School Attendance

Regular attendance in school is important to your student's success in the classroom. School Code requires that all students attend school regularly, making attendance compulsory to the age of 18. Below, please find information pertaining to attendance requirements, what to do if your child is absent from school, the steps taken should your child be unexcused from school, and other important attendance information.

Leaving Early / Arriving Late

If a child is leaving school early or arriving late for an appointment, a parent note or doctor's note should be provided to the attendance office on that school day. If a child is leaving early, a note should be provided at the start of the school day so the attendance office can provide the student with a pass and/or notify teachers of the early dismissal. If you are picking your child up early from school (i.e. for an appointment, if they are not feeling well but not being sent home by the nurse, etc.), a written excuse, which contains the same information as an absence excuse is required.

Absent From School

If a child is absent from school, it is important that a written note is provided to the attendance office/main office as quickly as possible. The parent/child has 5 days to provide a written excuse pertaining to that absence. After 5 days, the absence will automatically become unexcused. Absence notes can be provided by a parent in 4 forms:

• A handwritten note with a parent signature handed in to the attendance office/main office within 5 days.
• A doctor's note from a doctor's office handed in to the attendance office/main office within 5 days.
• An email written to the attendance office email address that is emailed from a parent email address on file with Powerschool within 5 days. (Notes that are emailed from an email address not in Powerschool can not be accepted).
• Submission of absence note by replying to the Parent Square absence notification within 5 days of the notification.
  
  

Absent Note Requirements

Absent notes shall include:

• The date(s) the child was absent
• The reason for the absence

Electronic Absent Note Submission:

High School: hs-attendance@svpanthers.org

Middle School: ms-attendance@svpanthers.org

Elementary School: es-attendance@svpanthers.org

Reminders:

• When submitting an electronic excuse, the note must come from an email address on file with Powerschool.
• If a family has multiple children absent on the same day, please be sure to email notes to the correct building for each individual child.
• Please include any medical notes with your electronic absence submission should the absence be medically related or for an appointment.

As students accumulate unexcused absences from school, the following procedures will take place as required by law and/or school policy. Unlawful notices will be sent through Parent Square.

• 1st Unexcused Absence: Letter sent home with notification of unexcused absence
• 2nd Unexcused Absence: Letter sent home with notification of unexcused absence
• 3rd Unexcused Absence: Letter sent home with notification of unexcused absence & request for required parent meeting to discuss a Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP)
• 6th Unexcused Absence: Letter sent home with notification of unexcused absence
• 10th Unexcused Absence: Letter sent home with notification of unexcused absence and possible referral or citation to a truancy intervention program and/or the District Magistrate. This procedure may result in a fine for the parent or student for lack of attendance.

All vacations taken during the school year do require approval through submission of the school district's vacation form. Vacation forms may be obtained by contacting your child's school building. Please note that vacations, up to 5 school days, do count as lawful days of absence from school.

A reminder that students absent from school, or late beyond 9:30am in the Middle School and High School, are not eligible to participate in after school activities that day unless prior approval by an administrator has been obtained or a doctor's note is provided prior to the activity.

Athlete who are absent for 20 days or more in a semester, by rule, are ineligible to participate in Athletics by the PIAA.