Regular attendance at school is an important part of every child’s education from the youngest age. It enables the student to gain the maximum benefit from school instruction and to form good habits that will impact other areas of life. Attendance for school-aged children is required by law and parents are held responsible to see that their students are in attendance. Our policies (like most schools), allow for an occasional absence but consider more than 10 absences in a semester (unless there are unusual circumstances) to be excessive. With roughly 90 days in a semester, 10 absences are more than 10 percent of the total number of days. Even if students make up work they missed, their education is compromised because they have missed the discussion and emphasis that was placed upon the learning during the days missed. We encourage all parents to work with your child to keep absences to a minimum this semester.
In the same way, being on time to school is expected of all students and is an important part of the student’s educational experience. Late arrivals disrupt the class and cause loss of instruction time as a teacher has to bring the tardy student up to speed on what the class is doing. It is also important to train our students to be timely in arriving at all things, and by building in them the habit of timeliness, we assist them to develop this important quality for the rest of their lives. Each student is allowed up to five tardies each semester without any consequence. After five, there are consequences given to discourage further lateness. Let’s make a great effort to arrive to school on time every day this semester!
Please see the full policies for attendance and tardies in the school handbook found on the Parent Resource tab on our website.