Hamilton School Eblast

Attendance - It is very important for the safety of your child that we verify all absences each day. In order to comply with attendance accounting procedures, we must determine whether absences are excused or unexcused. Excused absences include illness, medical appointments and religious holidays. Other absences are recorded as unexcused. Please make every attempt to schedule medical appointments for your child during non-school hours.

For your convenience, we have a 24-hour attendance line for reporting absences. You may call 883-6520 ext. 500 any time, day or night. Please leave your child's name, date you are calling for and reason for absence. You may request homework for an absent child as long as you do so before 10:00 a.m. We must call the home of every child for whom we have not received a call. Please keep in mind that the school loses funding when students are absent, excused or unexcused, unless an independent study is obtained. If you know ahead of time that your child will be out of school for at least five days please call the office or see your teacher to request an Independent Study Contract. This will keep your child current with classroom activities and provide the school with much needed funding.

Last school year Hamilton Elementary School lost $103.927.00 AND

Novato Unified School District lost $1,430,392.45

due to student absences - please help us resolve this issue!

Tardies - Each time a child walks into class tardy, it disrupts the instructional program of the others in class. If this happens several times during the course of the morning, valuable minutes are lost. In an effort to minimize tardiness, please help your child develop good habits by

getting up early enough to arrive to class without rushing. Each child who is tardy more than 3 times a trimester will attend Opportunity Club during lunch to make up valuable time lost.

Medications - We cannot administer any over the counter medications to children. If your child needs to take medication, we must have a form filled out by the doctor giving complete instructions. You may pick up the form at the school office. The medication must be in the original prescription container. All medications must be turned in to the nurSe or Office Manager. Emergency Cards - For your child's safety and well being, it is extremely important that we have up to date information on the emergency card. In case of illness, injury or other emergencies, we must be able to contact a parent or individuals you have designated as emergency contact persons. We do not have the facilities to keep sick children at school for extended periods of time. Parents are not always available when these situations arise, therefore, please provide us with two names other than yourselves. These individuals should be living in the immediate area and should be receptive to picking up your child. If you, or any emergency contacts listed on your child's card, have any changes throughout the year (employment location, phone number, day care, etc.) please stop by or call the office and we will be happy to update your card.

THANK YOU for your attention to this very important information!