Attendance Policy Reminders

As a reminder if your student  will be absent from school:

  • Parents may submit the absence using the digital attendance form linked here. OR
  • You may also email  Ms. Estafani Illescas, attendance secretary,  about the absence and this will serve as written documentation. OR
  • The student may bring a written note, signed by a parent/guardian, upon return to school as documentation.   
  • If you wish to inform us of a known absence the day of the absence, you may call 240.740.7640  Written documentation will still be necessary as a follow up to the call. 

If your child is out sick for five (5) or more consecutive days, a doctor’s note is required.  

 

As we know there is a direct relationship between school attendance and student achievement. Students are to attend every scheduled class, on time, each day unless there is a legitimate reason for an absence. The school day begins at 8:15 a.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m.  Legitimate reasons for a student absence, tardiness and dismissals are: 

  • Certified illness of the student
  • Physical and mental incapacity
  • Court summons
  • Religious holiday
  • Work or activity accepted by school authorities
  • Death in immediate family
  • State emergency
  • Violent storm
  • Suspension

Vacations are not an excused absence. The principal may issue an exception in extraordinary circumstances. Administrators may approve an absence at least one week in advance. It is the student’s responsibility to gather any assignments they will be missing. The Maryland State Department of Education, Maryland Student Records System Manual, has revised its definition of full and half-day attendance. Therefore, “a student is counted present for a full day if the student is in attendance for at least two (2) hours of the school day, but less than four (4) hours. See Montgomery County Public Schools Regulation, JEA-RA, Student Attendance for more information.