Attendance Policy
Our Attendance Policy = Success for Your Child
Good attendance equals success. Students who are in school each day learn and succeed more than students who are absent. All students are expected to come to school daily and arrive on time. The more your child is in school, the more he/she can learn.
School hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. Monday through Friday. Attendance is taken daily by the classroom/homeroom teacher and also by subject areas teachers in grades 6 – 8. Chancellor’s regulations require that a student maintains a 90% attendance record. Poor attendance interrupts the instructional process and impacts student achievement. Research shows that students who miss 20 or more days of school in one school year are less likely to graduate from high school. Missing even 2 days per month adds up to 20 days per year. You can see on the chart below that even a few days absent results in a significant loss of instructional time. Students who fall below 90% attendance during the school year will be assigned a Success Mentor who will follow up with the family. If you know in advance that your child will be absent for more than two days, contact his/her Success Mentor and the main office. Teachers are available to discuss your child’s progress every Tuesday from 2:20 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. For information regarding school closure and early pick up due to bad weather, please call 311.
The examples below are legal excuses for absence from school. An excused absence is still an absence in the student’s record.
- Personal illness – the school may require a doctor’s note
- Illness in the family – all school work must be kept current
- Death of a relative – a reasonable amount of time is allowed
- Observation of a religious holiday – schoolwork must be made up
*Any other reason must be excused prior to the absence.
Please make every effort to schedule doctor’s appointments after school hours or on weekends; do not schedule vacations during school days. In case of emergency travel, provide copies of airplane tickets or bus/train itineraries. A trip plan needs to be submitted to the school prior to the travel. Remember, even emergency trips are non-attendance days and are still considered an absence which affects your child’s attendance record.
So that your child does not fall behind, if he/she is absent, it is important that they keep up with schoolwork and homework assignments. It’s wise to keep the telephone numbers of reliable classmates so that during absence, the student can do the required work.
Absence Notes: If your child is absent, the Department of Education regulations require that when the student returns to school, they need to bring a note on the day they return to school. The note, must be given to the classroom teacher, who will send it to Ms. Fox in the main office. The note needs to state the reason for the absence and be signed by the parent. Absence notes are kept on file in the main office.
Graham Windham is the lead community based organization collaborating with PS 123 Mahalia Jackson school administrators, faculty, and staff to provide supportive services in areas of: Wellness/Mental Health and Family Support Services, Attendance by Success Mentoring and Parent Engagement. Programs include Community School and Beacon programs. The goal of this partnership is to work with the school community to ensure students and families have access to the tools and resources they need to thrive in school life.
Lateness
Being on time is important for our students to reach their goals. When students come late to school, they lose a significant amount of instructional time. Research shows that students who are consistently late, fall behind in their academics compared to their on-time peers. Creating a habit of lateness affects high school, college and work. You can see on the chart below that being late only 5 minutes lateness per day adds up to almost 3 days of instruction lost in a year. A committee has been established to monitor attendance and schedule follow-up home visits.
Mahalia Jackson School 