Chronic Absence Alerts
Zion automatically detects students with concerning attendance patterns and generates alerts for proactive intervention. This guide explains how the alert system works and how to manage alerts effectively.How Alerts Work
Automatic Detection
The alert system runs automatically each morning at 6:00 AM, analyzing attendance data to identify students who may need intervention. Detection Process:- System reviews last 60 days of attendance records
- Calculates consecutive absences (weekends excluded)
- Computes 30-day rolling absence rate
- Compares against configured thresholds
- Creates new alerts for students meeting criteria
- Sends email digest to administrators (if enabled)
Alert Types
| Type | Icon | Threshold | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | Red badge | 5+ consecutive absences OR >20% absence rate | Immediate action required |
| Warning | Yellow badge | 3+ consecutive absences | Close monitoring needed |
Alert Information
Each alert includes:- Student name and basic information
- Learning centre assignment
- Grade level
- Consecutive absence count
- 30-day absence rate (percentage)
- List of absence dates
- Created timestamp
Viewing Alerts
Access the Alerts Panel
- Navigate to Attendance in the sidebar
- Click Alerts submenu
- View the alerts dashboard
Alert Dashboard Overview
Summary Cards:- Total Alerts: All active (unacknowledged) alerts
- Critical: Count of critical severity alerts
- Warning: Count of warning severity alerts
- Acknowledged Today: Alerts addressed today
- Sorted by severity (critical first), then by date (newest first)
- Each alert shows student details and metrics
- Quick actions: Acknowledge, View Details
Filtering Alerts
By Alert Type:- All alerts
- Critical only
- Warning only
- All centres (admin view)
- Specific centre (dropdown selection)
- Active (unacknowledged) - default view
- Acknowledged (toggle to include)
Alert Cards
Each alert displays as a card with:Header Section
- Student name (bold)
- Alert type badge (Critical/Warning)
- Learning centre name
- Grade level
Metrics Section
- Consecutive Absences: “5 consecutive days absent”
- 30-Day Rate: “22% absence rate in last 30 days”
Absence Dates
- List of specific dates the student was absent
- Helps identify patterns (e.g., always Mondays)
Actions
- Acknowledge: Mark alert as addressed
- View Details: See full student attendance history
Acknowledging Alerts
When you’ve taken action on an alert, acknowledge it to track your response.Acknowledgment Process
1
Click Acknowledge Button
On the alert card, click “Acknowledge” to open the dialog
2
Document Intervention
Enter notes about the action taken:
- Parent contact made
- Meeting scheduled
- Letter sent
- Referral made
3
Submit
Click “Submit” to acknowledge the alert
What Gets Recorded
When you acknowledge an alert:- Your user ID is recorded
- Timestamp is captured
- Your intervention notes are saved
- Alert moves to “acknowledged” status
Intervention Note Examples
For Parent Contact:Alert Settings
Administrators can configure alert thresholds for their organization.Access Settings
- Navigate to Attendance → Alerts
- Click the Settings (gear) icon
- Modify thresholds as needed
Configurable Thresholds
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Consecutive Warning | 3 days | Days absent in a row to trigger warning |
| Consecutive Critical | 5 days | Days absent in a row to trigger critical |
| Rate Critical | 20% | 30-day absence rate to trigger critical |
| Email Digest | Enabled | Send daily email summary to admins |
Email Digest
When enabled, administrators receive a daily email at 8:00 AM containing:- Count of new alerts since last digest
- List of students with critical alerts
- Quick link to view alerts in Zion
Email Recipients: Only users with the Administrator role receive the digest email. Supervisors can view alerts in the app but don’t receive emails.
Manual Alert Generation
While alerts generate automatically each morning, you can trigger generation manually.When to Generate Manually
- After importing new attendance data
- When investigating a specific student
- Before a parent meeting
- After significant data corrections
Generate Alerts
- Navigate to Attendance → Alerts
- Click Generate Alerts button
- System processes all active students
- New alerts appear in the list
- Summary shows: students analyzed, alerts created
Best Practices
Daily Review
- Check alerts panel each morning (takes <2 minutes)
- Prioritize critical alerts for same-day action
- Acknowledge alerts after taking action
Response Timeline
| Alert Type | Response Timeline | Recommended Action |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Within 24 hours | Phone call to parent, possible home visit |
| Warning | Within 48 hours | Note to parent, conversation with student |
Documentation
- Always document your intervention in the notes
- Include date of contact and method
- Note any follow-up commitments
- Record outcomes of conversations
Patterns to Watch
- Monday absences: May indicate weekend issues
- Friday absences: May indicate early weekend starts
- Post-holiday absences: May indicate transition difficulties
- Consistent days: May indicate schedule conflicts
Supervisor vs Administrator View
Administrators See:
- All alerts across all learning centres
- Alert settings configuration
- Email digest controls
- Generate alerts button
- School-wide statistics
Supervisors See:
- Only alerts for students in their assigned centres
- Cannot modify alert settings
- Cannot generate alerts manually
- Cannot change email digest settings
Troubleshooting
No Alerts Appearing
Possible Causes:- No students meet threshold criteria
- Filters are hiding alerts
- Alerts were already acknowledged
- Check filter settings
- Toggle “Include Acknowledged” to see all alerts
- Click Generate Alerts to refresh
Alert for Wrong Centre
Cause: Student’s centre assignment may have changed. Solution:- Alert is based on centre at time of generation
- Check student’s current centre assignment
- New alerts will use current centre
Email Digest Not Received
Possible Causes:- Email digest is disabled
- Email in spam folder
- Not an administrator role
- Check alert settings for email digest toggle
- Check spam/junk folder
- Verify you have administrator role