Attendance

Sierra Vista Attendance Policy

To report an absence or late arrival call the attendance line:

• (505) 898-0272 ext 2.

Absences

The state of New Mexico and APS are required by federal law to ensure that all students meet the standards for attendance as set by the Public Education Department. Please refer to the APS Student Handbook for more information about this.

A parent/guardian must call the attendance line EACH day your child is absent from school including absences for multiple days.

The attendance line is available 24 hours/ 7 days a week. Please call by 8:00 am each day to record an absence. APS will send out an automated phone call about 8:15 am each day with a safety call alerting you that an absence has been entered for your child. If you have not contacted the school about the absence by the end of the school day, it will be recorded as an unexcused absence. A second automated phone call will again be sent out about 6:00 pm to remind you that your student has an UNEXPLAINED absence for the day.

Excused Absences

Absences may be excused for the following reason with appropriate documentation:

• Illness (after 3 or more consecutive days a doctor’s note is required)
• Limited family emergencies
• Medical, dental, legal appointments
• religious commitments
• Suspensions
• Deployment of a military parent (as defined in the “military children” directive)
• Limited extenuating circumstances as approved in advance by the administration

Absences can be updated from unexcused to excused within 3 days of the event with a phone call or note to the attendance clerk explaining the reason for the absence IF the reason is accepted as excused by the district attendance policy. After 3 days parents must make an appointment with the principal to discuss the situation. You may be asked to provide documentation to support the excuse.

Unexcused Absences

Absences are unexcused for the following reasons:

• Family activities, vacations, or trips during the school day
• Illness of another sibling, parent, or family member that is not an emergency

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Tardies

We value punctuality as an important character trait that shows respect for all and a major key of success for your child’s education. A student entering a classroom late is a disruption to the teacher and other students in the classroom. They miss valuable instructional time and participating in classroom morning routines.

The Morning Schedule

• Cafeteria begins serving breakfast at: 7:45 am
• Students can be on the playground beginning at: 7:45 am
• First warning bell rings at: 8:00 am
• Tardy bell rings at: 8:05 am

Breakfast is served in the cafeteria beginning at 7:45 am. Children should arrive early to have enough time to eat before the first bell rings. If your child rides a bus, remind them to go directly to the cafeteria after getting off the bus.

Late Arrivals

• The first warning bell rings at 8:00 am. Students should be on the school property and lining up at their classes designated area on the playground at this time. On days inclement weather is called students come into the building and line up at their assigned place in the hallways. Classrooms in the portables have assigned areas inside the building to line up and should not go out to the portables.

• The tardy bell rings at 8:05 am. A student not IN his classroom or arriving after the 8:05 am bell has rung is TARDY and will need to go sign in at the office with a parent before entering the classroom.

• Please plan ahead and allow extra time to arrive to school on inclement weather days. Use the buses as much as possible. Leave home extra early if you are going to bring your child to school. The drop off line is busy and slow in the morning and your child runs the risk of being tardy. If you drop your child off at 8:00 am or later and they may not be IN their class by 8:05 am plan to park your car and come into the office to sign your child in.

• A student arriving to school late must be accompanied by a parent/guardian into the office and signed into school. A late arrival is considered an unexcused tardy. If the tardy is because of a medical or therapy appointment a doctor’s note should be presented to excuse the tardy.

• A tardy sticker is required for the student to enter the classroom after 8:05 am. Teachers are instructed not to allow a student entry into the classroom without this sticker and to mark the student as absent.

• If your child arrives late to school the absence will be changed to a tardy by the attendance clerk once they have been signed in and cleared at the office.

• Students that come into the office late without a parent to sign them in will be marked absent until a parent comes to school to sign them in as tardy. We are no longer making reminder phone calls to parents about the student being tardy and asking the parent to return to school to sign them in. The attendance clerk will record their late arrival to school and then the student will be given a tardy sticker to enter their classroom. If the parent has not come to school to sign the student in by 2:00 pm of that same day the student will be marked as having an unexcused absence for the day. (Note: if you receive an automated attendance call in the morning stating that your child is absent and you dropped them off at school that is usually an indicator that they were late to class and you should come to school to sign them in)

Early Dismissals

Students Will Not Be Released From School After 1:30 P.M.

• If your child needs to leave school early you will need to come to the office before 1:30 pm to sign them out of school.

• Only adults authorized on the student’s registration card with a picture ID will be allowed to check out a student from school.

• We will call the student from class to come to the office to meet you. Do not go to the classroom to pick up a student.

APS identifies excused tardies as:

• Illness/injury
• Medical or therapy appointments with a doctor’s excuse presented within 3 days
• Funeral attendance
• Religious commitment
• Limited family emergencies

Tardies for other reasons are unexcused

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New Mexico Compulsory Attendance Law

The federal “No Child Left Behind Act” requires all schools in New Mexico to meet an attendance target set by the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) in order to make Yearly Adequate Progress (AYP).

New Mexico law dictates that:

• Students between the ages of five (5) and eighteen (18) years of age are mandated to attend public school, home school or a state institution.

• The Albuquerque Public School District reports habitual truants to the appropriate agencies such as the APS District Attendance Office, CYFD staff, District Attorney’s office, Juvenile Probation & Parole, the Children’s Court Liaison and to the State of New Mexico.

• Consequences in New Mexico law include license revocation, fines, and the loss of New Mexico Works Program monetary assistance.