Attendance Information
Please call attendance at 914-725-1543 to report your child's absence or email us at: attendance@edgemont.org
If you are reporting an absence for your child, please be sure to include their FULL NAME, GRADE & a REASON for the absence. Additionally, please note that parents/guardians have 48 hours to provide information to the attendance office after which the unexcused notation will be permanent.
Attendance Policy
The district will provide each student and parent/guardian with a copy of the attendance policy. All students and parents/guardians will be required to sign and return a statement indicating that they have read and understand the policy. Failure to do so will result in a delay of your child receiving his/her/their schedule.
Attendance
All students have a right to educational opportunities that will enable them to develop to their fullest potential. We believe that daily attendance is essential for student success and will have a positive impact on students’ academic, social, and emotional development. It is a fundamental responsibility of parents/guardians to ensure students’ punctual arrival and daily attendance. The school day commences at 8:25 a.m. and continues until 3:07 p.m. All blocks are 55 minutes long, with a five minute passing time between blocks. Responsibility entails meeting one’s obligations. One of the most important obligations a student has is to attend all of their classes unless they must be absent for a valid reason. Much learning is based upon the information presented, exchanged, and explored in class. A student’s presence in class is therefore taken into account in the evaluations of student progress. Lack of attendance, coupled with other factors of a teacher’s grading policy, may result in course failure. Students must be present the entire school day in order to participate in any school-sponsored performances or competitions/games after school. If a student shows a pattern of absences, coaches and advisors will be notified.
Student Responsibilities:
- Attend all classes on time every day
- Sign in through the main office when arriving to school late and sign out through the main office when leaving school early even if you have a form on file
- If you are leaving early from a class, wait to be called to the main office by school staff. Students who are ill during the school day and must, therefore, miss or be late to a class are required to report to the nurse, or the absence/ lateness will be classified as unexcused.
- If a student is tardy for the first period, the office must receive notification from a parent or guardian explaining the tardiness in order for us to determine whether or not it is excused.
- For blocks B-F, obtain a late pass and present it to the teacher.
- Be aware that three tardies will result in a detention.
- Make up any assignments from the absence although not every teacher will assign credit for the work.
Parent Responsibilities:
- Discuss the attendance policy with your child and reinforce our expectations.
- Ensure students’ punctual arrival and daily attendance
- Be clear on the legal reasons for which an absence is excused, including, personal illness, medical or dental appointments, bereavement, court appearance, school sponsored activities and trip, approved college visits, inclement weather, religious observance, authorized meetings with school personnel and military obligation.
- If your child is going to be absent, call the attendance office at 725-1543 or send an email to attendance@edgemont.org between 7:45 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. on each day of absence to explain the reason for the absence. The phone message or email should include the date and reason for absence. Parents have 48 hours from the absence to let the school know or it will not be excused.
- If your child is tardy, the student presents the attendance clerk with a note signed and dated by their parent/guardian or by the parent/guardian calling the attendance clerk at 725-1543, stating an excused reason for lateness (see above). In this case, students are to report to the attendance clerk upon arrival to the school to receive a late pass to class. Please note: Tardiness will be considered unexcused if the parent does not call the attendance clerk or if the student does not present the attendance clerk with a note that is signed and dated by their parent/guardian stating a legal reason for lateness.
- Please provide a note from the healthcare provider to the main office if a student misses classes for a medical appointment.
Repercussions:
- Students with unexcused absences and/or latenesses may receive a grade deduction on work due to the lateness or absence.
- Students will receive one detention for each unexcused absence and for each 3 tardies, no more than the length of a course block (55 minutes) or less than a lunch period (42 minutes).
- Parents will be notified of all detentions and the school policy will be reviewed with the students.
- Students may not participate in any school-sponsored performances or competitions/games after school.
Passes
Upon returning to a class that a student missed due to absence, lateness, being in the nurse’s office, meeting with school counselors, etc., the student must show the classroom teacher a pass signed by the attendance clerk, nurse, counselor, or teacher. All passes for absences or lateness to school must come from the attendance clerk in the Main Office. An absence that is not supported with a pass will be considered an unexcused absence.
Attendance and Course Credit
After missing 24 classes of a full year course, 12 classes of a semester course, 9 lab classes, or more than 15% of a course, a conference will be called with all stakeholders, including parents and guardians, to discuss the viability of earning credit for the course. Students may not receive credit for the course if the absences are not justified through reasons beyond students’ control and could not be mitigated. Additionally, students will have to demonstrate that every effort was made to complete assigned course work.