Attendance, Absence Reporting and Punctuality

Reporting Absences and Tardies

One of the most important elements of successful learning is regular, on-time attendance at school. Whatever the cause, it is imperative that parents/guardians notify the school of a student’s absence and/or tardiness on the day of the absence or tardy.  Absence and tardy notifications may be made to our secretarial staff or the 24 hour voice system. TO REPORT AN ABSENCE OR TARDY, PLEASE CALL 757-5330 AND PRESS EXTENSION 112. Please state your name, the student’s name, date(s) of absence or tardy, and reason for the absence.  If a parent or guardian is unable to call in the absence or tardy, the student must bring a note to the Office that has been signed and dated by a parent or guardian. The note should indicate the student’s name, date(s) of and reason for the absence or tardy.

Our school has an autodialing system that telephones parents/guardians after 24 hours of a student’s unexcused absence from class whether it is an entire day or just one period. If a parent or guardian fails to notify the school of a student absence within 24 hours of the absence and/or fails to respond to a telephone call from the school, the student will be given an unexcused absence, commonly known as a “cut”.

Please note: If the attendance office does not receive either a parent note or phone call to clear a student absence or tardy, students must serve after school detention.  Failure to serve detention will result in further disciplinary action.

Leaving Campus During School Hours

Harper is a closed campus and students are not allowed to leave campus without permission.  If a student needs to leave school for a foreseeable event such as medical/dental appointment, parents/guardians should do the following:

On the day of the event/appointment, provide a permission note for the student to bring to the Attendance Office before classes begin. The note must state the date, time and reason for leaving campus and should be signed by the parent/guardian. Students may only leave in the company of an individual listed on their emergency card or the individual the parent/guardian has indicated on the permission note for that day.  Parents and/or individuals permitted to pick-up students MUST come into the school office and sign the student out of school. If you wish to allow your student to leave on their own, your note must clearly state that on the note as well as how the student will leave campus (i.e. walking, bus, bike).

Students must always sign out in the office before leaving campus.

We are aware that a student, parent or guardian will not always know in advance of the need to leave campus. If you need to take your student out of a class you should allow enough time to come to the Office and request that the student be retrieved from the class by a staff member or student office assistant. Office staff may not telephone into the classroom to retrieve students due to the disruption and distraction it causes.  Parents and guardians should not telephone the Office to request that their student be called from class to wait for pick up unless it is an emergency.

*Cell phone policy prohibits student use between 8:20am to 3:30pm. Please do not tempt your student to violate the policy by communicating with them via cell phone during the school day. Please refer to the Student Planner for the cell phone policy.