Attendance Policies

STATEMENT OF COOPERATION

Attendance at American Christian Academy is a privilege. In keeping with our mission special events are planned for students for their spiritual development and educational enrichment. Parents are expected to partner with us in fully supporting these events. Parents who feel unable to support the these events and other school procedures may need to consider selecting another school they can support fully.  In addition should the administration determine that a STUDENT OR PARENT is not in harmony with the mission, spirit, and purpose of the school, the administration may remove the student from the school.

SECURITY CHECK-IN PROCEDURES

Due to security measures we have initiated new procedures for entering the building. The Building will be secured each day from 8:15 AM to 3:00 PM. Parents and other visitors must come to the front office via the main entrance in order to gain entrance. Visitors must sign in at the main office and receive a visitor tag which is to be worn during the entire visit. At the end of the visit, parents (or other guests) must return the tag to the main office and sign out. Students from other schools are not permitted to visit without prior permission of the administration.

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ATTENDANCE POLICIES

Rationale

Students are learning much more from their school experience than textbook information.  They are learning many “life” lessons and developing habits that will either help them or hinder them when they leave American Christian Academy to enter the next phase of their life.  Good attendance is essential to educational progress. Doing make-up work is always inferior to actual classroom time.  Habits of steady and consistent attendance carry over to the work or career world.  The administration has designed the following attendance policies to teach and reinforce Christian values such as self-discipline, punctuality, consistency, and consideration for others.  If a student is absent, it will be classified as either excused or unexcused depending on the cause. BOTH accumulate to impact learning and therefore the grades earned.  PLEASE READ AND CONSIDER THIS CAREFULLY. Excessive unexcused absences are considered truancy. We are legally responsible to report excessive absences to the authorities at DHR.  Students with excessive absences (more than 10 per semester) will have their grade lowered by a letter grade. Students who reach 5 absences in a class will be required to provide a doctor’s excuse for all subsequent absences.

EXCUSED ABSENCES

Absences due to personal illness, death in the immediate family, legal quarantine, court subpoena, obtaining a driver’s license or a medical appointment are considered excused.  Students should bring in a note explaining the absence when they return.  If the absences were due to a medical appointment, a notification should be brought to school from the doctor’s office. If the student experiences a chronic medical condition or a catastrophic circumstance that causes excessive absences, a letter from the attending physician describing the condition or written verification of the circumstance should be submitted for the student’s records. All other excessive absences, excused or unexcused (10 or more per semester) will result in the grades being lowered by one letter grade in each class where excessive absences were reached. Teachers may offer participation grades to encourage regular attendance. Due to the nature of “participation”, students are not able to make these up.

Students may obtain permission for an excused absence for other situations by meeting the following conditions:

-Advanced (at least 48 hours) written notice to the front office

-Teachers notified to secure assignments that will be missed

-Absences do not exceed the 10 per semester limit

-Examples of approved situations: college visits, mission trips, family trips

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES

Absences for reasons other than those listed above are unexcused.  Hair cuts, changing clothes, getting supplies, lunch extended beyond the regular time,  or other errands are examples of UNEXCUSED absences, even with a parent’s permission.   Work may not be made up for UNEXCUSED absences. Students are not permitted to leave campus for lunch unless the parent personally picks the student up.

ADDITIONAL ATTENDANCE POLICIES

Students involved in interscholastic sports may not participate in that sport (practice or game) on any day they are absent.  Students must have attended at least one half of the school day in which they are to compete or practice. This includes activity days like Camp Horn. Students who are absent 5 times will be removed from extracurricular activities.

Students who must leave class for any reason must have the teacher sign their agenda.  The pass must state where they are going and the time they left.  Students should not interrupt other classes.  Students who are present at school and arrive to class 5 to 15 minutes late will be issued 1 demerit.  Students who are more than 15 minutes late to class and the reasons are unexcused will be considered to be skipping and issued 3 demerits.

CHECKING OUT: PLANNED EARLY DISMISSAL

For planned early dismissal students should bring a note from the parent/guardian stating the reason for checking out and the time the student is to leave.  The note should be presented to the front office before school or 1st period.  The student will be issued an early dismissal slip which will be shown to the teacher at the time of check out.  The student will go to the front office and sign the check out book when they leave.

Students who leave campus during school hours without administrative approval or who do not follow proper procedures are considered truant and will receive 6 demerits.   While the school does not have authority to keep a student from checking out when the parents have given permission, the school reserves the right to consider the reason “unexcused” and any work missed will not be allowed to be made up.

BEING ADMITTED TO CLASS AFTER BEING ABSENT

A written note signed by the parent, or a medical verification form must be presented to the school secretary to receive an Admit Slip the first day of their return to school. Students that lose or misplace an admit slip and require a replacement will be issued a demerit. Parents may be contacted to verify the contents of the note.  Students who have missed a total of 5 consecutive days MUST present a doctor’s excuse for ALL SUBSEQUENT ABSENCES. Students must obtain an Admit Slip from the front office for absence from a class or classes.

POLICY FOR MAKE-UP WORK

Students are permitted to make up the work missed due to excused absences. Teachers may modify this basic policy with changes listed in the individual class syllabi.   It is the responsibility of the student to obtain missed assignments and complete them within 2 days after return to school. After two days or a time approved by the teacher of the class, zeros will be given for work not completed. If tests are scheduled prior to and given the day the student was absent the tests are to be made up the day a student returns to class or at the teachers discretion.  Students should make arrangements with the teacher for a test covering material introduced during the excused absence. Make-up tests will be given at the convenience and discretion of the teacher and may require students to come to school early or after school to make up the test. Teachers will be flexible with students who are trying their best to make up class assignments, missed homework, and tests.  If students have missed several days teachers will allow ample time to complete the work successfully. Teachers will not accept make-up work for homework or class work for unexcused absences.  Teachers will not administer make-up tests for unexcused absences.

TARDINESS

Everyone has occasions when they are late; however, for some individuals, being late is a habit pattern produced from poor planning and lack of self-discipline. Events, unplanned and beyond personal control, including traffic problems, may cause students to be late.  Conversely, these events are usually rare.  With a note from the doctor’s office medical appointments are excused and not included in the following directives. Students are allowed 4 tardies with no penalty. On the 5th tardy the student will be issued 1 demerit and 1 demerit for each 5 tardies after that. These demerits will accumulate and carry the same consequences as other demerits. Because being tardy is a distraction to the other students and the teacher, the teacher may give a participation grade from which a pre-determined amount of points may be deducted. Students who are absent from a class will have points deducted from the participation grade. Because participation requires the student’s presence, students will be unable to make-up these points. Students arriving more than 15 minutes late are considered to have been absent from the class possibly adding to excessive absences and grade reduction.

HIGH SCHOOL STUDY HALL

Because of our sense of responsibility for the health and safety of our students we ask that students not arrive before 7:30 a.m. or remain after 3:30 p.m. If they have not been picked up by 3:30 they must report to after school study hall in a designated room. We provide after- school services because it is our position that students should be supervised for their protection. Students not in study hall should have gotten everything they need from their lockers and be out of the building by 3:30 and at that time become the full responsibility of the parents Students participating in extracurricular activities should report by 3:30 to the person who sponsors the activity. Students in after school study hall will be charged $3.00 a day.  Students are not allowed to unattended in the building after 3:30. Students violating this policy will be issued 3 demits.