Attendance
Arrival and Dismissal
Arrival Procedure:
For students who are eating breakfast or who are car riders, supervision begins at 8:25 AM.
Students riding a bus to school may enter upon arrival. Our day officially begins at 8:50 AM
with morning announcements. Students arriving after 8:50 AM will be marked tardy. Please
ensure that your child arrives to school on time and ready to learn.
Students riding a bus to school may enter upon arrival. Our day officially begins at 8:50 AM
with morning announcements. Students arriving after 8:50 AM will be marked tardy. Please
ensure that your child arrives to school on time and ready to learn.
Dismissal Procedure:
Dismissal for all students (bus riders, walkers, and students picked up in a car) begins daily at
3:20 PM. If they will be regularly picked up by a car, you will need to have a school issued car
mirror hanger with your family name on it to ensure your child's safety at dismissal. Please use
caution and follow posted signs when picking up your child. Please note, that students will not
be dismissed from the school office during bus dismissal time and must utilize the parent pick
up loop. If you wish to have your child walk home from school, you will need to indicate by
signing a permission slip whether or not they are permitted to walk home without adult
supervision.
3:20 PM. If they will be regularly picked up by a car, you will need to have a school issued car
mirror hanger with your family name on it to ensure your child's safety at dismissal. Please use
caution and follow posted signs when picking up your child. Please note, that students will not
be dismissed from the school office during bus dismissal time and must utilize the parent pick
up loop. If you wish to have your child walk home from school, you will need to indicate by
signing a permission slip whether or not they are permitted to walk home without adult
supervision.
Please see the map below to see our arrival and dismissal traffic flow:
Call-In Procedures
When a student will be absent from school, the parent or guardian is required to call our school to report the absence. Twenty-four hour voicemail service is available in all district buildings. You are required to provide a written excuse within three days of your child's absence. E-mail excuses are accepted, and can be e-mailed to [email protected]. Please include the student's first and last name, date of absence, and reason for absence within the excuse.
Excused and Unexcused Absence Definitions
Excused Absences:
When a child is enrolled in the district’s educational program, the student is subject to the Pennsylvania State Attendance Laws. The Board considers the following conditions to constitute an excused absence from school:
1.Illness
2. Quarantine
3. Student required court attendance
4. Prearranged doctor and dentist appointment for time of appointment and appropriate travel time only
5. Authorized school activities
6. Pre-approved educational tours and trips, not school sponsored
7. Other urgent reasons, including funerals, that apply to the child and approved by the building administrator
When a child is enrolled in the district’s educational program, the student is subject to the Pennsylvania State Attendance Laws. The Board considers the following conditions to constitute an excused absence from school:
1.Illness
2. Quarantine
3. Student required court attendance
4. Prearranged doctor and dentist appointment for time of appointment and appropriate travel time only
5. Authorized school activities
6. Pre-approved educational tours and trips, not school sponsored
7. Other urgent reasons, including funerals, that apply to the child and approved by the building administrator
Parents/guardians are expected to telephone the school when students are absent for any reason. Please see “Call-In Procedures” above. In addition, a written excuse from a parent/guardian is
required for each absence.
required for each absence.
Absences shall be treated as unlawful until the district receives a written excuse explaining the absence, to be submitted within three (3) school days of the date of absence. E-mail excuses will be accepted. Absences will not be changed for any written excuses received after three (3) school day period. After the third unlawful absence, administration will notify the family of the third unlawful absence. If attendance does not improve after notification, administration may follow up with a student attendance improvement conference (SAIC), district magistrate referral, and/or a referral to children and youth services. When a student has been excused by ten(10) or more parent notes, the school district will require medical documentation of any further absences in order for those absences to be excused. All absences except those from approved educational trips will be included in that calculation.
Unexcused Absences:
An unexcused absence shall be defined as:
• Absence from school with parent/guardian consent for reasons other than those considered excusable.
• Leaving school during school hours without permission from the administrator.
• Absence from school without knowledge/permission of parent/guardian (truancy).
• Absence from school without knowledge/permission of school authorities.
• Absences from school without written parental excuse submitted within 3 school days of the absence.
Appointments
Parents are encouraged to make all student appointments after school hours. Valuable educational time is lost due to appointments made during the school day. When a student must be released from school, the student must present a note signed by the parent/guardian. The note must include a contact number to call to verify the appointment. After the appointment, the student must return to school with an excuse from the office where the appointment was kept. If the student does not produce an excuse, the time will be unexcused. An early dismissal of three (3) or more hours duration will be treated as a half-day of absence. Students shall not be dismissed during school hours for non-school activities, such as private music lessons, dancing lessons, Scouts, etc. Students shall be released from school only to their parents/guardians or to persons authorized by their parents/guardians.
Educational Trips
The Board of School Directors recognizes that trips by students during the school year can have significant educational value. Parents/Guardians shall be permitted to request that their child be excused from school attendance for purposes of an educational trip. To be eligible, students must be accompanied on the trip by a parent/guardian or other responsible adult who is authorized in writing by the parent. The request shall be made in advance of the trip to the building principal. The building principal will review the educational merits of the trip and
determine if it is in the best interest of the student. The responsibility to make up any work missed while on the trip shall rest with the student.
determine if it is in the best interest of the student. The responsibility to make up any work missed while on the trip shall rest with the student.
In an attempt to provide consistency in the approval or disapproval of such requests, the following guidelines are adopted as policy.
Requests for Approval:
The following procedure shall be followed in requesting approval for an educational trip:
Parent/Guardian shall submit to the child’s principal a Request for Educational Trip form no less than five (5) school days prior to the proposed trip. Neglecting to gain prior approval will result in the recording of unexcused daily absences for those days absent.
When a family has students enrolled in more than one (1) building who will be participating in the trip only one (1) form need be submitted. The form will be duplicated for review by the various principals.
The principal receiving the request will notify the parents/guardians of the decision to classify the absences as either excused or unexcused. The decision will be based on the educational merits of the trip and the best scholastic interest of the student.
Reasons for absences being classified as unexcused include but are not limited to substandard scholastic standing, poor attendance record of the student and unlawful/truant days.
A student will be permitted to take no more than two (2) educational trips per school year. There will be a limit of a total of five (5) excused school days placed on these trips during one (1) school year.
Requests for educational trips during PSSA testing are discouraged and may not be approved. The student is responsible for all school work missed while on the approved trip. The same parameters that apply to the make-up of work from any other absence shall also apply in this case. (The school will not provide lesson plans for trips in excess of five (5) school days.)
If the absences for an educational trip are defined as unexcused, the student will not be permitted to make up missed work.
Please see the link to the Educational Trip Request Form below: