Entering Attendance by Student

The Attendance Entry by Student option enables an office staff member to enter attendance for a student for the current day, a future day, or a previous day. You would use this option when a parent or guardian calls the attendance office to report a student will be late or absent. You can mark the student absent for an entire day or enter an attendance entry for one or more periods.

You can also view a browse list of all attendance in reverse date order, with the most recent attendance occurrence at the top of the list. You can open records and make modifications if necessary.

After entering attendance data, you can update student attendance as needed through the Student Profile.

Scroll past the video to access the step-by-step instructions.

Before you begin

  • Attendance periods must be set up.

  • Students must be scheduled into classes.

  • Attendance types must be set up.

  • If you wish to use attendance reasons, they must be set up.

  • The calendar must be set up to enter attendance.

Audio Transcript

As an office staff member, you can enter attendance for individual students for the current day, a future day, or a previous day. You can also enter attendance for a full day or for certain periods as needed. We'll begin by navigating to the Attendance Entry by Student feature within the Attendance module. Let's add attendance for our student, Jeff Baker. We'll use the Student field to locate him now. Under the Quick Entry heading, the start and end dates default to today's date but can be updated if we're adding attendance for a different day. For this example, we'll leave them as they are. The All Day box can be checked if Jeff is going to be absent for the entire day. By selecting it, the Start Period and End Period fields are disabled. For this example, Jeff will only be missing periods 1 to 3 due to a dentist appointment, so we'll uncheck this box. We can indicate the periods he'll be missing within the Start Period and End Period fields. The Type field can be used to help us identify how a student is absent. The options available for selection are based on the Attendance Type codes set up in our system. Since his guardian called in to the school about the absence, we can select a type of Absent Excused. We'll notice on the right side of the screen that the periods for when Jeff will be absent from his scheduled classes automatically update with our selection. The same will occur as we enter a reason and comment. The Reason field is optional, but we'd like to use it to indicate the reason why Jeff will be gone from his first three classes. The options available for selection pull from the Attendance Reason codes set up in our system. Since Jeff will be gone due to a dentist appointment, we can select that option now. We can enter additional information regarding this absence into the Comment field. As we enter a comment, we'll notice an Eye icon display to the right of the field. Selecting this option will display the Mass Attendance Comment Privacy Settings which allow us to hide this comment from certain portals of the software if we'd like. Since we want to keep this comment visible, we'll click Cancel. We'll check the box for Guardian Notified to indicate that Jeff's guardians are aware of this absence. If we have attachments we'd like to add to this absence, we could do so by selecting or dragging and dropping files. Additional information regarding this student's current attendance can be found near the bottom of the screen. Once we've completed entering in our information, we can save. By entering attendance records for your students, you can keep track of when students will be absent from school.

As an office staff member, you can enter attendance for individual students for the current day, a future day, or a previous day. You can also enter attendance for a full day or for certain periods as needed. We'll begin by navigating to the Attendance Entry by Student feature within the Attendance module. Let's add attendance for our student, Jeff Baker. We'll use the Student field to locate him now. Under the Quick Entry heading, the start and end dates default to today's date but can be updated if we're adding attendance for a different day. For this example, we'll leave them as they are. The All Day box can be checked if Jeff is going to be absent for the entire day. By selecting it, the Start Period and End Period fields are disabled. For this example, Jeff will only be missing periods 1 to 3 due to a dentist appointment, so we'll uncheck this box. We can indicate the periods he'll be missing within the Start Period and End Period fields. The Type field can be used to help us identify how a student is absent. The options available for selection are based on the Attendance Type codes set up in our system. Since his guardian called in to the school about the absence, we can select a type of Absent Excused. We'll notice on the right side of the screen that the periods for when Jeff will be absent from his scheduled classes automatically update with our selection. The same will occur as we enter a reason and comment. The Reason field is optional, but we'd like to use it to indicate the reason why Jeff will be gone from his first three classes. The options available for selection pull from the Attendance Reason codes set up in our system. Since Jeff will be gone due to a dentist appointment, we can select that option now. We can enter additional information regarding this absence into the Comment field. As we enter a comment, we'll notice an Eye icon display to the right of the field. Selecting this option will display the Mass Attendance Comment Privacy Settings which allow us to hide this comment from certain portals of the software if we'd like. Since we want to keep this comment visible, we'll click Cancel. We'll check the box for Guardian Notified to indicate that Jeff's guardians are aware of this absence. If we have attachments we'd like to add to this absence, we could do so by selecting or dragging and dropping files. Additional information regarding this student's current attendance can be found near the bottom of the screen. Once we've completed entering in our information, we can save. By entering attendance records for your students, you can keep track of when students will be absent from school.



  1. Select Menu > Administrative Access > Attendance.
  2. Select Attendance Entry by Student under Features.
    Step Information

    Alternatively, you can enter student attendance by navigating to Menu > Administrative Access > Student and selecting Student Profile under Features. Then, select the Attendance tab group at the left of the screen and select the Selected Year sub-tab.

    Expected Result

    You see the Attendance Entry by Student screen, which displays attendance records for all students for the current year. Records display in reverse date order, with the most recent attendance record displaying first. Each record includes information such as attendance date, student name, and attendance code by period.

    You can click the Filter icon to narrow the list of attendance records displayed, if appropriate. The filters available for selection are Today's Attendance, Last Week's Attendance, Last Month's Attendance, Future Attendance, and All Attendance.

  3. Verify you are in the correct Entity and school year by checking the information at the top left of the screen.
  4. Under the Student Attendance heading, click Add Student Attendance near the top right of the screen.
    Expected Result

    You see the Entry by Student screen, which displays three areas: Quick Entry, Attendance, and Current Attendance. Quick Entry is the area you will use most often. This is where you enter attendance for the student for all day or from a start to an end period.

    To the right of the Quick Entry area, you see the Attendance area and a column of period numbers. This column populates based on what you enter in the Quick Entry area. This is where you can make modifications for individual class periods if you need to update student attendance records further. As you enter the attendance entry information in the Quick Entry area, the system auto-fills the Attendance area to the right with appropriate entries. Grayed-out periods indicate the student is not scheduled into class during those periods.

    Under those two areas, you see a Current Attendance display for the student. This is useful if you wish to verify the attendance on the selected date was recorded correctly. The display includes absent or tardy days only for the school year you are working in. For each record, you see the date, Day Rotation code, and the guardian notified indicator. The attendance recorded for each period for that day displays in a row across the screen. This area is view-only.

    You can review the student's current year attendance at the bottom of the screen. You can see any previously entered attendance records for the day, as well as historical records, which can help you identify patterns in the student's attendance.

    The image below shows the Entry by Student screen, which displays an attendance entry for Robert Adams, who was excused for period 2 on October 14 due to a meeting with a counselor and whose guardian was not notified of the absence.

  5. Begin entering the student's name in the Student search field near the top left of the screen.
  6. Select the student from the drop-down list.
    Step Information

    If more than one student has the same full name, you can use the student's birth date, grade, or other details to identify the student you are searching for.

    Expected Result

    You see the Entry by Student screen for the student you selected.

  7. Under the Quick Entry heading, verify the Start Date or enter the correct date if necessary.
    Step Information

    This defaults to the current date, but can be modified as needed. For example, if a student will be going on vacation from March 4 through March 8, you would enter 03/04/20YY.

  8. Verify the End Date or enter the correct date if necessary.
    Step Information

    This defaults to the current date, but can be modified as needed. For example, if a student will be going on vacation from March 4 through March 8, you would enter 03/08/20YY.

  9. Optional: Verify the box for All Day is checked or unchecked.
    Expected Result

    When checked, the Start Period and End Period fields are disabled. Skip to step 12.

    If you did not check the box, continue to the next step.

  10. Enter the Start Period or click the Down Arrow icon to choose from the drop-down list.
    Step Information
    This identifies the Attendance Period on which the attendance record should begin.
  11. Enter the End Period or click the Down Arrow icon to choose from the drop-down list.
    Step Information

    Only periods equal to or greater than the selected start period are available for selection. For example, if you select period 4 for the Start Period, only periods 4 through 8 are available for selection as the End Period.

    This specifies the attendance period on which the attendance record should conclude.

  12. Enter the Type or click the Down Arrow icon to choose from the drop-down list.
  13. Optional: Enter the Reason or click the Down Arrow icon to choose from the drop-down list.
  14. Optional: Enter a Comment.
    Step Information

    For example, you could enter "On vacation."

    Expected Result

    If you entered a comment, the View icon displays to the right of the Comment field. Continue to the next step.

    If you did not enter a comment, skip to step 18.

  15. Click the View icon to the right of the Comment field if you wish to adjust the privacy settings.
    Expected Result

    You see the Mass Attendance Comment Privacy Settings pop-up window.

  16. Optional: Check the box for each portal you wish to Hide Comments In.
    Step Information

    You can use the Select checkbox if you wish to check or uncheck all options.

  17. Click Done near the bottom right of the window.
    Expected Result

    You return to the Entry by Student screen.

  18. Optional: Verify the box for Guardian Notified is checked or unchecked.
    Step Information

    Skyward recommends checking this box if the guardian is aware of the absence. This box can be checked on the initial attendance entry if the guardian called or sent a note about the absence. You can also check this box if the guardian has been called and notified of an unexcused absence. This field can be used as a filter on reports to only print records where the Guardian Notified box was not checked, so that office personnel can generate a list of guardians to call to confirm student absences. Please note, checking this box will not automatically send a notification to the guardian.

    If you wish to add an attachment, continue to the next step.

    If you do not wish to add an attachment, skip to step 20.

  19. Optional: Click Add Attachment if you wish to add an attachment to the attendance record.
    Step Information

    You can also drag and drop files instead of using the Choose Files icon if you wish.

  20. Choose one of the options near the top left of the screen to save your work.
    OptionDescription
    Save & BackSaves your changes and you return to the Attendance Entry by Student screen, which displays the record you created.
    SaveSaves the changes you made and you remain on the Entry by Student screen.