A strong relationship exists between attendance in school and the development of good work habits that lead to success. According to Board Policy 330, children from age five (5) through age fifteen (15) are required by Guam law (17GCA 6105.1) to attend school; however, students who turn five after July 31 cannot be enrolled in Kindergarten for that school year. It is expected that students will be on time and prepared for class each day, so that they will acquire the knowledge and develop the skills to become productive; responsible citizens.

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Tardiness
Students should report to homeroom by 8:15am. When a child arrives on campus after 8:30am, he or she should check in at the Main Office and receive a "Tardy Slip" to be admitted into class. Parents are expected to provide a written note to the school explaining the reason for the tardiness.  Frequent tardies will not be tolerated. According to Board Policy 411, students are considered absent for a school day when they are not present for half the instructional day.

Excused Absences
Board Policy 411 identifies excused absences as those incurred by the following:
1.  Illness of the student. However, students absent    
   for three or more consecutive days due to illness are
   required to present writ ten certification  from a
   physician attending to the nature of the illness and  
  the duration for which the student should be excused  
  from school. In addition, school  administrators may
  require written clarification from a physician for the
  number of days of absences due to illness if a
  student's past attendance records show patterns of
  illness or reasons for the absences due to illness,
  which the administrator finds questionable. 
2.  Scheduled medical or dental visits.
3.  Death in the immediate family. Immediate family is  
    defined as mother, father, stepmother, stepfather,
    guardian or caretaker, brother, sister, stepbrother
    or stepsister, and grandparent.
4.  Required appearances at court or other legally   
    related proceedings.
5.  Lack of available bus transportation, provided the
    student relies on bus transportation to go to school.
6.  Travel, which has the prior approval of a school       
    administrator.
7.  Natural catastrophe or disaster.
8.  Participation in authorized school related activities
    or compliance with administrative actions taken by  
    the school, such as field trips, conferences called by 
    administrators or counselors, suspensions, going
​    home  because of illness or injury, etc.
9.  Observance of holidays recognized by a 
    religion of which the student is a member.      
    The school administrator shall have the final 
    authority to decide whether an absence is  
    considered as excused within the limits  
    contained in this policy. In order for school  
    administrators to determine if an absence is  
    excused or unexcused, parents must provide a 
    note that explains the nature of the absence 
    (or a doctor's certification if the absence is 
    three or more consecutive days.)

Unexcused Absences
If a student returns from an absence without a parent's note or doctor's certification, those absent days will be considered as unexcused. When a child has accumulated twelve (12) unexcused absences, he or she will be referred for truancy.

Truancy
The following definitions are taken from Title 18 Guam Code Annotated (Education). According to Section 6401, a truant student is one who is found to be absent from school without a reasonable and bona fide excuse from a parent for more than three (3) days during any school year. According to Section 6402, a habitual student is one who has been reported as a truant, three (3) or more times. If any pupil is a habitual truant, the principal or a designee of the school shall request the Superintendent to file a petition concerning such habitual truant in the Family Court.

Pre-Arranged Absences
Parents who request for pre-arranged absence must fill out the appropriate form in the Main Office. Approval of such requests is at the discretion of the principal or his/her designee. Factors such as the students' attendance, grades, and behavior may be taken into consideration by the school administrator.

Off-Island Pre-Arranged Absence Request
School administrators will generally excuse off-island absences for us to ten (10) school days if prior approval is given to the parent's pre-arranged absence request. School administrators are under no obligation to excuse off-island absences if such approval is sought after the off-island absence occurred. Administrators may, however, excuse such absences if circumstances warrant doing so.  The nature of the trip will be taken into account along with the student's attendance, grades, and behavior.