You might be thinking, school just started, why are we already talking about attendance? We spend a lot of time talking about attendance around ICSAtlanta and that is because attendance is key to student success. ICSAtlanta's Attendance Policy can be found on page 11 of the Student Handbook and every parent should be familiar with the policy.
Absences can stack up quickly. This graph illustrates how excessive absences and tardies can affect a student over the course of their academic career:
Research shows that consistent school attendance is crucial to student success. Our attendance policy works to create a framework to support attendance and is also in compliance with GA State Compulsory Laws.
For more information, check out the GA Department of Education: http://archives.gadoe.org/pea_policy.aspx?PageReq=PEASchoolAttendance
Research shows that parent involvement is the greatest tool in improving regular student attendance. Often times parents are unaware of the status of their student's attendance record, which can be due to a lack of communication from the school. As apart of our Staying with the Pack Attendance Initiative, ICSAtlanta began sending home regular attendance emails in an effort to establish parent-school communication at the start, rather than waiting until attendances begin to pile up. Beginning with 3 absences and moving up, we seek to start the conversations early so that we can ensure that we are doing all that we can to support student success. Through this communication we work to ensure that we are all on the same page with the student's attendance, the attendance policy, and the basis of the attendance policy (GA Compulsory Attendance Law, code section 20-2-690, et seq.).
The following are considered excused absences:
Illness- A student who has been absent for more than five (5) days for illness, must present a physician’s statement in order for the absences to be excused. Parents may write 4 notes per year excusing illness. See below for more information about parent notes.
Funeral
Death of immediate family member
Religious holiday
Orders from court or other government agency
Remember! Documentation (hard copy or email) will be required within five (5) days of the students return to school.
Excuse notes should include the following: Date of the absence, Reason for absence, Doctor's/Parent/Guardian's signature
Let your student know that school attendance is non-negotiable, unless they are truly sick.
Make school attendance a priority, talking about the importance of showing up everyday. Just as mom, dad, aunt, uncle, etc. has a job to go to, so do students.
If your student is worried about something, let their teacher and counselor know so that we can try to resolve the problem and help!