Attendance

Unless your child is ill, please make every attempt to have your child attend Head Start classes/Early Head Start home visits and socializations. Missed school/home visits are missed opportunities to learn and grow. If it is necessary to miss Head Start classes please notify the school by calling the most appropriate absence hotline as outlined below.

For those receiving transportation, please call 734-322-2677

For those transporting their child to and from school, please call:

Arborwood South, Niedermeier or Orchard, please call-734-265-4506

Dundee, Ida, MCCC, Riverside, Smith Road, or YMCA, please call- 734-850-6400

For those in Early Head Start, please notify your home visitor prior to your home visit of the need to cancel

1302.16 of the Head Start Program Performance Standards speaks to promoting regular attendance.

1302.16 (a)(1) requires programs to implement a process to ensure children are safe when they do not arrive at school. If a child is unexpectedly absent and a parent has not contacted the program within one hour of the start time, the program must attempt to contact the parent to ensure the child's well-being.

1302.6(a)(2) requires programs to implement strategies to promote attendance. At a minimum, a program must;

• Provide information about the benefits of regular attendance

• Support families to promote the child's regular attendance.

• Conduct a home visit or make other direct contact with a child's parents if a child has multiple unexplained absences (such as two consecutive unexplained absences.

• Within the first 60 days of program operation, and on an ongoing basis thereafter, use individual child attendance data to identify children with patterns of absence that put them at risk of missing ten percent of program days per year and develop appropriate strategies to improve individual attendance among identified children, such as direct contact with parents or intensive case management, as necessary.

1302.51(a)(2) requires programs to provide parents with information about the importance of their child's regular attendance, and partner with them as necessary, to promote consistent attendance.

If your child exhibits excessive absences/late arrivals/early departures/late pick ups often, your child's Family Partnership Specialist will work with you to develop an attendance action plan in an effort to identify and address attendance barriers. If excessive absences/late arrivals/early departures/late picks continue to occur, your child may be withdrawn form the program.

Common attendance issues that require an attendance action plan:

1) Your child has been absent for (4) or more consecutive days without notice.

2) Your child's daily average attendance falls below 85%

3) Your child has been 30-minutes or more tardy/left the program 30-minutes or more four or more times throughout the month.