Daily Attendance - Elementary

Getting Started

Teacher Role

Teachers will enter attendance electronically at the start of class. Pre-School teachers with ½ day classes will enter attendance once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

The following exceptions for entering electronic attendance are: substitute teachers, teachers without access to a computer at the time attendance is required, and when the student information system cannot be accessed due to power, network, or system outages.  All teachers are to have a paper roster in the classroom in the event of such exceptions. The teacher will send an attendance roster (Register Report) to the office before the end of each period.  All substitute teachers will have an Infinite Campus generated student roster for each period that they will complete and send to the office before the end of each period. The secretary will enter the attendance through the Classroom monitor and file the attendance rosters in the appropriate daily attendance folder. 

Teachers only have access to enter attendance for the current day.  They cannot enter or edit attendance for previous or future days. Teachers will be able to view attendance entered by the office, but are unable to override the attendance once it has been coded. If they have a correction it must be submitted to the secretary in writing.  

Secretary Role

Secretaries will confirm that attendance has been entered by teachers through the Classroom Monitor.  Attendance should be recorded no later than 9:30 a.m.

• Enter attendance rosters for substitute teachers, teachers without access to a computer and when the student information system cannot be accessed.
• Enter late arrivals using the Attendance Wizard.  This process will calculate minutes accurately for students, but will not interfere with attendance entries for other periods.  
• Generate the Caller Report after all Attendance has been entered by the teachers and all late arrivals have been entered. 
• Enter the early leaves using the Attendance Wizard.
• Change all Absent Unknowns to UNX and all Tardy Unknowns to TTC through the Attendance Wizard.
• Print/save a copy of the Attendance Summary Report.
• File all substitute teacher rosters, late bus rosters, late arrival log, early dismissal log, and any other documentation related to that day's attendance in the respective dates daily attendance file. 

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Daily Attendance Entry Step-by-Step

Step One – Enter Absences

Infinite Campus generated student rosters

Classroom teachers are responsible for submitting attendance, electronically, through Infinite Campus Instruction.   It is recommended that teachers have a current, PRINTED Attendance Roster, in the event that the teacher is absent and a substitute teacher has been assigned.  Also, in the event of a system outage; a printed attendance roster (generated from Infinite Campus) should be used to record attendance.  The secretary will use the roster for attendance entry through Classroom Monitor.  Attendance not recorded on an Infinite Campus generated roster should not be accepted. 

Printing the Register Report for Teachers

There are three different attendance rosters (aka Registers) that can be generated. 

• PATH: Index > Attendance > Reports > Sub Attendance Roster 
• PATH: Index > Attendance > Reports > Register (This report cannot be generated by teachers)

Attendance Register Report

PATH: Index > Attendance > Reports > Register

If the attendance roster is being generated for every teacher for every period, generate the Register report.  If students have attendance events entered in Infinite Campus, they will display on the report:

Enter the criteria for the report

1. Select Course Section Attendance Register. 
   
   
2. Select By Date
   
   
3. Enter the Start Date and End Date
   
   
4. Select Portrait.
   
   
5. Select Teachers and Sections.
   1. Select Teachers to generate for all home room teachers, leave at the default of All Teachers.Sort by name: 

   2. To generate the report for all attendance courses, highlight all of the Elementary Attendance sections. To Select multiple sections, click on the first section, click the shift key, hold the left mouse button, and scroll to the last attendance section.

6. What options would you like to use for printing?
   
   1. Select Include only Instructional Days
   2. Select Use District Attendance Codes.
7. How would you like to sort students?
   1. Select Teacher
8. Click Generate Report.

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Sub Attendance Roster 

PATH: Index > Attendance > Reports > Sub Attendance Roster 

The Sub Attendance Roster can only be generated for one day.  However, it can be generated for a range of periods, for specific teachers:

1. Effective Date defaults to the current date.  The date can be changed by typing in another date or use the date selector.  It is imperative that the date on the rosters is the date that the attendance is being recorded for.

   
   

2. Period: Leave blank to generate the report for all periods
   
   

   • Click on a specific period to generate the report for one period.
   • Use the CTRL key and left mouse button to select specific periods.
     
     
3. Teacher: Click on the name of the teacher the substitute is there for. 

   • Use the CTRL key and left mouse button to select specific periods.

4. Click Generate Report.

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Step Two of the Daily Attendance process is to use the Classroom Monitor to record a student’s attendance status.

PATH:  Index > Attendance > Classroom Monitor

Enter the Infinite Campus generated paper roster is received by the office.  The absences must be entered using the Classroom Monitor. 

1. The Classroom Monitor will open to the current date. 
   
   

   1. To change the date, type the date or use the calendar tool to select the date.  Click the Refresh button to reload the Classroom Monitor for the selected date.
   2. Sections displaying as pink indicate that attendance has not been entered and saved
      1. When the Elementary teachers enter attendance for the first period of the day, the student is marked absent unknown for the first period through the period before the first lunch period.  Attendance does not automatically populate into periods after lunch.  
      2. Elementary Teachers will not enter attendance for the periods that are scheduled after lunch - they will remain pink.  
   3. Sections displaying as green indicates that attendance has been entered and saved for that course.  If all students are present, the teacher will still need to click on the section and click Save.
   4. The number of student’s present displays with the number of students scheduled.
      

2. The teachers are listed in alphabetical order by last name. To the right of the teacher’s name, click on the course section.  The screen opens to reflect the teacher view of attendance.

   
   

3. All students are Present by default.  Mark the student’s absent by clicking the radio button under A or under T for Tardy. It is optional to enter comments in the Comments field in the Classroom Monitor.  Comments entered here will display on the Portal.  If all students are present, skip to Step 4.

   NOTE:  Do not enter tardy in the Classroom Monitor if the student was late to school.  Only enter Tardies in the Classroom Monitor if the student was Tardy to Class.

4.  Click Save.  The page will refresh and display the Classroom Monitor view with the course section just modified in green.

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Pre-K Attendance 

PK teachers with ½ day PK classes will need to take attendance for both their AM and PM courses, Pre-K Full Day attendance will be taken the same way as all other full day elementary students.

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Step Three – Verify Classroom Attendance Has Been Entered

Use the Classroom Monitor to confirm that attendance has been entered by the teacher.  It is also used to enter student attendance for sub teachers or teachers without computer access.

 PATH:  Index > Attendance > Classroom Monitor

The Classroom Monitor will open to the current date.  To change the date, type the date or use the calendar tool to select the date.  Click the Refresh button to reload the Classroom Monitor for that particular date.

1. Throughout the day, check the Classroom Monitor for completion of attendance for courses.  
   
   

2. Use the scroll bar see all classes
   
   

3. Sections appearing in pink indicate that attendance has not been taken for that course.  Sections appearing in green indicates that attendance has been entered for that course.  Notice that the number of students present displays with the number of students scheduled into a course.

   
   

4. Hover over the course to view the course number, section number, the course name, and the room number.

   
   

5. For a printable list of teachers who have not entered attendance Generate an Incomplete Teacher Attendance report 
   

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Step Four - Late Arrivals

Students who arrive after the official start of school are considered to be tardy to school and must sign in at the schools designated attendance area. When a student arrives to school late, the students first and last name, time and reason must be recorded on the Student Late Arrival Log.  This log is a paper document that will be used to record the information into Infinite Campus. The log must be maintained in the corresponding daily attendance file.  

PATH: Index > Attendance > Attendance Wizard

Late arrivals entered from the log must be entered using the Check In mode in the Attendance Wizard.  This process will calculate minutes accurately for students.

The Check In Mode applies the attendance code to all absences prior to the check-in time.  Absences after the check-in time entered will be removed.  The Check In time stamp will auto populate into the comments field and be noted on the Summary Report which can be generated from the Daily Attendance screen.

It is important to follow the steps below in the order to correctly record the tardy. 

1. In the Attendance Wizard, enter the Attendance Date or use the date selector to choose the date of the tardy.
   
   
2. Select  Mode: Check In.  You must select the Check In Mode prior to searching for the student.  
   
   

3. Search for the student who is to be recorded as tardy to school by entering the student’s name or student number in the applicable fields.

   If multiple students are to be recorded as tardy with the same check in time and same comments, another search can be completed for additional students. 

4. Click Search. 

   If the student does not populate into Column B, they were not marked absent first and must be marked absent before you can record the late arrival. 

5. Students who match the search criteria will display in column B.  If there are multiple students matching the search criteria, click on the name of the student to be recorded as tardy to display that student’s name to Column C.  If there is only student matching the search criteria, that student’s name will also display in Column C.
   
   
6. Select the appropriate Attendance Code from the drop-down menu.  
   
   
7. Current Time - Enter the time of the student’s arrival as recorded on the Late Arrival Log.
   
   
8. Enter Comments if an attendance code other than TUX is used. Comments entered here are visible on the Parent Portal.
   
   
9. Click Save Attendance

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Step Five - Tardy to Class 

Tardy to Class:

At the principal’s discretion, elementary schools will use the T for students who are tardy to class. 

Students who are at school, but have arrived late to their classroom for various reasons, usually due to being in the breakfast room too long, are considered tardy to class.  Attendance can be marked as tardy through classroom monitor by the teacher.  The tardy entered by the teacher will be changed to a TTC: Tardy to Class through the Attendance Wizard.  

The process to enter Tardy to Class is new for elementary schools.  The Period Mode is used instead of the Daily mode. TTC is a present code and will not subtract any time against the student’s attendance.

If a student is marked as tardy to class (TTC) the student should not be on the tardy log as being late to school. Remember in order to process a tardy to school off log student must have been marked absent first!

PATH:  Index > Attendance > Attendance Wizard

1. In the Attendance Wizard, enter the Attendance Date or use the calendar to choose the date of the tardy.
2. Mode: select Period
3. Status/Excuse: select Tardy and Unknown 
4. Period: Enter H1.
5. Click Search.
   
   1. All students with an unknown tardy will display in Column B.
6. Click Select All to add all student names to the C column. 
   
   
   1. Students appearing in Column C will be recorded as tardy to class.
      
      
7. Current Period: select H1 from the drop-down menu.
8. Attendance Code: select TTC: Tardy to Class from the drop-down menu.
   
   
   1. Leave the Comments Options field at Append Comments to ensure that teacher comments are not overwritten.  Comments entered here are visible on the Parent Portal.
      
      

9. Click Save Attendance

   
   

   The TTC is recorded in the H1 period only.  If you click on the student’s TTC entry, it will show minutes present for the period.  However, it does not subtract any time from the student’s attendance.

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Step six of the Daily Attendance process is to print the Caller Report.  The Caller Report prints a list of students who are marked as absent unknown and includes the parent/guardian names, home phone number, work phone number and parent/guardian email.  This report only prints students marked with an “A” (Absent Unknown) in the Classroom Monitor.  It is necessary to print this report before using the Attendance Wizard to change unknown absences to unexcused absences for the day.  Once the attendance codes have been changed to unexcused or excused, those students names will no longer appear on the caller report.  File this report with the Summary Report, Late Arrival Logs, Student Release logs in the Daily Attendance File.

PATH:  Index > Attendance > Daily Attendance > Caller Report

Once attendance has been entered for all students, generate the Caller Report.

1. The Daily Attendance tab will open to the current date. To change the date, type the date or use the calendar tool to select the date.
2. Click Caller Report.

The report opens in PDF format; click the Print icon to print the report or the Save icon to save it to your computer.

Each school is directed to have an Attendance team.  Designated member(s) of the team are to make phone calls to the parent/guardian of students absent the current day. The Caller Report (generated above) is an excellent tool to use when making the calls.  It is suggested, and helpful, to keep action notes directly on the caller report, however this does not replace documentation required for a students individual attendance folder.

Examples would be:

1. You attempted to contact the home number but there was no answer. Record the date you called and state "no answer".
2. The student was marked Absent Unknown (A) before mom called in that the student would be out ill. Record "parent called in".

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Step Seven - Change Unknown Absences to Unexcused

Step Seven of the Daily Attendance process is to change Unknown Absences marked by the teacher through the attendance module.  Use the Attendance Wizard to change the unknown absences from the morning to unexcused absences.for the entire day.

PATH:  Index > Attendance >Attendance Wizard

1. The current date will automatically be entered in the Attendance Date field.  
   1. This can be changed to create or edit attendance events for any attendance date. You can either type the date using the mm/dd/yyyy format or choose the date from the calendar by clicking on the icon to the right of the date field.
      
      

2. Choose the Mode: Daily radio button. 

   The Daily Mode marks selected students as absent for the entire day.

3. In the Status/Excuse fields, choose Absent – Unknown.  This will only find students who were marked as absent unknown.
   
   
4. Click Search.  Column B shows the list of all students having a mark of Absent Unknown.
   
   

5. Click Select All.  This will move their names into Column C. 

   To remove a student’s name from the list, click on their name in column C.

   Continue after the students have been moved to Column C: 

   
   

6. Attendance Code:  Select Unexcused from the drop-down list. Do not enter comments or change the Comments Options during this step. 
   
   

7. Verify Overwrite Existing Data is checked.  This will overwrite the absent unknown code and change it to absent unexcused.

8. Click Save Attendance.

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To see how this process affected the attendance, click on the Daily Attendance screen again and choose the date you changed.

PATH: Index > Attendance > Daily Attendance 

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Step Eight - Editing Attendance Reasons

The Daily Attendance tool allows a user to see at a glance all students who have an attendance event (absence/ tardy/early leave etc.) for a selected day.  From here, a user with the proper rights may also edit an attendance event. 

PATH:  Index > Attendance > Daily Attendance

When a parent calls in or provides a note to excuse the absence for that day and the student’s attendance has already been marked as an unexcused absence, the user can click on the attendance code to make edits.  The conversation must be documented on the Student Absence Notification form.

1. Select the Attendance code from the drop-down list. 

   
   

2. Enter a Comment - CCS requires a comment to be entered when codes other than UNX, TUX and EUX are used.  

   
   

3. Click Fill Down (Note: Do not use the Fill Down feature if there is not an absence entered for every attendance period.)

   
   

4. Click Save at the top of the tab.
   
   

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Step Eight of the Daily Attendance process is to use the Check Out Mode in the Attendance Wizard when a student leaves early and needs to be marked as absent for the remainder of the day.

When a student leaves school early, the parent must sign them out on the Student Release Log. The student's full name, time, reason, and the parent/guardian's signature must be recorded on the Student Release Log.  This log is a paper document that will be used to record the information into Infinite Campus. The log must be maintained with the daily attendance files.

Early leaves will be entered using the Check Out mode in the Attendance Wizard.  This process will calculate minutes accurately for students.  The Check Out Mode applies the attendance code to all absences after the check-out time.  The Check Out time stamp will auto populate into the comments field.

PATH:  Index > Attendance > Attendance Wizard

1. Date: In the Attendance Date field, type or select the date from the calendar.
2. Mode: Select Check Out
3. Enter the students name or student number of the student leaving early in the applicable fields.
4. Click Search.
5. The Search results will appear in Columns B and C if you search for an individual student.  If you search for multiple students, you must click on their name in Column B to move them to Column C, after each search.
6. Select the Attendance Code from the drop-down menu. 
   
   
   1. EUX = Early Leave Unexcused
   2. ELV = Early Leave Excused
   3. PAEL = Parent Authorized Early Leave
      
      
7. Current Time - Enter the time the student signed out.  
8. Enter any Comments as to why the student is leaving early.  Comments entered here are visible on the portal.
9. Click Save Attendance. 

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Step Ten - Attendance Summary Report - Index>Attendance>Daily Attendance>Summary Report

Generate this report after the daily attendance has been completed.  This report can either be printed and filed in the Daily Attendance File or a copy can be saved on the school's public drive.

 Click here for instructions: How to Generate the Attendance Summary Report.

Step Eleven – Filing and Storing Attendance Notes and Documents.

Daily Attendance Documentation File - Every school is to have a daily attendance documentation folder for each day of the school year. This folder will be used to file the following documents:

• Summary Report

• Student Late Arrival Log

• Student Release Log

• Route Lists of late bus arrivals

• Fields trips, etc.

• Attendance corrections for that day

• Paper Register/Rosters used to enter attendance 

Student Attendance File - Every student with attendance events should have a folder for:

• Parent/Guardian notes
• Student Absence Notification Forms 
• Class Excused Forms
• Request for Principal Approval Forms
• Other attendance documentation for that student
  
  

It is required that all attendance documentation be stored at the school until further notice.