ATTENDANCE

All Middle School students are expected to arrive at school on time and to attend all scheduled classes and meetings unless they have a valid excuse, such as illness or involvement in a scheduled school activity. In all cases, parents are required to contact the school if their child is going to be absent.

The AIS attendance policy is as follows:

All days absent from class count as absences – there is no distinction between excused and unexcused absences in terms of counting days missed. Absences for medical reasons are still counted as absences.
Students absent more than 20 days may be required to attend summer school in order to pass the grade level.
Students are expected to ask the class teacher for work that needs to be made up. Students will have to make arrangements with the class teachers for each absence day to complete the make-up work. Arrangements to make up tests and other in-class work must be made with the class teacher.
When a student reaches 5 days of absence, parents will be notified.
When a student reaches 7 days of absence, parents will be notified
When a student reaches 10 days of absence, a meeting will be called with the parents and the counselor and a letter will be given to the parents outlining the school’s attendance policy.
Students who miss two or more blocks (periods) in a given day will be counted as absent for that day.
For early dismissal, pre-excused notes from parents will be accepted only when supported by an email from the parent to the Middle School Office Secretary. Students without a pre-excused note from their parents will not be allowed to leave the school until the end of the school day. If your child is a bus rider, all changes in transportation must be emailed to transportation@aiswest.com prior to 1 p.m.
Students should not plan to leave school for medical appointments, early travel plans etc. Make your plans to have appointments and travel outside of school hours.
Class attendance is mandatory the entire school day before a student may attend an extracurricular or co-curricular activity.
Student absences due to participation in school sponsored activities, events or field trips are not counted toward a student’s total absences.

Attendance Requirement for Grades

To receive a grade for the nine-week period, a student must have been in attendance at least five weeks of the grading period.

Classwork when Absent/Sick

When a student is absent, it is his or her responsibility to communicate with the classroom teacher and follow classroom procedures (i.e. website, email, peers) regarding any make-up work.

Tardy Policy

In order for students to gain the most from their educational opportunities at AIS Middle School, they are expected to arrive at the appropriate time to their classroom every day. The following policy is enforced by the classroom teacher and the middle school attendance officer. It is the student’s responsibility to be in class on time.

The following procedures will be followed by all AIS - West staff when dealing with tardiness:

15 minutes tardiness: If a student is 15 minutes late, or more, to enter class, the student will be counted as absent for that class period
5 Tardies: Parents will be notified.
8 tardies: Parents will be notified.
10 tardies: Parents will be notified and the student will serve Lunch Detention.
15 tardies: Parents will be notified and the student will serve Lunch Detention.
20 tardies: The student will serve After-School Detention, and a parent meeting will be held to discuss your child’s behavior and future at AISW.

*Tardy totals reset every term

Excused and Unexcused Absences

At AISW we are aware that students may have valid reasons for an absence. Parents must notify the Middle School Office explaining the reason:

At least two weeks in advance of any planned and/or prolonged (2 or more days) absence.
Within 24 hours after an unexpected absence (sickness, emergency, etc), with supporting evidence such as a medical note.
Medical reports and evidence for the excused absences must be submitted to the clinic (clinic@aiswest.com) and Middle School Office within 5 calendar days via email.

Any medically related absence will be approved for only one day and will be counted as an excused absence then starting the next day, an official medical documentation has to be submitted to excuse any further absence. Parents are required to provide all documents at the school clinic : clinic@aiswest.com
If a student is absent during an assessment day, an official medical documentation has to be submitted to excuse his/her absence even if for one day only. clinic@aiswest.com
Out-of-School Suspensions count towards the student's unexcused days of absence.

Excused absences include but are not limited to:

Child illness/injury (if in attendance, students must first visit the AISE Clinic)
Visa appointments (requires documentation)
Serious medical conditions
Death of a family member
Medical/dental appointment which cannot be scheduled before or after school (requires documentation)
National team obligations that have been approved by administration.

Students will have time equivalent to the number of excused days absent to catch up on missed work and/or submit missing assessments. Note: Teachers may adjust the format/details of the assessment to prevent plagiarism. Students will need to have an excused absence coded in PowerSchool in order to receive credit; however, the purpose of assessment is to provide feedback.

The school calendar clearly shows dates when school is not in session (holidays). Parents are expected to plan family holidays within these dates.

Please note:

Students should make medical appointments, travel plans, and other appointments outside of school hours;
Students who participate in school-sponsored events or activities are expected to attend classes on the day of the event or activity when possible;
Students who participate in a school trip/event must attend school the day after;
Students who are absent (unexcused) on the day of an assessment will not have an opportunity to retake the assessment at a later date.

*The Middle School Leadership Team has the final word on all attendance issues.

Early Dimissal

Leaving early without a serious reason has a serious impact on your child's performance and places them at risk of passing their attendance limit that is permitted by the Ministry of Education and are risking not passing their courses accordingly.

Therefore please be notified that no early dismissal requests will be permitted unless there is documentation for medical or formal reasons such as embassy appointments or other serious matters. Each request will be reviewed by the administration before giving out permission.

In addition, only emails sent before 11:30 am will be processed. For emergencies after 11:30, parents or guardians are permitted to come to the office in person to collect their child if absolutely necessary.

*The Middle School Leadership Team has the final word on all attendance issues.

National Representation

AIS West is proud to support students who participate in athletic teams at the national level. In keeping with the policies of the Egyptian government and AISW, absences that result from national-level participation for games and tournaments will not be counted towards total absences. However, trainings and daily practice sessions are not excused absences and will count towards the total absences of the student. Please ensure that you schedule practices and trainings after school hours.

It is the student’s responsibility to submit documentation to the Middle School Office that will identify them as a national level athlete, clearly stating official dates of absences. This documentation must be submitted for each period of absence. Upon submission of this documentation, the student must sign a National Team agreement with the Principal indicating they are aware of this policy and their related responsibilities.

Once the student, parents, and Principal sign the agreement, the student will be cleared for national representation. Students will be given time upon returning from their representative duties to catch up with work missed and submit overdue assessment tasks. The time allowed will be equal to the number of days missed or the end of the grading period, whichever comes first.

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