Attendance                          

(623) 780-4230
(623) 780-4301 (Spanish only)

NCHS Attendance Policy

Regular attendance is not only an essential part of your student's learning process.  It is also key in their pursuit of a quality education. 

The Paradise Valley Unified School District Governing Board believes that the attainment of academic excellence requires attendance on a regular basis.    The benefit of lectures, discussion and participation is lost forever to those who are absent. Students may fail classes or fail to graduate if this requirement is not met.

Attendance is the responsibility of both the students and parents. Students should only be absent from school when absolutely necessary.  Parents need to be aware of their student's attendance and excuse them for valid absences.  A student's record of attendance is available on the Personal Online Gradebook (POGB).

Students must carry a minimum of 4 classes in order to be enrolled as a full-time student.

Attendance - Most Common Problems

Failure to Check out Through Attendance Office When Departing Early - Students who do not have early dismissal must check out through the attendance office when leaving campus in order for their absences for the remainder of the day to be excused.  Parents/Guardians must call prior to the time of departure in order for the absence to be excused and bring proper identification to the attendance office to pick up your child.

Failure to Check in with the Health Office for Illness - Only the school nurse may determine whether a student is too ill to remain on campus.  Parents cannot excuse absences if the student left campus without permission.

Failure to Report to Class On Time - Students have six minutes between each period to get to class (click here fo the bell schedule).  Students who do not arrive in class on time will be marked tardy. Students who are excessively tardy to class may receive detention and/or in-school suspension.  Students who arrive to class after 10 minutes into the period will be marked truant.

Failure to Arrive at School On Time - The first bell of the school day rings at 7:40 AM.  Students are expected to be in their first period class by 7:45 AM.   Students should not check in with attendance without a parent.  Students who arrive to class after 10 minutes into First Period unexcused will be marked truant. 

Note: Traffic on Union Hills Road increases by 7:30 AM.  Considering this, NCHS recommends students arrive on campus no later than 7:30 AM in order to be on time for First Period.

Excessive Excused Absences - Arizona Revised Statute 15-803 requires students to attend at least 90% of the required school days.  IN PVUSD, students are not allowed to miss more than 10 days per semester.  Students with excessive excused absences risk their success in their classes.  Students with more than 10 excused absences in any particular class period may be placed on an attendance contract in which all subsequent absences must be excused by medical or court documentation.  Students under 16 may be cited to the Maricopa County Juvenile Court.

Excusing Students for Absences / Tardiness

Any absence due to illness, death in the family, religious observance, or other unusual circumstances, will be excused provided a call is received from the parent by the school attendance office by 7:00 AM the following morning.   All unverified absences result in a dialer call to home.

Our attendance hotline, (623) 780-4230, is available to parents 24 hours a day.   Any call not received in the 24-hour time frame will not be excused.

E-mails and notes from parents will not excuse students.  Students cannot excuse their own absences unless they are emancipated.

Consequences for Attendance Policy Violations

Students with chronic unexcused absences and tardiness may be placed on an attendance contract by the Dean of Students.  Stipulations of this contract consist of the student attending all of their assigned classes during the school day.  Parents must contact the Dean of Students or the attendance clerks to excuse their student's absence or tardiness.

Consequences for subsequent violations include after school detention and in-school suspension.  Parent/teacher conferences will be organized to discuss attendance issues.

Consequences for a forged/fake phone call will be an in-school suspension for the student and the caller if they are a student at North Canyon High School.  If the caller is from another school, the Dean of Students will contact that school to inform them of the infraction.

North Canyon High School participates in the Court Unified Truancy Suppression (C.U.T.S.) program through the Maricopa County Juvenile Court System.  Parents of students under 16 will be served with a citation requiring them to appear before the judge.  C.U.T.S. hearings for NCHS students occur at the Mesa Municipal Court.  Click here for more information.

Students 16 and older face the consequence of long term suspension for further violations of the NCHS attendance policy.

Attendance Incentive Program

As part of its school action plan, North Canyon HIgh School has established a number of incentives to promote, recognize, and reward students for positive attendance.

North Canyon High School has implemented an attendance incentive program that rewards good attendance.  Students may earn extra credit points on their final quarter grade for positive attendance.  Students must print out their attendance using pOGB.  The Attendance Office will not provide a copy of student attendance.  Note: IB and AP courses do not qualify.   
Click here to learn more about this program.

Students with monthly perfect attendance will be placed in a drawing to receive prizes consisting of movie passes, concert tickets, and gift certificates from local vendors.

Students attending a class period chosen at random may also receive free passes to a movie screener.  Students absent, excused or unexcused, on the day the passes are distributed will not receive a movie pass.