Attendance Office
Attendance Team
CHHS and GCISD are committed to providing our students with a quality education. To help us in that endeavor, we need a commitment from the students to be in attendance every day. When students are in class every day, doing each day's work, learning becomes much easier -- and the students become much more successful. Please log in to Skyward Family Access OFTEN to view your student's attendance record.
The Attendance Office is conveniently located by the front Main Entrance.
Fax: 817-305-4749
English Barber
Attendance Clerk
Alphabet A - K
english.barber@gcisd.net
817-305-4720
Sandra Kester
Attendance Clerk
Alphabet L - Z
sandra.kester@gcisd.net
817-305-4717
ABSENCES
PARENTS: Please use this link to help you understand how to report student absences. Spanish version found here.
If a student must be absent from school a parent should call or email the school Attendance Office, the day of the absence, to report the student’s name and the reason. Phone calls can only be accepted the day of the absence. If a parent forgets to contact the Attendance Office then the student must bring a parent note to the Attendance Office the day they return to school. If the parent does not call or send a note, the student will be considered truant.
When an absence occurs and no parent contact has been made, a call will be sent home in the evening through an automated calling system. Always take the following action when you get this call:
Log into Skyward Family Access to view the absence.
If you have not already sent in a written explanation of the absence, please send in a note stating the reason for the absence along with the date and a call-back number.
You may also have your physician email or fax a doctor's excuse to 817-305-4749.
We recommend you continue to monitor your student's attendance in Skyward on a regular basis.
If you think an absence was marked in error, please have your student contact the teacher requesting that they send written notification to the Attendance Office to correct the error.
Excessive Absences
In order for a student to obtain an optimum education, it is important that he/she attend school regularly. Students have a limited number of absences, per semester, before they lose credit. The number of absences depends on the class period and the semester. For a student to regain credit he/she must make up hours with his/her assistant principal. These make up hours (seat time) are made up after school. Letters will be emailed to the parent after their student receives 3 absences in any one class period. Notice will be sent to alert the parent that the student has lost credit and needs to attend seat time. If you receive a letter and need clarification, please call the Attendance Office. We encourage you to log in to Skyward Family Access often to keep current on your student’s attendance record.
Messages and Deliveries
Students WILL NOT be paged between class periods to pick up items or messages, nor will class be interrupted for delivery of items or messages during the school day. It will be the responsibility of parents and students to communicate via other methods (cell phone, discuss before/after school, etc.) should there be a need. Students are permitted to use their cell phones during passing periods and lunch.
The Attendance Office will not be responsible for items left for students, and can not guarantee your student will come to pick up messages or deliveries. Instruction time is valuable and will not be interrupted for personal reasons. The attendance office will only process messages pertaining to the dismissal of a student from school.
Check In
Students arriving at school after the school day has begun MUST check in through the attendance office before reporting to class to obtain an admit slip.
When checking in, students need the following:
A note from a parent indicating that the parent is aware that their student is checking in late and the reason.
A properly documented note from a doctor’s office excusing the absence.
If a note is not possible, a parent may call the Attendance Clerk according to your alphabetical last name. If leaving a voicemail, please leave a detailed message. Without one of these documents or a phone call, the absence will be considered truant.
Parents do not need to accompany their student into the building to check in, if they have sent their student in with a parent/doctor's note in hand, or have called/emailed the attendance office to report the late arrival.
Checking Out
Please send a note with your student, in the morning, and the Attendance Office staff will prepare a pass, which will allow the student to be dismissed from class. The note must include the student’s full name, dismissal time, reason, parent signature and phone number. You may also call or email, in advance, directly to your Attendance Clerk. Please provide a minimum of 30-45 minutes notice. Students are required to come to the Attendance Office to sign out prior to leaving. If you send a note, email or call ahead, your student may leave the building without a parent having to come inside the building. Be aware that if you do not call or send a note ahead, this could cause delays, since we are a large campus and a dismissal pass has to be run to the classroom. The Attendance Office will not dismiss a student during the school day until parent contact has been made. This includes their lunch period.
Our Attendance Office is quite a busy place, often with several incoming calls at once. If you do not reach us, please leave a detailed message and we will process it as quickly as possible. We know your calls are important and rest assured we check our messages right away. If we are at lunch our team will check messages as well. We may be unable to return phone calls requesting that we let you know we received your message. If you have any further questions, please reach out to your Attendance Clerk listed above.