Attendance

If your child is absent for a full day of school, send a written note or e-mail within three days of their return to school.   

• It is not necessary to call the school to report an absence. 

• Only lawful absences will be excused. Please see below for a list of lawful absences.

• A physician’s note is required for any absence of five or more days.  

• To e-mail a note, a parent or guardian would use their e-mail on record and send it to Ms. Erica Moorman, our attendance secretary, at LP522OR@mcpsmd.org

• Students may deliver written notes to the main office on their way into the building.

• Please include the following in your absence note:

• Student’s full legal name (printed)

• Student’s ID number

• Grade

• Date(s) of absence

• Reason for absence

• Parent/ guardian’s signature (written notes only)

The State of Maryland regards the following as lawful absences from school:

• Student’s illness (five or more days require a doctor’s note)

• Death in immediate family (school may require documentation such as obituary or death certificate)

• Court summons with documentation from the court

• Violent/hazardous weather, when declared by local or state officials

• Religious observances, pre-approved

• State emergency when declared by appropriate authorities

• Work or other activity accepted by school authorities

• Emergencies designated by the Superintendent of Schools

• Lack of authorized MCPS transportation (i.e., school bus did not show up)

Requests: Ms. Alvarez, our principal, may designate that absences for purpose of special significance as lawful. She is required to consider academic impact, number of previous absences, the duration of the absence, and purpose of the absence.  All requests for an absence of five (5) to ten (10) days should be sent in writing by e-mail or written note to Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Moorman at least two weeks in advance. Students who are absent for longer than ten (10) days must be withdrawn by MCPS regulation and must re-enroll upon return. Please contact Denise Perez, Denise_F_Perez@mcpsmd.org, registrar, for more information. For more information, please see the MCPS attendance policy or contact our attendance secretary, Ms. Erica Moorman at Erica_G_Moorman@mcpsmd.org.

The automated message system will send messages each evening to a student’s primary phone number or email of record if that student has been absent in one or more classes.  

Please note that you may receive this automated call even if you have already e-mailed Ms. Moorman. 

If you believe you are getting this call in error, please check your child’s attendance in Synergy ParentVue to see in which classes they were reported absent. You can follow up with Ms. Moorman by e-mail if you have questions. If the absence was in just one class, you also could include that teacher on your e-mail.

If students are healthy and the circumstances of their absence permit, students may monitor their classroom on Canvas (MyMCPS classroom) to complete and submit assignments during their absence.

Students are responsible for bringing their absence note to the main office when they return to school, unless their parent has sent an e-mail (see above for "Absence Notes").

When students return to school, they will work with each teacher to arrange make-up quizzes or tests, to submit make-up work, and to regain the academic ground lost during the absence.  

School Counselors are available to assist students in managing make-up work for extended absences. 

For planned absences, teachers are not required to share assignments ahead of time. Instead, teachers will provide a reasonable amount of time for students to complete the work they missed upon their return.

Excused reasons for early departure or late arrival are the same as those identified for lawful absences (see "Lawful Absences" section above).

Late Arrival

When students arrive late to school without a parent or guardian, they will stop in the main office to sign in.  Those who do not have a note from a parent or physician/dentist expressing an approved reason for the late arrival, will be marked tardy unexcused. Parents and guardians who bring their child to school late can sign their child in and state the reason (illness or appointments) to excuse their child on the sign-in sheet. 

Early Departure

To pick up your child early from school, please send a note with your child indicating the time they need to leave. This note should be dropped off by your child to Ms. Moorman in the main office before their 1st period class. In urgent or emergency situations, please call ahead to the main office if possible.  For security reasons, students will only be released to adults of record with a valid government issued ID.