Wakefield Attendance Office

Email (preferred): wakefield.attendance@apsva.us

Phone number: 703.228.6730

Attendance Administrator:                               Attendance Specialist: 

Dr. Matthew Gavin                                                   Mr. Shaheed Patterson

Email: matthew.gavin@apsva.us                          Email: shaheed.patterson@apsva.us

Support Staff:

Ms. Jael Himko 9th & 10th Grade

Ms. Miriam Ramirez 11th & 12th Grade

Regular school attendance is expected of all students. However, there are times when circumstances necessitate that a student is absent from school.

The following are some examples of excused absences by Arlington Public Schools:

• Illness, quarantine, doctor, or dentist appointment.
• Death in the family
• Observance of a religious holiday
• Summons to a court of law
• Violent storms or state emergency
• Severe family emergency
• All other approved in advance by the principal (or designee)

Students must present a written explanation from their parent/guardian, or there must be a verified contact from a parent /guardian, for each absence upon returning to school (not later than two days following the student’s return)

The following are some examples of unexcused absences reasons:

• Family and/or student vacation
• Non-school-related activities
• Missing the school bus/traffic
• Oversleeping
• Car troubles

Attendance Procedures

• To excuse an absence, please contact us by phone (leave us a voice mail), email or put it on ParentVue (only for all day absences)
• Please use only one form of communication per absence, this will allow attendance office to process requests efficiently, eliminating unnecessary duplicate data.
• Parents/Guardians have 2 business days to notify the attendance office of any absences, updates, or corrections to their student’s attendance record. Any request out of this window is not in compliance with school policy and needs to be approved by an administrator.
• Prearranged absence. If your student will have an extended absence due to family emergency, medical reason, religious observance, college visit (only excused for seniors with supporting documentation) please submit your request by email to wakefield.attendance@apsva.us.  The Dean of Students needs to review your request and may approve the excuse for prearranged or extended absences, not to exceed 15 consecutive days. Day 16th of absence students will be withdrawn from school in compliance with state guidelines.
• Attendance errors or discrepancies. Please note the attendance office cannot change, or update attendance submitted by teachers or subs without their consent, students are encouraged to speak directly with the teachers or administrators to correct any errors.
• Excused late arrivals. Students arriving late need to inform the attendance office of their arrival upon entering the school, we excuse students according to the arrival time and reason. To excuse please provide supporting documentation (dentist, doctor’s note)
• Early departure. Please inform the attendance office before leaving the building with your student, we excuse absences according to the departure time, and reason.
• Picking up students during the school day. Any person checking out a student must provide ID. If you are allowing a friend or family member to pick up your student, please let us know in advance to avoid any delays in the checkout process. Please note for security reasons we are unable to dismiss students by phone. 
• Students can check themselves out with written consent from parent/guardian. The consent can be a handwritten note or email. It must state the reason for departure, time of departure and the name and phone number of the parent/guardian.