrs. Wilson will be sent to parents of students after excessive tardies (10 tardies).
• Students with unexcused or suspicious absences will be referred to the Student Truancy Office for Jefferson County Schools. Columbine Hills will work with Student Truancy and the court system in enforcing state school attendance laws.

The importance of regular, daily school attendance as a basis for academic achievement cannot be overemphasized. Attendance is a shared responsibility of the student, the families and the school.

It is the family’s responsibility to ensure their student attends school and to notify the school when their student is absent for a legitimate reason, such as an illness or family emergency. Each family should also ensure their student’s school has their correct contact information so that the school is able to communicate about any attendance issues that may arise.