Logging attendance

_In the app: `/attendance`_

Attendance tracks the days and hours your student receives instruction — essential for state-minimum compliance in most states. You log full days, half days, absences, and holidays; ArborSlate tracks your progress against your state's instruction requirements.

How to

Log a single day's attendance

Go to Attendance.
Select the student and school year using the dropdowns at the top.
In the 'Mark a day' form, pick the date using the Date field.
Choose the Status: Full day (default), Half day, Absent, or Holiday.
Optionally enter Hours (0–24, in increments of 0.25, like 6.25 for 6 hours 15 minutes) and Notes (up to 500 characters).
Click Save.
The entry appears in the list below and updates your totals instantly.

Log an entire school week at once

Go to Attendance.
Select the student and school year using the dropdowns at the top.
In the 'Mark this week' form, pick the Monday of the week you want to mark.
Click 'Mark M–F as full days'.
This marks Monday through Friday of that week as full days. If any days already have entries, they are overwritten.

Edit or change a logged day

Go to Attendance.
In the list of entries, find the day you want to change.
Use the 'Mark a day' form to enter the same date with the new status, hours, or notes.
Click Save — it overwrites the old entry. (One entry per student per day.)

Delete a logged day

Go to Attendance.
Find the day in the list of entries.
Click the Delete button on that row.
Click Confirm to permanently remove it.

Switch between students or school years

Go to Attendance.
Use the Student dropdown to pick a different student.
Use the School year dropdown to pick a different year (the active year is marked).
Click Update — the form, list, and totals refresh to show that student's attendance for that year.

View and print an attendance log for submission

Go to Attendance.
Pick the student and school year.
Click the Print log button.
A print-friendly page opens showing the student's name, school year dates, totals (full days, half days, effective days, hours), and a table of all entries.
Use your browser's Print (Cmd+P or Ctrl+P) to save as PDF or print to paper.

Options & settings

Status: Full day (1 effective day), Half day (0.5 effective day), Absent (does not count toward effective days), Holiday (does not count toward effective days)
Hours: optional, used to track detailed instruction time for states that require hours instead of or in addition to days
Notes: optional, up to 500 characters, useful for noting subjects, field trips, or other context
School year: attendance is tracked separately for each school year; switching years shows you a different set of entries and totals

Common questions

What does 'effective days' mean?

Effective days = (full days) + (half days × 0.5). So 10 full days and 4 half days = 12 effective days. Absent and Holiday days don't count. Most states' minimums are stated in days (e.g., 180 days), and ArborSlate uses this calculation to show your progress.

What if I log the same date twice?

You can only have one entry per student per day. If you save a date that already exists, the new entry overwrites the old one entirely.

Can I bulk-edit multiple days at once?

Not directly. The 'Mark this week' form marks Monday–Friday as full days all at once; for any other bulk operation, you'll need to edit each day individually or delete and re-log them. If you need a different bulk action (e.g., mark all days this month as half), contact support@arborslate.com.

Is the Hours field required?

No. Hours is optional. If your state requires instruction hours (not just days), you can log them here. If your state only requires days, you can leave Hours blank.

What's the difference between Absent and Holiday?

Neither counts toward your effective-days total. The distinction is purely for your records—use Absent for unplanned days (illness, emergency) and Holiday for planned days off (weekends, breaks, holidays). Both appear in your printable log and your totals by status.

Can I log attendance for a past school year?

Yes. Create a school year with the start and end dates you need, then switch to it using the School year dropdown on the Attendance page. You can log any date within that year.

Good to know

One entry per day per student: if you mark the same date twice by mistake, the second save erases the first. Edit via the Mark a day form, not by adding a new entry.
The 'Mark this week' form marks M–F as full days regardless of what's already logged—if you've marked some days as half, using this button will overwrite them to full. Delete manually first if you want a partial week.
Hours use quarter-hour increments (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, etc.). Values are stored with precision to two decimal places, and ArborSlate displays hours to one decimal place (so 6.25 displays as 6.2).
Attendance is linked to a school year, not a calendar year. If you haven't set up a school year first, you'll see a message prompting you to add one before you can log anything.
Dates must be valid calendar dates (you can't log February 30). The date picker prevents invalid dates, so use it instead of typing manually.

Plans

Available on all plans including trial. Accessible once you've set up at least one student and one school year.