Attendance

Bell Schedule

Mission Statement

PBIS

Reports

If your child is going to be absent for any reason, it is school policy that parents report absences before 9:00 am by calling the school.

Attendance Office
(209) 574-8142

It is also acceptable to send a signed note prior to the absence explaining the expected absence. If a child does not appear for school and no previous notice has been received, a member of the school staff will call a parent to confirm the child’s absence. The information contained on the student’s emergency information form will be used for this purpose. It is important that a child be present and on time every day that school is in session, unless serious excusable reasons prevent attendance.

Students must attend school regularly to achieve in the classroom. Parents who make regular school attendance a top priority help their children become dependable and responsible. The importance of being in school every day applies to students at all grade levels. Children in the primary grades (Kindergarten through Third) should set a pattern of regular attendance early in their school careers. The habit will carry over through high school and beyond.

Modesto City School’s data shows that students who do not attend school regularly achieve at a lower lever than their classmates. Poor school attendance is the most frequently identified symptom of the potential school dropout. On average, students who were on track to graduate were absent (8) days during the entire school year. On average, high school students who are not on track to graduate (down 1-10 units) are absent seven (7) or more days in a semester, or 16 days in a school year. On average, students who are absent one-and-a-half or more days a month ARE NOT on track to graduate with their classmates regardless of the school they attend, their grade level, the courses they take, or their ethnicity.

When students who have been absent return to school, they need more individual attention from their teacher. They often deprive their classmates of the teacher’s full attention.

State funding to schools is linked to student attendance. The more absences, the less funding a school district receives from the state and the total educational program suffers.

Students who are chronically absent are not prepared to join the work force or continue their education beyond high school. The Modesto Police Department confirms that daytime criminal activity increases when students are not in school.

REMEMBER: Frequent absences or tardies interfere with a student’s ability to maintain a high level of achievement and interrupts their successful participation in school community.