Attendance

• There are many occasions when the attendance office experiences a high volume of calls. If you reach our voicemail, please do not hang up and call again. Leaving a message will keep your place in line and will allow us to assist you more quickly. Voice messages receive priority over incoming calls. 
• The following information will help when you call the attendance number, 816-736-7050 to report an absence: 

1. Your name and relationship to the student 
2. Student's name and spelling of last name 
3. Grade of student 
4. Reason for absence 
5. Date of absence 

• It is the responsibility of the parents or guardians to contact the Attendance Office and state the reason for your child's absence. Only parents, guardians, or a person on the student’s FERPA list are able to excuse an absence, tardy, or release a student from school. For your convenience, a phone answering machine will be in operation 24 hours, 7 days a week. Please call before 8:30 a.m. if your child will be absent from school. The attendance office number is 816-736-7050
• If your student has an undiagnosed illness such as a head cold, upset stomach, etc. and will miss one day of school, please call the Attendance office at 816-736-7050.
• If your child has had a surgery, broken bone, or a diagnosed illness (influenza, mono, bronchitis, etc.), please call the Nurse's office first - (816) 736-7040, visit with a Nurse - and then they will transfer you to the Attendance office for appropriate documentation in PowerSchool of your student's absence.
• Please call the Attendance Office PRIOR to 2:00 p.m. Without parent permission, a student may not leave the building. Once you call the Attendance Office and let them know what time your child needs to leave, your student will be sent a pass to check out through the Attendance office at the appropriate time.  If a student does not check out through the Attendance Office, they will not be marked Excused, even if a parent has called.

• If you make the decision to bring the forgotten item to your student, you must drop it off at the Attendance office, and your student will need to retrieve the item(s) during a passing period.  We do not send items to classrooms. Please note that students are not allowed to leave the building to pick up forgotten items. 

• Timeliness is a life skill necessary to learn. Late arrivals to the classroom disrupt instruction time and have an effect on others in the classroom.
• When a student is late to class, he/she is marked Tardy.  When a student has been marked Tardy five (5) times in a quarter, a warning will be issued to the student and their parent. After eight (8) tardies in a quarter, the student will need to serve two lunch detentions and an email will be sent home.  Consequences increase with continual tardies.  Please encourage your student to arrive to class on time!
• For each class/hour of the day, letters are sent home if a student is Absent 5, 8 and/or 11 times. Any student that has 11 Absences in a class will need to appeal for credit.  Additionally, excessive absences can have an impact on eligibility for other opportunities such as the A+ program.
• If a student does not report to class, and the absence has not been reported by a parent/guardian, they will be marked Unverified.  Unverified absences will result in consequences, including detention or suspension.
• If your student is struggling with chronic absences from school, our school staff, including administrators, counselors, and social workers, are equipped to implement supports to assist your family.  Do not hesitate to contact your student's counselor or administrator for support.

• A Robo Call is automatically generated when a student has been marked Unverified during the school day, alerting the parent/guardian of the absence.  A notification will also be sent through the PowerSchool app, for both student and parent, should you have the app on your phone.
• If the student believes a correction needs to be made, they can report directly to the Attendance Office.
• A parent/guardian can call the Attendance Office at 816.736.7050 if an absence needs to be reported.

• Please encourage your student to visit the Nurse's office, rather than text a parent to come pick them up. In many instances, the nurse can help to resolve the problem and prevent an unnecessary absence. If there is a problem they cannot help, a phone call will made to a parent/guardian to come pick up your student.