School Policies
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Attendance Policies On your road to college, being on time and in class every possible minute are two of the most important things you can do. Your teachers plan out every minute of every day and no time is wasted. There is so much for you to learn and do so that you can be prepared for college and ready to earn admissions and scholarships. Because of this, we have very strict policies about attendance. Tardies You should arrive to school no later than 7:15 a.m. every day so that you can enter your classroom and get ready to start working by 7:25 a.m. Classroom doors will close at 7:25 a.m. sharp. On rainy days, doors will remain open until 7:35, giving everybody ten extra minutes to get to school if needed. Other than rainy days, there are no excuses for being tardy. Some ways you can help your parent or guardian get you to school on time include:
Absences The only thing more important than being on time is being present. It is always better to come late (even several hours late) than not to come at all. We want to see you here every day. There are three kinds of attendance days at Bright Star Schools: 1) required for everybody, 2) required for some (usually those on the Catch Up list), and 3) voluntary. Whenever you are required to be at school (options 1 and 2), we expect you to be here and take attendance accordingly. Any mandatory Catch Up Session (after school or on Saturdays,) Camp Program, Vacation Catch Up Program, or other activity that is an essential part of your education counts just like any other school day. If you do not show up, you are considered absent and must follow the same absence procedures as for any other school day. There are only two kinds of Excused Absences: 1) fevers of 99.5° F/37°C or higher, and 2) doctor’s orders. In order to have an absence recorded as Excused, your parent must do two things: 1) Call the school any day you will not be there before 8 a.m. and leave a message telling us why you are not coming, and 2) Send a note (signed by a parent or a doctor) on the day that you come back. On the day you return to school, you will take that note to the Connecting Place (CP) and exchange it for a Readmit Slip. You will then take that Readmit Slip to all of your classes and get each teacher’s signature. When all of your teachers have signed it, you will return that slip to the Connecting Place. The logical consequence for any Excused Absence is that you must make up all missing class work. When you return, your teachers will help you to determine a reasonable amount of time from the date of your Excused Absence(s) to make up missing work (see section on Catching Up for details) and will hold you accountable. Partial Absence Policy (being present for as much of the day as possible) If you have an appointment that must be scheduled during school hours, you must come to school for as much of the day as possible. You will be expected to come to school before your appointment, if possible, and also to return to school after your appointment is over. Remember, you must make up all class work for partial absences, which is more difficult than being present at school in the first place. For example, if you have an appointment at 9 a.m. with a 45-minute drive to the doctor, we expect you to be at school from 7:25 until 8:15. Once your appointment is over, you should return to school immediately which will maximize your time at school and minimize the amount of class work you will need to make up. While we ask your parents to try to make all appointments during times when you’re not in school, we know that’s not always possible. You will have to follow a procedure to ensure that your Partial Absences can be Excused and not have any negative consequences. Your parents will need to follow the Excused Partial Absence policy by sending a note with you to school two days prior to the appointment. For example, if the appointment is on a Thursday, the note must be submitted by Tuesday; if the appointment is for Monday, the note must be submitted by the Thursday of the prior week. You will need to bring that note to CP to have it approved. A copy of the note, with an approval signature from the CP director, will be returned to you the day after you submit it. You should then give the approved note (your ―release ticket) to your parent that night. On the day of the appointment, your parent will come to CP to get a visitor’s pass and then pick you up from class, turning the note in to your teacher. When you get back to school (either later that day or the next day), you must check back in with CP to get a Readmit Slip before going to class. For a partial absence, you will only need to collect the signatures of the teachers whose classes you missed. After collecting those signatures, you will turn that Readmit Slip back into CP. Please remember that ASES and Friday activities are important, mandatory parts of your education. Being absent from any part of ASES (Block I or Block II) on a day that you were present at school is considered a Partial Absence and must follow all of the Partial Absence procedures. Consequences for Tardies and Unexcused Absences Remember that all absences, whether excused or unexcused, have the logical consequence that you will have to make up all missing class work. Tardy arrivals and unexcused absences carry additional, negative consequences. All tardy arrivals at the start of the day are considered unexcused. If you arrive after that 7:25 a.m., you will need to start your day with a visit to the Connecting Place to be marked tardy. Any arrivals after 8 a.m. are Partial Absences. Your first two tardies each semester will be treated as warnings. Upon the third and each subsequent tardy arrival, the CP director will have a conversation with your parent, you will lose a SCAG point, and you may have to come in on Saturdays to make up missed time. If the problem of tardiness can’t be solved by any of the solutions above, arrangements will be required between the Connecting Place director and your family for you to start coming to school at an earlier start time each day. For information about tardy arrivals between classes (after first period), see the Connection Section of this Handbook. All absences, full-day or partial, that are not Excused (as defined above) are considered Unexcused Absences. If you do not follow the procedure of bringing a note to CP – either before a partial absence or upon your return, your absence will be considered Unexcused – even if you had a fever or doctor’s note – and negative consequences will follow. Consequences for too many unexcused absences affect your enrollment at the school and are discussed in your parent’s Parent Handbook and in the Connections Section below (for ditching.) |
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