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For optimum learning, parents should make every effort to have students present whenever school is in session. When an absence is necessary, parents are asked to give a week’s notice if possible. This gives the teacher time to adjust plans and due dates if necessary, and it gives the student time to do some work in advance, making the absence much less stressful for all. 

Throughout this policy, the word absence means missing any portion of the school day, including late arrival and early dismissal.

Following are reasons for excused absence: 

  • Illness  (note or call from parents required upon return to school; a doctor’s note may be required)
  • Visa requirements  (notification required as soon as possible)
  • Family emergencies  (explanatory note or call from parents required, in advance if possible)
  • For late arrivals, traffic problems may be accepted as an excused reason on an occasional basis, but regular problems need to be avoided by earlier departures. (note or call from parents required)

Even with a parent note, other absences will not be automatically excused. For other causes of absence (not listed above), parents must request advance approval from the principal, giving a week’s notice if possible. For your own sake, please discuss possible absences before you make appointments or travel arrangements so that you will know whether the absence will be excused and can make plans accordingly. There is a Planned Absence Form which you may download from the Parent section of the website, or you may just call or email the principal.

We expect routine medical and dental needs of the students to be taken care of by the parents on weekends or after school hours.  If this is impossible, parents should follow the procedures to request approval as for any other planned absence.

Absences for any other reason (such as tardiness due to oversleeping or staying home to complete school assignments) will be unexcused, and therefore credit for make-up work may not be given at all or may be given a grade reduction. This includes absence for reasons that might have been approved but for which approval was not requested in advance.   

Reporting to the Office:  Students must report to the office for an Admit Slip to be admitted to class following any absence or tardiness to school. Unless the absence was pre-approved, students must bring a note from their parents. Without a note, an unexcused admit slip will be given until a note with an excused reason is brought to the office.

Any student needing to leave school early must report to the office before leaving. Students will not be permitted to leave without a parent or a note/call from a parent.

Make-up Work:  
For excused absences, a student may ask for and submit make-up work. It is the student’s responsibility to contact individual teachers to ask for make-up work and due dates after any absence. To receive credit for missed assignments, a student must make up all work by the dates set by the teacher. For planned absences, work should generally be turned in before the student leaves. 

Make-up Test Expectations:
The expectations for tests that are missed due to absences varies depending on the situation.  Teachers have the option of altering the following based on extenuating circumstances, but typically:

  • If a student’s period of absence started on the day of a test, then they should be ready to take the test on the first day that they return to school.
  • If a student’s period of absence started before the day of a test, then they have as many days following their return to school as there were days before the test.  For example, if a student becomes ill and is absent for 3 days prior to a test in a class, then when they return to school they can take the make-up test anytime in the next 3 days that they are in school.

Any student who is absent for any portion of the school day due to illness or an unexcused absence may not participate in extra-curricular activities that day. A student who misses the whole day due to illness or an unexcused absence may not even attend any extra-curricular activity. Exceptions must be approved by the event adviser and the principal.

Students must be present on semester exam days. Only under rare circumstances, special permission from administration and teachers may be granted to a student who has an excused absence to take the exam at a different time.  

A student who misses more than fifteen school days in any given semester—regardless of the reason—puts his credit for that semester in jeopardy. This may affect promotion. Within a week of the fifteenth day of absence, parents must submit to the Principal a written request for a waiver of the attendance requirement. The school will attempt to notify parents when the number of absences is approaching the limit, but it is ultimately the parents’ responsibility.