Attendance & Policies

Academic Honesty Policy

Attendance Policy and Procedures

Full Day Absence

Call the Cupertino Attendance Line at 1-408-366-7372 one day prior to their absence or as soon as possible. Leave the following information:

Spell your students last name and first name
Student ID # (this number is 7 digits long and starts with the number 5)
Grade
Date(s) of absence
Reason for the absence (illness, medical appointment, DMV apt, college visit, etc.)
Your name, phone # and your relationship to the student

Partial Day Absence

If your student has to leave (Off Campus Pass) or is coming in late from a medical, dental, DMV apt, was ill, etc., call the Cupertino Attendance Line at 1-408-366-7320 one day prior to their absence or as soon as possible. Leave the following information:

Spell your students last name and first name
Student ID # (this number is 7 digits long and starts with a number 5)
Grade-Date(s) of absence
Period(s) to be excused
Time the student will need to leave or will be arriving back.
Reason for the absence (illness, medical appointment, DMV apt, etc.)

Illness or Injury at School

Cupertino does not have a nurse/health office on campus. If your student comes to the Attendance Office because they are not feeling well and we can’t reach you or someone on your student’s emergency information, your student will have to wait in the office until we hear from a parent or guardian.

Off Campus Pass Information

If your student will be leaving early, it is their responsibility to pick up their Off Campus Pass before school, at brunch or lunch in order to leave. Students cannot leave campus without their pass. Once they pick up their pass, they can show their teacher and meet you outside for pick up. Cupertino is a closed campus during brunch and tutorial. Students leaving at lunch only do not need a pass. If your student will be arriving late, they must check in the Attendance Office to receive a pass to class to verify they are back on campus.

Forgot to Call

If you forgot or scheduled a last minute medical or dental appointment, or you are coming to pick up a sick child, please understand that it takes about 15 minutes to call your student out of class (possibly longer if they are in PE class). If you come to pick up your student during tutorial please remember students are not required to be in a specific classroom; therefore we will not be able to send a pass.

Unexcused Absences

Absences must be cleared within 2 school days (48 hours) by a parent or guardian only. Anything after 2 days will be marked as un-excused absence. Parent notes are not accepted. Doctors/medical notes ARE accepted with a date/time stamp from the physician for a partial day’s absence. If your student is ill for more than 3 days, a doctor’s note will need to be provided to the Attendance Office. Students may NOT call themselves in for their absences even if they are 18 years of age without a adult status form signed filled out and approved by the Assistant Principal. This is result in a referral to the Assistant Principal’s office.

Tardy

If your student is late to class, they will need to come to the Attendance Office to obtain an “admit to class” pass before heading to their classroom.

Emergency Contact Information

The household numbers that you list on the emergency form at the beginning of the year is the number that the auto dialer will call to let you know if your student has been marked absent for one or more classes. Please be sure that the phone number you list has a voice messaging system. To make changes to your student’s emergency contacts, please stop by the Main Office.

Marked Absent by Mistake

If your student was marked absent by mistake, it is your student’s responsibility to talk with the teacher that marked him/her absent; the student will need to fill out a correction form from the front office and get the teachers signature then turn it back into the Attendance office.

Excused v. Unexcused Absences

There are many reasons why a student may miss class, and as a school in the State of California, we have to follow California State Educational Code around what is considered an excused absence. The most important thing to remember is to contact the school and teachers with as much advanced warning as possible. The vast majority of the time, this communication will be enough to head off any possible problems.

Excused Absence Reasons

There are a limited number of reasons why a student’s attendance can be marked absent as defined by the State of California. There is virtually no discretion for the school to determine excused absence reasons. The entire section can be found here: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=48205.&lawCode=EDC

Illness or Quarantine
Medical Appointments
School Activity
Bereavement
Court Matters
Religious/Cultural Activities
Civic Participation (requires advanced approval)

Unexcused Absence Reasons

All other absence reasons fall into the “unexcused” category. However, we do take note of the absence reason for our own, internal records. If you call in an absence that does not fall into the excused category, we will mark it as “OTH” (Other) and make a note of the reason. This will be visible to teachers, parents and students. Common “OTH” absences include:

College Visits
Non-CHS Sports or Club competitions
Travel

Unknown Absences

If a student misses class and there is no call to the attendance line, then the absence becomes “UKA” (Unknown). Parents must call in to excuse an absence within 72 hours of the absence at the latest. After that, it is unlikely that we will be able to change the absence coding.

Educational Impact

Any time a student misses class, it has an impact on their learning. As a school, we strongly recommend not missing school as much as possible; however, we do recognize that there will be times where students do miss school. The most important thing to do is communicate with teachers of the impacted classes as much in advance as possible. Technically speaking, teachers are required to provide make-up work (provided at the reasonable discretion of the teacher) for excused absences. The majority of the time, teachers will provide make-up work or opportunities for unexcused absence reasons, provided they are notified in advance. If there is a “UKA”, it is unlikely that the student will be able to make up the missed work.

There are no “independent study” options for extended absences, and students are expected to communicate with the teachers about the work that they are missing while absent.

Reporting

Student attendance is visible through our Infinite Campus system to parents, students and teachers. It DOES NOT get reported on transcripts, to colleges, jobs or other outside programs.

Consequences

In the majority of cases, the student and teacher are able to work together to make up the missing work due to an absence. In the cases of Unknown absences or Unexcused Absences without prior communication, the student may not be able to make up the missing assignments. That is entirely at the teacher’s discretion.

In the case of Unknown absences, students may receive behavior consequences like detention, especially in cases where it is determined that a student simply cut class.

If a student amasses 10% or more of absences for the school year, the student becomes part of our Chronic Absenteeism Program. This is a progressive program and includes parent notification, student meetings, district meetings and developing a plan for improved attendance. Again, this is NOT reported on transcripts, to colleges, jobs or other outside programs. However, this data may be used for school- or district-based support services.

CHS Attendance Policy Video

Bullying Policy

Annual Notifications

Student Technology Use Policy

Statement of Educational Purpose

The District's network system has been established for a limited educational purpose. The term educational purpose is used in the context of instruction-related activities, including but not limited to classroom-based projects and student works, college and career explorations, and high-quality, academically-enriching research. Recognizing the value of the Internet, the District supports teachers and students being engaged in an online environment that allows them to discuss, collaborate, communicate, create, and share in a safe, ethical, and responsible manner.

With that educational purpose in mind, we want to emphasize that the District's network system has not been established as a public access service or a public forum. The District has the right to place reasonable restrictions on the material you access or post through the system. You may not use the District's network system for commercial purposes. This means you may not offer, provide, or purchase products or services through the District's network system.

You are expected to follow the rules set forth in this policy, the student disciplinary code, and the law in your use of the District's network system. Teachers and/or other staff members will provide instruction and guidance to students regarding the appropriate use of and access to the District's network system.

Access to Online Materials

The material you access through the District’s network system should be for class assignments or for research on subjects similar to what you might study in a class or in the school library. You are not to post non-academic messages to others within the network system.

Use of the District’s network system for entertainment purposes (e.g., accessing social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube) is not allowed.

If you mistakenly access inappropriate information, you should immediately report this access to a teacher or an administrator. This will protect you against a claim that you have intentionally violated this policy.

The District has taken reasonable steps to restrict access to materials it considers harmful and to materials that do not support or conform to accepted educational objectives. These steps include the District installing filtering software to protect against access to inappropriate material in accordance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) of 2000.

You will not use the District’s network system to access the following: material that is obscene; child pornography; material that depicts, or describes in an offensive way, violence, nudity, sex, death, or bodily functions; material that has been designated as for adults only; material that promotes or advocates illegal activities; material that promotes the use of alcohol or tobacco, school cheating, or weapons; or material that advocates participation in hate groups or other potentially dangerous groups.

If you feel that the filtering software is blocking your access to an appropriate site, report this to your school librarian, computer lab coordinator, teacher, or an administrator.

You will not seek to bypass the filtering software by using a proxy site or some other technology, such as USB flash drives or discs.

The use of the District’s network system is a revocable privilege for all users.

Communication Safety Expectations

“Personal contact information” includes your full name, together with other information that would allow an individual to locate you, including your family name, your home address or location, your work address or location, or your phone number.

You may disclose personal contact information to educational institutions, companies or other entities for college/career exploration purposes, or with specific staff approval.

You will not disclose names, personal contact information, or any other private or personal information about other students. You will not forward a message that was sent to you privately without permission of the person who sent you the message.

You will promptly disclose to your teacher or other school staff any message you receive that is inappropriate or makes you feel uncomfortable. You should not delete such messages until instructed to do so by a staff member.

Unlawful, Unethical, Unauthorized and Inappropriate Uses and Activities

Unlawful Activities

You will not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the District’s network system, or to any other computer system, or go beyond your authorized access. This includes attempting to log in through another person’s account or to access another person’s files.
You will not make deliberate attempts to disrupt the District’s network system or any other computer system or destroy data by spreading computer viruses or by any other means.
You will not vandalize the District’s computer equipment by disassembling or disconnecting any computer components or peripherals.
You will not engage in any conduct that modifies, harms, or destroys any computer or network hardware, such as mice, keyboards, and components that reboot computers.
You will not use the District’s Internet system to engage in any other unlawful hacking activities such as arranging for a drug sale or the purchase of alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, or threatening the safety of any person (including public officials).

Inappropriate Language and Unauthorized/Unethical Activities

Restrictions against inappropriate language apply to all speech communicated through the District’s network system, including public messages, private messages, and material posted on Web pages.
You will not use obscene, profane, lewd, sexually oriented, vulgar, rude, inflammatory, threatening, or disrespectful language.
You will not use, access, transmit, or download information that is hate-motivated, fraudulent, abusive, or racially offensive.
You will not knowingly or recklessly post false or defamatory information that could cause damage or a disruption to your school or any other organization or person.
You will not use a camera phone to record or take pictures of students or staff anywhere on campus and post on the Internet (e.g., YouTube) without the school’s permission.
You will not engage in personal attacks, including prejudicial or discriminatory attacks, or harass or bully another person.
You will not use, access, transmit, or download information that relates to or encourages the illegal use of controlled substances or other criminal conduct.
You will promptly disclose to your teacher or another school employee any message you receive from any other student that is in violation of the restrictions on inappropriate language and unauthorized activities.

Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

You will not plagiarize works that you find on the Internet. Plagiarism is taking the ideas, graphics, or writings of others and presenting them as if they were yours without adequate and accurate citation.
You will respect the rights of copyright owners in your use of materials found on, disseminated through, or posted to the Internet. Copyright infringement occurs when you reproduce a work that is protected by a copyright without explicit permission from the copyright holder or outside the limitations of copyright law.
You will not use peer-to-peer filesharing programs, such as “BitTorrent” or “Limewire,” to download or share copyrighted movies, music, or games.

System Security and Resource Limits

System Security

You are responsible for your individual account and should take all reasonable precautions to prevent others from being able to use your account. Under no conditions should you provide your password to another person. Protect your files and account by logging out of your account and regularly backing up your personal files.
You will immediately notify a teacher or an administrator if you have identified a possible security problem. However, do not go looking for security problems, because this may be construed as an unlawful attempt to gain access.
You will avoid the inadvertent spread of computer viruses by following the District virus protection procedures.
You will not engage in any conduct or activities that could disrupt the use of the system for others, including installing programs or files, deleting programs or files, modifying settings, changing passwords, or reconfiguring the system.

Resource Limits

You will use the system only for educational and college/career exploration activities and limited, high-quality research.
You will not download large files unless absolutely necessary. If necessary, you will download the file at a time when the system is not being heavily used and immediately remove the file from the system computer.
You will not misuse District, school, or personal distribution lists or discussion groups for sending irrelevant messages.

Rights and Privacy Limits

Free Speech

Your right to free speech and access to information applies to your use of the Internet. The District may restrict access to materials for valid educational reasons. The District may also restrict your speech for valid educational reasons.

Copyright

You own the copyright to works that you create in school or for a class assignment. If the work is created by a group, each student will share joint ownership of the copyright. You and your parent or guardian must agree before your work will be posted on the District Web site. Your work should be posted with your copyright notice.

Privacy Limits

The District computer system, equipment, and the associated user accounts are the District’s property. Student do not have any right of privacy as to their usage or any information or files maintained in or on the District’s network system or equipment and should understand that there is no expectation that any communication or materials they send, access, view, or receive will be private. All student use of the Internet will be supervised and monitored. The District’s monitoring of Internet usage can reveal all activities you engage in using the District’s network system. For purposes of inspecting or investigating a student’s use of the District’s network system or the student’s files or documents maintained on the network system, the District may override any applicable passwords, codes, etc. Student accounts are erased (expunged) annually.
Routine maintenance and monitoring of the District’s network system may lead to discovery that you have violated this policy, the student disciplinary code, or the law.
Your parents have the right to request to see the contents of your computer files at any time.

Consequences for Violations

Inappropriate, unauthorized, unethical, and unlawful use of the District’s network system can result in termination of the student’s user privileges, liability for damages, disciplinary action (suspension/expulsion), and/or legal action in accordance with the law and District policy. Depending on the circumstances, criminal charges against a violator may be filed by the District Attorney. If you are 18 years old, these charges become part of your permanent record.

Consequences are applied to student misconduct on-campus, in school vehicles, and at school-sponsored activities.

Consequences are applied to student misconduct off-campus when it is determined that such misconduct creates a hostile environment or threatens substantial disruption at school or interference with the rights of students to be secure.

Consequences are applied to student misconduct that involves the use of the following technologies: cell/camera phones, Bluetooth devices, iPods, computers/Notebooks, pagers, or other tools. These personal technologies that are used inappropriately in and out of classrooms without permission will be confiscated and held until picked up by a parent or guardian.

The District will comply with applicable law and will cooperate with local, state, or federal officials (FBI, DEA, ATF) in an investigation related to any unlawful activities conducted through the District’s network system.

Limitation of District Liability

The District will not guarantee that the functions or services provided through the District’s network service will be without error. The District will not be responsible for any damage you may suffer, including but not limited to loss of data, interruptions of service, or exposure to inappropriate material or people. The District will not be responsible for the accuracy or quality of the information obtained through the system. The District will not be responsible for financial obligations arising through the unauthorized use of the system. Your parents can be held financially responsible for any harm that may result from your intentional misuse of the system. You may use the system only if your parents have signed a disclaimer of claims for damages against the District (see “Acceptable Use of Technology Agreement”).