Attendance Matters

  • Absences & Tardies

    Students are expected to be present and arrive on time to school. Students are marked as tardy at 7:45 am, and parents must escort the child into the building.  Students who are absent or tardy miss valuable instructional time and other important school activities and are less likely to master those skills, concepts, and principles needed for success. For the past two years, Springdale Park Elementary has increased awareness on the importance and impact of student attendance. The state of GA deems six absences or more as excessive. Our school strives to keep each student’s number of absences between zero and five. Calls and/or letters will be given to families of students with three or more absences. In addition, students will receive positive recognition for monthly and yearly good attendance. We appreciate your efforts in getting your child to school on-time every day.

    Attendance Reminder

    SPARK's goal is for 96% of our students to have fewer than 6 absences for the school year.  If your child has an appointment, make sure they return to school by 11am or are picked up after 11am. This will count as a full day! Please schedule all vacations during breaks. APS Calendar. Absenteeism is factored into our school's overall College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRP) score released by the Georgia Department of Education. 

    Make-Up Work

    Students are responsible for completing all work missed when absent from school. Upon returning to school the student or parent must arrange with the teacher to secure the student make-up work. Students must complete all work missed in a time frame that is equal to the days absent from school. Make-up work may include but is not limited, assignments, tasks, tests and projects. We ask that make-up work be obtained at the end of the school day to in order to limit interruptions.

    Personal Appointments: Dentist, Doctor, Etc.

    When possible, please schedule these appointments before or after school hours. If your child must leave school for an appointment, send a note to your child’s teacher on the day your child will need to leave early. Please go to the office to pick up your child. Students leaving early must be signed out in the office by a parent. A child must be in school for 3 hours and 15 minutes to be counted present for the day. No early dismissals will be granted after 1:45pm in order for the school to prepare for an orderly dismissal.

    Inclement Weather, Emergency School Closing and Delayed Openings

    In the event of severe weather or other emergencies, official information about school closing will be broadcast on Atlanta area radio and television stations. Parents should be aware that severe weather or other emergencies could cause school to be canceled during the school day and should plan accordingly.

    Atlanta Public Schools works closely with local television and radio media outlets to inform the public when school closings occur. The following media outlets will provide up-to-date information to the public in the event of a school closing or if the student day must be shortened due to emergency conditions: WSB radio and local television WSB (ABC), WGCL (CBS), WAGA (FOX), WXIA (NBC) are the official stations for APS announcements of school closure.

    Should schools close during the day when students are already in attendance, information will be provided through our local media outlets and special SPARK-e to parents, and bus transportation will be provided in the same manner as during the regular close of the school day. Please keep your Parent Portal information updated, as this could be used for email, phone, and text communications.