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Handbook

Attendance

Tardiness   |   Early Dismissal

A good attendance record is of prime importance. Ordinarily, students should be absent from school only for personal illness, or serious illness or death in the family. Parents are advised that students will not be excused from class except for the most urgent reasons. Final exams are scheduled at the end of each semester and no student will be excused from these exams. Ultimately the parents decide when their son/daughter will not attend school, but parents are asked never to falsify excuses. The normal schedule contains time for vacations at Christmas, Winter Break, Easter and the entire summer. Parents/guardians are requested to plan vacations during these periods. Teachers will not be responsible for providing make-up work for vacations taken at other times.

When a student is absent from school, a parent/guardian must call the school between 7:30am and 9:00am. Upon the student's return to school, following an absence, the student must bring a note written and signed by a parent/gardian. Typed notes will not be accepted. The student must:

1. report to the attendance coordinator between 7:20 and 7:35am on the day of return
2. present the written note from the parent/guardian

Absence does not excuse a student from the obligation of making up assignments. On the student's initiative, arrangements are to be made for the completion of missed assignments and tests within a reasonable amount of time, not to exceed one week after the absence.

Each student is granted nine (9) absences in one (1) semester. Upon reaching ten (10) absences, the student is in danger of losing academic credit and receiving a failing grade in the class. At the end of each semester, the absence total is reset to zero for the next semester. After six (6) absences in a semester from any one class, a student's parent/guardian will be notified by the Attendance Office and the Principal. Upon reaching eight (8) absences, the Attendance Office will call the parents and speak with them directly. Upon reaching nine (9) absences, a second letter will be mailed home by the Attendance Office and the Principal. At ten (10) absences, the Appeals Process begins. A letter is mailed home indicating the beginning of the Appeal. The student and parents must make an appointment to meet with the principal in order to explain the excessive absences. The Principal will then decide if the student should lose credit. In extenuating circumstances, and upon presentation of sufficient evidence, individual exceptions will be considered. Extenuating circumstances may include, but are not necessarily limited to hospitalization, extended illness, or a death in the immediate family.

If a student and his/her parents/guardians know in advance that it will be necessary for him/her to be absent from school for an extended period, the Attendance Office must be notified in writing. This should be done far enough in advance of the absence to allow for notification of the student's teachers and the completion of any assignments. Such notification, however, does not excuse these missed days. Every day a student is out of school is considered an absence.

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