Attendance

The school year consists of 180 days, and high school students cannot accumulate more than 5 absences per class and still receive credit for the course, regardless of the grade earned in the course. Family vacations, organizational trips, or retreats during the school year are included in the 5 absences per term. Please refer to the SJHS attendance brochure for specific details regarding attendance laws, policies, and “seat time” sessions.

Students arriving at school after 8:20 must report to the attendance office to sign in and get a tardy pass. Students who miss more than 45 minutes of a class will be considered absent. Pace and late arrival students are to enter the building through the cafeteria doors between 9:30-10:00 am.

Students requiring early dismissal should bring a note from their parents to the front desk in order to obtain an early dismissal pass. All requests are to be submitted prior to 8:15 a.m. so that they may be verified by phone. The note must have a phone number at which the parent may be contacted. If the note cannot be verified by phone the student will not be allowed to leave. We cannot accept phone calls for early dismissal. Students will not be issued a tardy pass if they fail to bring their note to the front desk before 8:15 a.m. SJHS will not call classrooms unless it is an emergency; therefore, the student must have a pass to get out of class. When it is time for students to leave, they are to go by the front desk to sign out. Students who do not bring a note for a pre-arranged medical or legal appointment must remain in class until the period ends before they will be permitted to sign out of school with their parent/guardian. Failure to sign out at the front desk will result in a disciplinary infraction. Students will not be signed out after 3:00 p.m.

After an absence students are to report to the front desk before 8:15 a.m. with a note from their parent/guardian or from their doctor. Notes from the parent/guardian or doctor must be submitted to the front desk within three days of an absence. Failure to do so will result in an unverified unexcused absence. Students will not be written a tardy pass to first block because they failed to bring their note to the front desk before 8:15 a.m. Failure to do so will result in an unverified unexcused absence.
 

Students who miss school without parental knowledge, and students who are absent from school without acceptable cause with the knowledge of the parent, are considered unlawfully absent. According to the SC Attendance/Truancy Law when students have three consecutive unlawful or unexcused absences or a total of five unlawful or unexcused absences, the school will contact parents and develop an Attendance Intervention Plan (AIP) for improved attendance. Students exceeding five days of unlawful or unexcused absences will be reported to Family Court. Students who have excessive unlawful or unexcused absences in a single class may also be referred to Family Court for truancy.
 

The following absences are considered excused: medical, judicial, and bereavement. Students will need to provide documentation for medical, judicial, and bereavement absences upon returning to school. Prearranged absences for other reasons and/or extreme hardships are at the discretion of the principal.

SC-UNEX – Unexcused absence

UEPN- Unexcused parent note

MED- Medical (Excused)

SC-UTRD- Unexcused Tardy

SC-ETRD- Excused Tardy

ISS- In School Suspension

OSS- Out of School Suspension

FT- Field Trip

DSML- Dismissal (unexcused)

EDSM- Early Dismissal (Excused)

REC – Attendance Recovery

**** Family trips/vacations will NOT be excused