Attendance
Jefferson Junior-Senior High School expects regular daily attendance and punctuality. These behaviors contribute to success in school and are critical components to lifelong learning and career preparation.
Students are expected to be punctual and in the classroom prepared to learn. Excessive tardiness or absences may result in student conferences, parent contact, detention, ISS, remedial attendance plan, loss of credit for the course, or other disciplinary action. Attendance may impact student participation in activities.
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Compulsory Attendance
Students under the age of 17 are required by state law to attend school. Administrators will initiate the truancy process and court hearings for those students who have excessive absences. Students 17 years of age and over who have excessive unexcused absences will be encouraged to seek other educational options and may be withdrawn from Jefferson High School based on an attendance-behavior contract.
Excused Absences
Absences will be considered excused for medical illness, family emergencies, court dates, religious holidays or prearranged school-approved activities only. The school may request a doctor’s note for excessive absences. Refer to the Jeffco Board policy JH-R.
- Students will not be excused from classes to complete assignments or to prepare for other classes, including tests or projects.
- Absence due to sleeping late, no alarm, car problems, traffic, etc. will not be considered an excused absence.
Excusing an Absence
Parent or guardian responsibilities:
- To excuse an absence, the parent or guardian will call the attendance office at 303-982-6081 within 24 hours of the day of the absence.
- After the 24-hour period, absences may only be excused by administrative approval.
- No absences will be excused after 15 school days of the absence without a face-to-face meeting with the student’s administrator. Scheduling this meeting does not guarantee the student’s absence will be excused.
- Students who are 18 years old may not excuse their own absences if they are still considered dependents of their parent or guardian.
Makeup Work
Student responsibilities:
- Time allowed to make up work is twice the number of classes or days missed (two days allowed for make-up work for each day of absence). There may be certain class assignments and activities or performances for which students might not receive credit even if the absence is excused.
- Makeup work shall be allowed following an unexcused absence:
- With the first two unexcused absences from a class, makeup work will be allowed for credit with one grade reduction for all work completed.
- After the first two unexcused absences from a class, makeup work will be allowed for credit with two letter grade reductions for all work completed.
- When an assignment has been given with a specific due date and the student does not turn that assignment in because of an unexcused absence on the due date, the teacher will enforce the original stated expectations regarding grading of the assignment if it is turned in late.
- When a student has missed classroom discussions or classroom work that cannot be duplicated through a simple assignment, the teacher may elect to request that the student create a method for demonstration of the learning or the teacher may elect to assign specific work to demonstrate the learning.
Prearranged Absences
A student who knows in advance that they will be absent from regularly scheduled classes for more than two days should obtain a prearranged absence form from the main office. The completed form with parent or guardian signature should be turned in at least three days prior to the absence. This procedure and form is also used when the need arises for an early final exam.
Attendance Interventions
The following steps will occur in the event of student absences from school:
- The phone system will call home each evening to report absences that have not been excused by 3 p.m. that day.
- Administrative interventions may include parent or guardian contact, conferencing, disciplinary action or initiating truancy processes.
Extracurricular Policy
Many extracurricular activities are planned for the student body. To promote the expectation of good attendance and earning privileges, students are expected to maintain a minimum of a 95% attendance rate to be eligible to attend all school dances. The policy will be calculated and implemented as follows:
- All excused absences must be taken care of by a parent or guardian within 24 hours.
- The attendance rate will be calculated cumulatively using the total periods of unexcused absences.
- Students must demonstrate a 95% attendance rate to attend the homecoming dance and prom and after prom.
Attendance in Jeffco
The importance of regular, daily school attendance as a basis for academic achievement cannot be overemphasized. Attendance is a shared responsibility of the student, the families and the school.
It is the family’s responsibility to ensure their student attends school and to notify the school when their student is absent for a legitimate reason, such as an illness or family emergency. Each family should also ensure their student’s school has their correct contact information so that the school is able to communicate about any attendance issues that may arise.
Contact Us
Attendance phone: 303-982-6081