The staff, administration, and Board of Education emphasize the importance and value of regular and punctual attendance. In addition, Colorado State Law makes school attendance compulsory. When a student is unable to attend school, it is the responsibility of the parent to notify the school office. PLEASE call the school by 9:00 am on the day of the student's absence. Attendance data is updated every day by 3:30pm. Cheyenne Mountain Junior High School strives to maintain a 97% daily attendance. Please assist us by making every effort to minimize your child’s absences.

Colorado State Law mandates compulsory school attendance for students under the age of seventeen (17). According to Colorado School Attendance Law (22-23-104) the following shall be considered an excused absence:

1. A student who is temporarily ill or injured, or whose absence is approved by an administrator on a pre- arranged basis. 2. A student who is absent for an extended period of time due to physical, emotional, or mental disability with documentation from a medical professional.3. A student who is pursuing a work-study program under the supervision of the school.4. A student who is attending a school-sponsored activity or event of an educational nature with advance approval by an administrator.5. A student who is suspended or expelled.6. A student who has received prior permission for their absence from the school administrator (a prearranged absence).
**Any other absence will be considered unexcused

Absences are categorized in one of four ways and pursuant to state law and/or District policy and subject to verification as required by the School:

Absence Excused (AE) - the school is provided with notification from a parent/guardian documenting and excusing the absence(s) up to 10 times in a school year.

Medical Absence (MED) - the school is provided with a doctor’s note documenting and excusing the absence(s).

Prearranged Absences (PA) - when absences other than illness or family emergencies are foreseen, a parent or guardian should complete a prearranged absence form. If approved, prearranged absence(s) will count as excused absence(s) that are not applied to the allowed 10 "absence excused."

Absence Unexcused (AU) - is defined as an absence that is not covered by the above listed excused absences (listed #1-6), the school does not receive notification from a parent/guardian, the school is not provided with a doctor’s note, or the student has reached more than 10 “absence excused” in a school year. The student may also receive an unexcused absence if he/she has accumulated 4 or more unexcused tardies and may be deemed “chronically tardy.” Make-up work due to an unexcused absence may only receive partial credit. The maximum number of unexcused absences a student may incur before judicial proceedings are initiated to enforce compulsory attendance is 4 total days of unexcused absences from school in any one month or 10 total days of unexcused absences during any school year.

Chronic Absenteeism- A student who has 10 total absences in a school year, whether the absences are excused or unexcused, may be identified as “chronically absent” by the principal or designee. Absences due to suspension or expulsion shall not be counted in the total number of absences considered for the purpose of identifying a student as chronically absent. If a student is identified as chronically absent, the principal or designee may develop a plan to improve the student’s attendance. When possible, the student’s parent/guardian shall participate in the development of the plan. Nothing herein shall require the principal or designee to identify a student as “chronically absent” prior to declaring the student as a “habitual truant” and pursuing court proceedings against the student and his/her parents/guardians to compel the student’s attendance in accordance with state law. If there are any extenuating circumstances or health concerns with your student, please contact an administrator so that the school will be aware of any special situations.

**When serious illness, injury, or family emergencies require an absence of a student, parents should call the front office by 9:00 am on each day their student misses school. Parents may request their child's homework assignments by contacting their child's teachers individually through email (the email list is in the student planner and in the back of the handbook and on the JH web site under "staff directory") or by phone. The parent or student must return completed homework assignments to the front office or to their teachers directly before requesting additional assignments. Students who miss only one day are asked to obtain assignments by checking teacher homework calendars on their web pages or waiting until they return to school to contact their teachers. *Students who are not able to participate in physical education due to illness or injury are asked to provide physician's documentation to the PE teacher and/or school nurse.