Regular school attendance is essential to successful class work. Sporadic attendance causes children to drop behind in their work and thus endangers their academic progress. Parents are to see that their child attends school regularly and is prompt in arriving and departing from school.

Punctuality is a character trait that Westover Christian Academy seeks to instill in its students. The tardiness of one individual can disrupt an entire class by making it difficult for the classroom teacher to complete attendance records and take lunch orders before beginning class. Therefore, parents are encouraged to assist in making sure that students are prompt in arriving and departing from school.

Excused tardies to school are the exception, not the rule. Examples of excused tardies would include medical or dental appointments, illness, and inclement weather conditions. Students are to furnish documentation from the doctor or dentist's office verifying the appointment. Broken alarm clocks, running late, and oversleeping are not excused tardies. Each student is entitled to one "car trouble" tardy each six-weeks without penalty. "Car trouble" tardies must be confirmed by note or phone call from parent.

ELEMENTARY: A student is considered tardy when not present in class at 8:00 a.m. A student arriving after 8:00 is to enter through the office, and will receive a Tardy Slip before reporting to class. Each tardy will be considered either excused or unexcused. Lunch for tardy students may be ordered at the office until 8:20 a.m.

MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL: A student is considered tardy when not present in first period at 8:00 a.m. A student who arrives after 8:00 is to sign-in at the office and receive a Tardy Slip before reporting to class. Each tardy will be considered either excused or unexcused. Tardy students should order lunch at the office by 8:20 a.m.

The early dismissal of students is discouraged. Whenever possible, medical and dental appointments should be made for after-school hours or non-school days. When it becomes necessary for the parent to take a child out of class early for doctor appointments or other reasons, release of the student must be made through the office.

If a student returns to school after an early dismissal (ex.: dentist appointment), the student must sign in through the office, bringing documentation of the appointment.

Valuable classroom instruction is missed when students check out of school early. While a parent may choose to sign a student out of school, it is the school's responsibility to classify each early dismissal as excused or unexcused. Parents are strongly discouraged from checking a student out for "convenience" sake. Examples of excused early dismissals include medical or dental appointments, illness, and inclement weather conditions. The penalties for unexcused early dismissals are the same as for unexcused tardies to school (see below.)

Early dismissals must be signed out through the office. It is helpful for the teacher to receive a note from the parent day so that he/she can anticipate the call from the office to dismiss the student from class.

Early dismissals must be accompanied by a note from the parent. The student should take the note to the office before classes start on the day he needs to be dismissed early. The office will issue the student a dismissal form to be signed by the teacher of each class he will miss that day. Before the student leaves the school property, he must sign out in the office and turn in the dismissal form. A parental note is also required for a student to drive himself to and from an appointment; and he must also sign out.

Elementary unexcused tardies and early dismissals will result in the following:

• # 5 Notification to the parent

• # 8 Notification to the parent from the Director of Elementary Ed.

• # 10 For each ten unexcused tardies and/or unexcused early dismissals, a grade deduction of one point from every subject's final grade is made at the end of the school year.

The penalty for unexcused tardiness to school and/or unexcused early dismissals is defined as follows:

• # 3 Parent notification

• # 5 Isolated lunch and parent notification

• # 7 Isolated lunch for one week and parent notification

• # 9 Detention assigned and letter sent to parent

• #10 For each ten unexcused tardies and/or unexcused early dismissals, one point deduction is made from the final grade in each class.

Tardy & early dismissal penalties are cumulative for the year.

In the event a student must miss part or all of a school day, the parent must call the WCA office or send a signed note to the teacher (gr. K3 through 5) or the office (gr. 6-12) stating the reason for the absence. The office will issue each junior and senior high student an admit slip, marked excused or unexcused. The student then takes the admit slip to the teacher of each class he missed. After all teachers sign the admit slip, the student turns it in to his homeroom teacher.

The following shall constitute valid excuses for such absences:

• Illness or injury

• Death in family

• Quarantine

• Medical or dental appointment

• Court proceedings

• Religious observances

• Educational opportunity

• Inclement weather conditions

An effort is made by the office to remind students of absences which have not been accounted for by a parental note or phone call. At the conclusion of each six-weeks, absences that have not become "excused" officially become "unexcused".

The academic penalty for unexcused absences is as follows:

• Three-six days 1 point deduction from each year-end average

• Seven-ten days 2 point deduction from each year-end average

• Eleven-fourteen days 3 point deduction from each year-end average

A student who checks in to school after 11:00 a.m. or checks out before 11:00 a.m. is considered absent for that school day.

Attendance at a school-sponsored trip is credited as a regular school day. An absence from a field trip is counted as a missed school day. Any student absent from school will not be allowed to participate in any after-school activity that day, unless his absence during the day was for a doctor's appointment or was pre-arranged with the administrator.

Upon occasion, parents request an excused absence of special nature (weddings, college graduations, travel, etc.) for their child. Parent-initiated absences should be limited to a total of five days during the course of the school year. Notice of parent-initiated absences should be given to the teacher prior to the absence so that arrangements can be made to make-up work, quizzes, tests, etc. For parent-initiated absences of at least 3 days in succession, the student must receive academic clearance from the administration.

Parent-initiated absences may be marked as unexcused absences in the following cases:

• If the student has exceeded the allotted five parent-initiated absences

• If the student has exceeded 15 absences from class/school during the current school year

• If the student is experiencing serious academic difficulty

• If the request for a parent-initiated absence occurs during exams

A student who misses a total of 20 or more days per year will be retained at his current grade level if

he has D or F average in both Arithmetic and Reading for the year

he has D or F average in a total of any three subjects for the year

A student who misses a total of 20 or more days per year will be retained at his current grade level if

he has D or F average in both Arithmetic & English for the year

he has D or F average in a total of any three subjects for the year

A junior high student who misses a total of 20-29 days of school per year will be retained at his current grade level if he has a D or F yearly average in two or more academic subjects (Bible, English, Mathematics, Science, or History). A student who misses a total of 30 or more days of school per year will be retained at his current grade level regardless of his yearly averages.

A high school student who misses a class a total of 20-29 times during the school year will not receive credit for that particular class if he has a D or F average in that class. If he/she misses a class a total of 30 or more times, he/she will not receive credit for that class regardless of his/her average in that class. The student's promotion to the next grade may or may not be in jeopardy, since promotion depends on the total number of credits earned.

NOTE: It is the responsibility of WCA Administration to report students with chronic absenteeism and/or continual tardiness to local truancy officials.

The matter of make-up work will be left to each individual teacher. On extended absences, parents are encouraged to pick up assignments that the child may complete at home. In the case of absence due to out-of-town travel, work may be given to the child to complete in advance, whenever possible.

When five days or less are missed, the student will have twice the number of days missed to make up the work. For example, if three days were missed, the student would have six days (including weekends) to complete all make-up work. This work is the responsibility of the student, not the teacher. The make-up work will receive full credit unless it is turned in past the deadline stated above.

When more than five days are missed, the teacher, student, and parent(s) will work out a schedule that will give the necessary time needed to make up the work.

If a student misses only the day a test is given or project or assignment is due, he is responsible to make up the work the first day he returns provided he was informed of the due date in advance of his absence. If a student returns to school on the day of a pre-announced test or quiz after a short absence, the student is expected to take the test or quiz on the day it is given.