Attendance

Attendance Expectations

Regular attendance is required by law, and is vital for your child to have success in school.  Research shows that student achievement is directly related to attendance.  BES’ attendance goal mirrors the state goal of 96%; this equates to missing no more than 7 days of school per year.  Attendance is carefully monitored and parents are informed when we notice a concern regarding attendance.  If your child is reluctant to attend, contact the school so we can work with you in solving the problem.  When it comes to your child’s education, every day counts.  Teachers model the thinking process while reading books aloud and explain math problems with manipulatives and real-life examples.  Students interact with their peers to connect social studies and science passages to the community around them.  While we certainly understand that circumstances beyond your control arise, we ask that you make every effort to limit your child’s absences to those due to illness, and plan family vacations over long weekends and other breaks already built into the school calendar.  Please also be aware of scheduling appointments and vacations during testing windows that are published in the FCPS Calendar Handbook. 

If your child is not at school OR leaves early, please contact your child’s after-school care provider.  The school is not responsible for relaying this information, and this often creates confusion and delays during dismissal.

Excuse Notes

State law requires a written excuse any time a child is absent.  The excuse note should be received by the school within two days of the absence and should include the child’s first and last name, date of the absence, the reason for the absence, teacher name, and the signature of the parent/guardian.  Without this information, the absence is coded as unlawful.  A written excuse note is required when a child arrives at school after the morning bell.  A written excuse note from a physician is necessary for a long-range restriction from physical education activities or recess. FCPS Student Attendance Procedure Reg 400-70 

REquest for Make-up Work

When a student is absent due to illness, parents may request make-up work; students who are absent for one day will receive work missed from the teacher the following day.  Parents may request make-up work for students that will be absent for more than one day by contacting the teacher.  Due to limited planning and preparation periods, teachers cannot send home individualized lessons and activities for your child if they are taken out of school for vacation.  Instead, please help your child maintain their academic progress by doing the following:

• Checking a book out from the library which is appropriate for your child to read.  Have him/her read the book (K-2) or a chapter from the book (3-5) daily and respond to what he or she reads.

• Ask your child to keep a daily journal for the trip. Have them draw and/or write about their activities each day. Be sure they are writing an appropriate amount for their grade level. (Grades K-1 - two or three sentences; grades 2-3 - a paragraph; grades 4-5 - two paragraphs or more)

• Discuss an experience during the day where your child, or an adult they interacted with, used math.  (It was 62 degrees when I woke up this morning in Maryland.  It was 85 degrees when I arrived in North Carolina at 4 p.m.  How much hotter was it in North Carolina than in Maryland?) For 2nd-5th grade students, have your child solve the problem and explain their thinking.

• Expect your child to receive some practice related to the activities they missed while they were gone.  Please ensure that your child completes the work at home and returns it to school in a timely manner so that the teacher can review it.

Tardiness

Students arriving after 9:10 a.m. must be accompanied to the office and get a “Late Pass.”  If a child has been tardy several times, a letter will be sent home to the parent.  Tardiness has a huge impact on student learning.  If a child is 10 minutes late 2 days per week, that adds up to about 30 minutes of missed instruction by the time the child gets a late pass from the office, walks to class, and stops at their locker.  We strongly encourage that children maintain an appropriate attendance pattern including being on time each day.