• Attendance

    Attendance in school and participation in class are an integral part of academic achievement and the teaching-learning process.  Regular attendance develops patterns of behavior essential to professional and personal success in life.  Regular attendance by every student is mandatory.  Parents or legal guardians have the responsibility for ensuring that students attend and remain at school daily.  North Carolina’s mandatory attendance law requires that attendance letters be sent at numerous intervals throughout the school year. These letters are automatically generated by our computerized student records management system. North Carolina law states that parents may be prosecuted for their children’s failure to attend school.

    Absences-Please Read Carefully

    On the first day back at school following an absence, parents must provide their child’s teacher with a written note from home.  This note must include the following information:

    • Student’s name
    • Teacher name
    • Date(s) of absence
    • Reason for absence
    • Parent or guardian signature

     

    ALL ABSENCES ARE AUTOMATICALLY CODED UNLAWFUL UNTIL A NOTE IS RECEIVED AND APPROVED.  Notes must be received within three days of the return to school otherwise the absence will remain marked as unexcused.  All parents' notes are kept on file at the school.

     Students are required to make up work missed during an excused absence.  Excused absences include:

    • Personal illness
    • Death in the immediate family
    • A medical appointment that is verified in writing by the doctor or their designee
    • Miscellaneous reasons of an emergency nature approved by the principal or a medical authority
    • Court summons
    • Religious holiday
    • An absence that, in the judgment of the principal, has an educational value as great as that received during an equal time in the classroom. It is permitted ONLY if a comparable opportunity will not be available at a time other than during school hours.  The principal will determine if the amount of time missed is of reasonable length.  This absence must be approved a minimum of two weeks prior to the absence by the principal. Students must complete all assignments missed during their absence within 5 school days, as well as complete a special project assigned by the teacher.
    • A student whose parent or legal guardian (a) is an active duty member of the uniformed services as defined by policy 4050, Children of Military Families, and (b) has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or has immediately returned from deployment in a combat zone or combat support posting may be granted a maximum of five excused, lawful absences with prior approval from the principal.  Notification to the principal should be given in writing a minimum of five days prior to the first day of the absence.  Verification of the combat deployment activity is required.

    Tardies

    Students arriving after 8:30 a.m. or after school has started, must report to the school office with their parent/guardian to obtain a tardy slip.  Students will not be allowed in the classroom without a tardy slip from the school office.  Excessive tardies or early leave affects student learning and could be referred to Social Services.  After the bell rings at 8:30 a.m., a parent or guardian must park in the faculty parking lot and walk the student inside the building to sign the student in at the front office.  Students are not permitted to sign themselves in.  There are no adults outside on car-rider duty after 8:30 AM. There will be no exceptions since a potential safety hazard is posed when students are not directly supervised.

    Early Leave

    A picture ID is REQUIRED for all pickups.   Please make every effort to avoid early pickups unless it is absolutely necessary since your child will be missing valuable instruction when they leave their classroom before the end of the day.

    In addition, students may not be checked out of school after 2:15 p.m. due to traffic conditions at the school and the potential safety issues this may pose.  Parents are also not permitted to call the school and ask that students wait in the office to be checked out as this negatively impacts instructional time in the classroom.