Attendance Policy
South Pointe Junior High School strongly believes that success in academics and consistent attendance go hand-in-hand. Our daily attendance rate is a critical factor in our school, and our goal and standard is high. We strive to reach a 96% daily attendance rate.
Absences
Parents are urged to schedule doctor, dentist, and other appointments for students at times outside the school day. This will reinforce the importance of school and will prevent the student from getting behind in class work. Missing school can affect your child in many ways. Students who miss school are more apt to fall behind academically compared to their peers and may be considered for retention based on excessive absences from school.
When requesting work missed during an absence, please contact the school office before 9 a.m. to provide adequate time for the teacher to prepare materials to be sent home or picked up at the end of the school day.
Excused Absences Definition
Excused absences are those that are excused by the parent/guardian and by the school administration. The State of Arizona will only allow the following to be counted as excused absences:
When requesting work missed during an absence, please contact the school office before 9 a.m. to provide adequate time for the teacher to prepare materials to be sent home or picked up at the end of the school day.
Excused Absences Definition
Excused absences are those that are excused by the parent/guardian and by the school administration. The State of Arizona will only allow the following to be counted as excused absences:
- Illness
- Doctor/Dentist appointments
- Bereavement
- Family Emergencies
- Religious Holiday observance
- Out of school suspensions
- Out of town travel taken during scheduled instructional time
- Vacation days during scheduled instructional time
- Doctor/Dental appointments are unexcused unless a doctor’s note is provided
- Any other reasons other than the above mentioned excused absences are unexcused
Tardy Policy
Students will be considered late after the bell has signaled the start of class. Students late to class 15 minutes or more will be admitted into class but will accrue an absence for that class period. There will be no tardy slip provided by the office unless the lateness is due to the school bus, the student is detained, or the tardy is approved and excused by an administrator. The teacher should contact the parents of students to notify them of their excessive tardies.
Signing Students Out
For the safety and protection of the student, a student will only be released from the classroom before the regular dismissal time when the parent comes to the office and signs the student out. Students will not be released on the basis of a telephone call.
Students will only be released to persons authorized by the parent/guardian and those individuals specified on the Emergency Information Card. For a student to be released to anyone other than those listed on the Emergency Information Card, the school will require specific written authorization from parent/guardian. To avoid distractions to the learning environment students will not be released early between the time frame of 2:30-3:00 pm.
Students will only be released to persons authorized by the parent/guardian and those individuals specified on the Emergency Information Card. For a student to be released to anyone other than those listed on the Emergency Information Card, the school will require specific written authorization from parent/guardian. To avoid distractions to the learning environment students will not be released early between the time frame of 2:30-3:00 pm.
