Student Services

Student Services supports a variety of student activities and athletics programs. SMJUHSD is part of California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Central Section for school sponsored sports programs. 

 

Athletic Directors

SMJUHSD supports students experiencing homelessness by providing access to a free and appropriate public education, along with additional targeted services and assistance. 

The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children and youth as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This definition also includes:

• Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason

• Children and youth who may be living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, shelters

• Children and youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings

• Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings, or

• Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are children who are living in similar circumstances listed above

 

SMJUHSD offers two types of Independent Study:

Short Term Independent Study

• Must be fewer than 16 days over the course of the school year.
• Typically used in cases where a student is traveling out of the area for a short period of time.
• The student remains in their regular coursework and completes assignments before their return to school.
• If completed assignments are satisfactory, the student earns academic and attendance credit.
• Please see your school counselor for more information on Short Term Independent Study.

Long Term Independent Study

• Must be more than 16 days over the course of the school year.
• Typically used in cases where students are unable to attend regular classes on campus.
• Independent Study may be taken on a full-time basis, or in conjunction with courses taken in a classroom setting. 
• Independent Study requires approval from school administration.
• Please see your school counselor for more information on Long Term Independent Study.

Standard Response Protocol

Santa Maria Joint Union High School District utilizes a system called Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to guide administrators, staff, classrooms, and individual students through standardized responses regardless of the threat. This all-hazards approach focuses not on the incident itself, but rather on the required response by those involved. The SRP provides five simple, concise actions to be taken regardless of the situation. Instead of initiating different actions for each scenario, the SRP utilizes the five actions for all potential threats. 

Overview of SRP Actions

SRP Parent Handout

SRP Parent Handout (Spanish)

SRP Student Video

Communication

During a school emergency, school administrative teams will communicate with families using the Parent Square application. Parent Square provides notifications to parents and student via text message, voice message, email, and app notification. All parents and students have a Parent Square account; if you need help accessing your Parent Square account, please contact your home school.

What Should Parents Do in an Emergency?

SMJUHSD's number one priority during an emergency is keeping our students safe. For this reason, we ask for our families' assistance in the following three ways:

• Stay Home
• Stay Informed
• Be Ready

Stay Home: We know the natural instinct as a parent or guardian during an emergency is to come to school to protect your child. By doing so, you may endanger yourself and your child. The most important contribution you can make is to stay home and await further instructions.

Stay Informed: SMJUHSD is committed to providing timely information. In some situations, accurate information may take some time to verify and share, so we ask for your patience.

During an emergency, SMJUHSD will provide information via the appropriate communication avenues, which may include:

• District Website
• Voice, Text and Email Messages (via Parent Square)
• App Notifications (via Parent Square)
• Social Media – including Facebook, Instagram, and X
• Local News Media

Be Ready: Depending on the nature of the emergency, specific actions may be required of parents. For instance, during a reunification event, you may need to come to the school to pick up your child. Please follow the directions sent by the district or your child’s school.

SMJUHSD believes regular school attendance is critical to academic success. Education 48200 requires all children the ages of six and 18 to attend a full-time education program as designated by the governing board of the school district in which the parent or legal guardian resides.

Education Code 48260(a) defines a 'truant' as a student who three times during the school year either misses more than 30 minutes of instruction or is absent from school for three full days without a valid excuse.

Students who meet the definition of 'truant' may be referred to the Santa Barbara County School Attendance Review Board (SARB). 

SARB Steps

Families will receive daily attendance notices through our district communication tool, Parent Square. Please reach out to your child's school for additional information on attendance.

Families may apply for two types of transfers.

Intra-District Transfer: A request to attend a school other than the student's home school within SMJUHSD.

Inter-District Transfer: A request to attend a school outside SMJUHSD or, if residing outside SMJUHSD, a request to attend an SMJUHSD school.

Student Transfer Application 

Completed applications are to be emailed to Jenny Mahaffey (jmahaffey@smjuhsd.org) or brought directly to the district office. Transfer status letters will be mailed to student's address. Families requesting a transfer to another district will receive a courtesy copy of the approval letter mailed to the district requested.