Cardinal Spellman High School

Attendance Policies

The progress of a student at Cardinal Spellman High School depends greatly on the regularity of his/her attendance. Lateness/tardiness disturbs the good order of the school and undermines a student's own spirit of responsibility. In order to create the proper educational environment and to maintain the standards of the school, we have the following policy governing attendance.

1. EXPECTATIONS:
1. Students are expected to be in attendance and on time on all school days. Students who arrive at school after 11:00 A.M. will be considered absent for the day and may be sent home.
2. Once a student enters the building he or she may not excuse himself or herself from classes nor may he or she leave the building before the designated time without the permission of the Deans.
3. Parents will call the Deans' office on the second day of absence between 9 A.M. and 10 A.M.
4. On returning to school, a student who has been absent MUST report to the Deans of Students office before 8:15 A.M to receive a yellow absence pass that must be signed by every teacher during the course of the day.
5. Hand written parental/guardian absence notes are required and must contain the student's full name, the date(s) of absence, the cause of absence, a phone number where the parent may be contacted during the day and the student's homeroom. An absence of five or more days requires a doctor's note in addition to the parental note.
6. Students returning to school after an absence without a note are given 1 day to bring in the note as long as they report to the Deans before 8:15 A.M.
7. It is always the responsibility of the student who is absent to make up class work, assignments, and tests missed during the absence. Teachers should be consulted for make up work.
8. A student who is absent from school may not participate in nor attend any school activity of any kind that day or evening without the explicit permission of the Deans.
9. Students may not enter the school building on non-school days except for an activity supervised by a faculty member, moderator, or coach.
10. Cases involving legitimate extended absences for prolonged illness or hospitalization will be treated on an individual basis. If an absence extends beyond 2 weeks, members of the administration will meet with the parents/guardians to review school policies and to discuss home instruction and/or assignments.
2. VIOLATIONS AND CONSEQUENCES:
1. Lateness/Tardiness for school or class means a student must obtain a LATE PASS from the Scholastic Office and report directly to their assigned class. All late detention will be served on Friday afternoons. Students who accumulate more that 3 lateness to per marking period (12 per year) may merit a parent conference, which may lead to exclusion from classes, probation, or dismissal from school.
2. Repeated Absence will not be accepted at Cardinal Spellman. The parents/guardians of students who have accumulated more than four absences in any one marking period will be notified that the student has been excessively absent. Should the pattern of absenteeism continue a conference with the Dean(s) of Students, parents/guardians and the student must occur. Continued disregard may lead to exclusion from classes, probation, or dismissal from school.
3. Illegal Absence (Truancy) from school will merit exclusion from class, a conference with the student's parents, and a period of 15 days detention. The student will receive a zero (0) in ALL work including any tests for the truancy period. Habitual truancy will lead to dismissal from school.
4. Extended Absence due to vacations is not permitted. A student may not be allowed to take make-up tests and may not receive a passing mark for work that is completed during this absence. An extended absence beyond 45 days in length may result in the school requesting the withdrawal of the student from Cardinal Spellman.
5. Extended Absence due to sickness must be documented with a doctor's and parental note. The Deans will deal with absences of this nature on a case by case basis.
6. Cutting a class or an assigned school activity warrants a 7-day detention stay and may merit exclusion from class.
7. Detention School detention is held every day during 8th period (2:00 PM) for Seniors only, and after school (beginning at 2:50PM) for underclassmen. It will end between 3:30PM and 4:00PM for underclassmen and Seniors with an 8th period class.
8. Exclusion from class due to continued disregard of the attendance or other school policies would mean that the student receives a zero (0) on any quizzes, tests and/or class work given during the day(s) of exclusion.
3. APPOINTMENTS:
   Whenever possible, all appointments (college and job interviews, doctors, dentists, and clinics) should be made outside school hours.
1. When appointments can only be made for hours during the school day, written documentation (e.g. appointment card) must accompany a parental letter and presented to the Deans of Students at least one day prior to the appointment. For reasons of security, students are not released with a phone call.
2. Students who have provided written documentation may obtain an Early Dismissal pass from the Deans' Office between 8:00AM and 8:20AM. Those students must then sign out with the Deans at the assigned departure time.