Attendance

Our district and school districts across the country are looking at the relationship between chronic absenteeism and student academic success.  We know that attendance and engagement in school are important factors in a student's learning and social/emotional development.  Students who are absent from school miss out on the valuable learning activities that take place in the classroom, both with the teacher and with peers.  Even strong students with good grades can fall off course in middle and high school if they miss too many classes; lessons build on one another and move more quickly in the upper grades.  While students may be able to make up assignments from days they were gone, they cannot make up for missed instruction, discussion and peer and classroom experiences when they are absent from class.  While they may complete some or even all of the work missed, the learning experience is significantly altered.  

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing more than 10% of the school year (excused or unexcused).  At Eastview High School, that is five days or more per quarter. For comparison, most EVHS students miss fewer than three days per quarter and 86% of our students at Eastview stay under the 10% threshold annually.  

We understand there may be circumstances that prevent a student from attending, however we expect those absences to be limited.  We care greatly about the health and well-being of our students.  We want to partner with students and families when challenges exist and work together to support your student in any way we can.  We always strive to reduce absences, keep students in the classroom and maximize learning.  Please feel free to contact us if there are extenuating circumstances of which we are unaware.  

 

Student Responsibilities When Absent:

1. Check provided resources (Schoology, course calendar, notes, etc.)
2. Collaborate with peers to obtain additional information, notes, homework, timelines, etc.
3. If further clarification is needed, prepare questions for the teacher.
4. Meet/email with teacher(s) as needed to obtain clarification and/or plan for make-up assessments.
5. If after school make-up is necessary, communicate with coaches/advisors about potentially missing co-curricular commitments.
6. Reminder: In order to participate in co-curricular activities, students must be present four or more periods during the school day; communicate with coaches/advisors if you are unable to participate. 

In order to support students and families, we are implementing the following attendance protocol for the 2019-20 school year:

Upon five (5) absences from any single class period, students/families will receive an awareness letter indicating that the student is considered chronically absent and close monitoring will take place.

Upon ten (10) absences from any single class period, students/families will be required to provide a doctor’s note to excuse any future absences.  Without a doctor’s note, absences will be marked unexcused.

Upon fifteen (15) absences from any single class period, students will receive an NC (no credit) mark on their report card for that class if a passing grade is earned (students not earning a passing grade will receive a grade of F).  No credit will be earned at that time.  Credit may be earned with successful completion of one of the following:

1. Approval of an Attendance Appeal

Attendance appeals will be reviewed by an attendance appeal committee which will include a Counselor, Grade Level Administrator, Nurse and Case Manager (if applicable).

2. Successful completion of an Attendance Improvement Contract

Student must be present for 90% of class periods the following quarter (this is equal to fewer than five absences from each class in the nine-week term).

If neither of the above are approved/met, the following options may be available; students must work with their counselor and/or grade level administrator to plan for and register for either option. 

3. CORE (required) classes – successful completion of Credit Recovery for the required course

Credits may be recovered in either Extended Day (after school) or Summer School; the original NC will remain on the student’s transcript, but the recovered credit will also be listed (with a grade of P for pass) and count toward graduation requirements.

4. ELECTIVE (non-required) classes – registration and successful completion of the course in subsequent year

This is based on availability – students new to the course will have priority in registration if the course is full); the original NC will remain on the student’s transcript, but the recovered credit will also be listed (with the letter grade earned).