Schools now only receive funding for students who are actually present each day. When a student is absent from school, excused or unexcused, the school loses income. We ask for your support in increasing our student attendance by:

• Planning family trips during our school holidays

• Schedule doctor and dentist appointments AFTER school hours (If the appointment is in the middle of the day, please bring your child to school for the morning, then come and check them out)

• Allow your child to stay home when he/she has a contagious illness (fever, vomiting, diarrhea)

ATTENDANCE/ABSENCES
State law requires regular and punctual attendance.  Parents must report an absence when their student will miss school. For each day your child is absent, please call the attendance number 760-290-2000 and press 4.  Leave a message that states your student’s name and the reason for the absence.  Excused absences are those due to illness, a medical appointment, a court appearance, a death in the family, or a religious holiday.  All other reasons will be unexcused.  If an absence is not reported within 72 hours, it will be considered unexcused.

Please be aware the State of California requires our school to begin notifying parents by letter when three (3) unexcused absences occur.

Education Code 490678 and the SMUSD Board Policy 5115 "Absences and Excuses" authorizes teachers to assign a failing grade to any student with more than ten (10) days of unexcused absences in a trimester. The school must notify the parent, either by written report or by conference whenever a student is in danger of failing based on unexcused absences.

Protocol for checking out students during school hours:

If you are in need of checking out your student early during school hours please read the following information:   

• Please arrive early if you need to pick up your student. Students will not be called out of the classroom/playground until a parent or guardian is in the office.

• Parents are required to park in our staff parking lot (if space available) or in the additional parking lot located on Kensington Drive and come/walk inside the office. DO NOT USE the drop-off/pick-up lane to park.

• Students may NOT meet parents in the parking lot or drop-off lane. Parent or guardian must wait inside the office for the student.

• Students will only be released to those persons that the parent or guardian has notified us of. Photo ID is required when signing out a student.

• We discourage the early check-out of students from the following times 2:15pm to 2:40pm due to the volume of traffic in our parking lot.