Administrators

Counselors

School Liaison

Teachers

Nurse

Attendance Clerks

Security Resource Officer

Child Welfare & Attendance Officer

Lupe Aguilera

Success Begins

with School Attendance

Tulare Western High School

Attendance Hotline

559-686-4193

824 W. Maple

Tulare, CA 93274

559-686-8751

Fax 559-687-7389

Kevin Covert, Principal

Compulsory Education Law

All persons between the ages of 6 and 18

years are required by California law to at-

tend school. Parents have legal responsibil-

ity to ensure that their child attend school.

Education Code 48200

A student’s refusal to attend school regularly

can result in referral to the School Attend-

ance Review Board (SARB), Juvenile Proba-

tion, and the Juvenile court System.

Education Code 48263

High School

graduates make, on average, a million

dollars more than a dropout over a life-

time.

Absences can affect other students

when teachers have to slow down learn-

ing to help absent students catch up.

When students improve their attend-

ance rates, they improve their academic

prospects and chances for graduating.

By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes

a leading indicator that a student will

drop out of high school.

Attending school regularly helps stu-

dents socialize with friends, feel better

about school, and themselves.

While others can help, you are the bot-

tom line. You can promote good at-

tendance when you reach out for help

if you are experiencing tough times,

(i.e., transportation, unstable housing,

loss of job, health problems) that make

it difficult to get your child to school.

Your child’s teacher, principal, school

liaison, counselor, school psycholo-

gist, school nurse, district child wel-

fare & attendance officer, social

worker or community agencies may

help you problem solve or connect you

to a needed resource.

Parents Make a

Difference!

Help your teen stay engaged

Find out if your child feels engaged by his clas-ses and feels safe from bullies and other threats. Make sure he/she is not missing class because of behavioral issues and school discipline poli-cies. If any of these are problems, work with your school.

Stay on top of academic progress and seek help from teachers or tutors if necessary. Make sure teachers know how to contact you.

Stay on top of your child’s social contacts. Peer pressure can lead to skipping school, while stu-dents without many friends can feel isolated.

Encourage meaningful afterschool activities, including sports and clubs.

ATTENDANCE Our goal is to provide Tulare Western High School students with a sound academic founda-tion that will provide them for success in their post-secondary years. Regular and punctual attendance is essential for this to occur. Stu-dents are expected to have good attendance and to be to class on time unless they have a valid excuse. The state of California has deter-mined that excused absences are limited to the following: Excused Absences:

Bereavement

Court Appearance

Doctor/dentist appointment

Exclusion for required immunizations

Illness

Religious holiday/activity

School sponsored events

School suspension Unexcused Absences (This is not an all-inclusive list):

Babysitting

No absence verification/note

Oversleeping

Transportation

Working

Make school attendance a priority

Talk about the importance of showing up to school everyday, make that the expectation.

Help your child maintain daily routines, such as finishing homework and getting a good night’s sleep.

Try not to schedule dental and medical ap-pointments during the school day.

Don’t let your child stay home unless truly sick. Complaints of headaches or stomach aches may be signs of anxiety.

Plan family vacations on non-school days.

Make it a habit to provide a doctor’s note for absence, tardy and early leave.

CLEARING ABSENCES

In order to clear an absence students must take their notes to the attendance office. In order to expedite the readmission process in-clude the following information on all notes:

Date

ID #

Student’s full name and grade

Reason for absence

Date of absence

Parent/guardian’s name

Current Parent contact number & address

STEPS FOR CLEARING

QUESTIONABLE ABSENCES

1. Have your student get a copy of his/her

attendance report from the attendance

office.

2. Discuss any questionable absences with

your student.

3. Have your student speak with his/her

teacher about any questionable

absences.

4. Contact the attendance office.

5. Carol Alvarez and Rosario Ceja are the at-tendance clerk that may be reached at (559) 686-4193.

Did You Know?

Showing up for school has a huge

impact on a student’s academic success

starting in kindergarten and continuing

through high school. Even as children

grow older and more independent, families

play a key role in making sure students get

to school safely every day and understand

why attendance is so important for suc-

cess in school and on the job.