Daily Attendance is taken at all elementary and middle schools.  No teachers (regardless of grade level) will take daily attendance at a high school.

Daily attendance should be taken by 8:30am each day unless there are extenuating circumstances, i.e. late bus(es), early assembly, etc.

Students who come to school after 8:00am or leave early should always, always, always be required to sign in or out at the office.

BEST PRACTICES
Remember:  Students who attend school perform better.  Posting attendance is only one step in the attendance process.  Encouraging students to attend is always a best practice!

1.  All homeroom teachers must take attendance each day.  (It is the law!)
2.  Attendance should be recorded both in PowerTeacher and on paper class record.
3.  Choose the appropriate Absence code from dropdown menu. If you do not have a reason code (parent contact), always use 2A Unexcused Absence.
4.  Click in the cell next to the student you want to mark absent.
5.  The absence code should appear. If you mistakenly select the wrong student, go back to the top and change the code to Present and click back on the cell.  The absence code will disappear.
6.  Once you have marked all absences for the day, click the Submit button at the bottom.
7.  Contact parents (calls, emails, notes by student) to get them to let you know why a child was absent.  The sooner you make the contact, the more likely you will get a response.
8.  Review your attendance to make sure you have posted it correctly.  Work with your data manager to make sure each child's record is accurate.
9.  Enlist the help of the school counselor and social worker in order to get students to attend school.