Summit-Questa Attendance Policy

A student’s success at school is dependent upon regular and consistent attendance.  At Summit-Questa, we embrace the concept of educating the whole child and in particular, the idea that special times away with parents provide a unique time of bonding and learning that is essential to a child’s development and well-being. We understand that field trips can enrich a child’s education which is why we include them in our curriculum.  With this idea in mind, this memo provides you with clarification about our school policies regarding attendance, absenteeism, and tardiness.

By law, and accreditation standards, a private school must offer a minimum of 175 days of instruction or the equivalent in hours.  Unlike public schools, private schools are able to set their own policies in regards to how many reasonable days a student may miss without being retained a grade.  Florida State Law does allow for excused absences due to illness or death in the immediate family.  However, vacations, extended weekends, or doctor’s appointments do not constitute a legal excused absence. Our school policy certainly takes individual situations into account, such as health issues, but in general, once a student misses more than 10 days of school without approval from the principal, that student is placed on possible academic probation; if more school days are missed from this point forward, the result is possible retention or summer school.   We, of course, encourage students to attend school without excessive tardiness or absenteeism.  When a child consistently arrives late or is frequently out sick, a negative impact on that child’s ability to stay current with lesson concepts and target areas of study results and their academic progress can be impeded.

With this in mind, we expect that, as much as possible, trips will be planned to occur within the scheduled holiday dates, teacher work days, and early release days, as listed on our school calendar.  If you should schedule a trip or a day-off other than during these posted breaks, a written notification must be submitted to the office prior to the date off.  If your child is out sick, please call and notify the school office the morning of the day the child is out. Every absence requires a written note from the parent or guardian stating the reason for the absence.  Any student having a communicable illness must have a note of clearance from a medical doctor upon returning to school.  Class time missed due to late arrival or early dismissal is counted towards the student’s attendance. 

All elementary and middle school students are expected to stay on target and complete any work missed due to trips taken or illnesses.  Parents need to understand that the school and teachers cannot be held accountable for the quality of your child’s educational achievements, conceptual gaps, or standardized test scores, when the child has excessive tardiness or absenteeism. If your child does exceed the acceptable amount of absenteeism, then you will receive a formal letter stating that we have a concern in this area.

I thank you in advance for your cooperation and support of our school policies.