Hello JAMS families & welcome to the 2024-25 school year! Please find below some important information from the JAMS Attendance Office.

Regular school attendance and promptness are crucial if students are to be successful academically. Therefore, the staff of John Adams Middle School monitors student absences and tardies and works with students and families to ensure that every student attends school regularly, is prepared and arrives on time.

If your child is absent: Fill out the online attendance form or call 310-452-2326 x 72201 by 3:00 p.m. on the day of the absence. If leaving a voicemail, please state your child’s name, student ID or date of birth, your relationship with the child, the date of the absence and reason for the absence. Absences must be cleared within 72 hours or they will be recorded as truant.

According to the State of California, ONLY the following are considered excused absences:

• Illness (absences exceeding three days require a doctor’s note)
• Medical/Dental appointments (although we encourage you to make appointments outside of school hours). Please bring us a note from the doctor/dentist.
• Religious holidays
• Required county/state court appointments.
• Funeral

When a student has had 14 full-day, parent/guardian-verified absences in the school year for illness, any further absences for illness shall be verified by a physician.

If your child is tardy: Walk your child in or send them with a (parent-written) note if more than 10 minutes tardy. Three or more tardies will lead to a referral, detention and demerits.

If your child is leaving early: Fill out the online attendance form, call 310-452-2326 x 72201 or turn in a handwritten note first thing in the morning on the day your child is leaving early. Students may only leave campus early when excused by the Attendance Office. Notes should include your child’s name, student ID, your relationship to the child, the time and reason they are leaving early and a phone number where you can be reached for verification. Parents/guardians, you must come into the office to sign your child out.

If advance notice is not given, please be patient as we locate your child and bring them to the office. This is especially important at lunchtime when students are spread out all over campus.

Students who are at school but not feeling well MUST visit the health office. The nurse will call you to make arrangements to pick up your child. If a student leaves early for illness but does not go through the health office, the absence will be unexcused.

Attendance Notifications: Parents will receive a recorded message from the district’s computer dialing system for each day that a student is absent or tardy for unreported or unexcused reasons. If you are not receiving attendance notifications, please contact the office so that we may verify your contact information.

The “Report an Absence/ Pick Up Early” form can be found under the main photo on the JAMS website (https://www.smmusd.org/jams). 

Independent Study: If a student is planning to be absent for anywhere from three (3) to fourteen (14) days, he/she might qualify for Independent Study. A student on Independent Study completes the work that he/she would have done at school on the days missed.

Independent Study is appropriate in the following situations:

• Out of state or out of country emergency
• Catastrophic family situation
• Legal or government situation
• Severe health issue

Independent Study will be denied in the following situations:

• Vacations or trips
• Visiting friends or relatives
• Extending the length of school breaks

Parents must notify the attendance office two weeks in advance when requesting Independent Study. Schoolwork will be prepared by the teachers and given to the student prior to the absence (or uploaded to their Google Classrooms). Upon the student’s return to school, all work must be turned in to the teacher with a copy to the Attendance Office. The percentage of work completed will determine course credits and attendance proportionately. To inquire about Independent Study, please contact Lisa Davis in the Attendance Office or email her at lisadavis@smmusd.org.

Truancy: When a student is absent from school without the parent’s knowledge or permission, the absence is considered a truancy and is unexcused by the school. Students who exhibit a continual problem with attendance will be referred to the Student Attendance Review Board (SARB). Truancies may result in In-House Suspension. Leaving school without permission is treated as a truancy.

If you have any questions about attendance, absences, tardies and/or leaving early, please contact Lisa Davis at 310-452-2326 x72212.