Follow St. Clare Catholic Academy – Rosedale, Queens, NY

Attendance Policy

Attendance- It is of utmost importance that children attend school daily and arrive on time. Parents are required to telephone the school before 9:00 am when a student will be absent from school. Upon returning to school after an absence, a note should be written to your child’s teacher explaining the reason for the absence. Students are expected and will be held responsible for any work missed due to absences from class.

St. Clare Catholic Academy has developed our attendance policy in accordance with NewYork State Education Law Section 3205 to be implemented on July 1, 2013. This comprehensive attendance policy will help to uphold the philosophy and mission statement of our academy, as stated in our handbook.

The elements of a comprehensive attendance policy are as follows:

1. Objectives:
a. To ensure the maintenance of an adequate record verifying the attendance of all children at instruction in accordance with Education Law Section 3205
b. To establish a practical mechanism for the academy to provide accountability of all students throughout the school day
c. To ensure sufficient student attendance at all scheduled periods of actual instruction or supervised student activities

2. Strategies to Meet Objectives:
a. Use of a daily register of attendance/student information system
b. Use of a recording system in departmentalized grades
c. Use of a recording system for excused or unexcused absence for a day or portion thereof
d. Use of a recording system for tardiness or early departure
e. Use of a recording system for each scheduled day of instruction
f. Use of dates for entries and withdrawal of enrollment

 3. When Attendance Should Be Recorded:
a. Daily at the elementary level
b. Period by period for grades/classes that are departmentalized
c. Period by period when the students attend special content area classrooms, or upon returning from lunch, recess, assembly or attending Para/liturgical activities

4. Determination of which absences are excused and which are not and a coding system
a. Excused absences shall include:
Types of Absence Code
Sickness S
Sickness or death in family F
Required to be in court P
Approved high school or college visit P
Quarantine P
Excused absence, parts of day X
Attendance at health clinics P
Religious Observance P
Others noted in register of attendance
b. Unexcused absences shall include:
Types of Absence Code
Unlawful detention O
Truancy T
Suspension Su
Vacations V

Attendance codes that are to be used are within the guidelines of the New York State Register of Attendance.
Student attendance in school increases academic success therefore regular attendance should be emphasized by parents.
Excessive absences may influence promotion.

Punctuality- Students are expected to arrive to school on time.  Arriving late to class interrupts the learning process and is not fair to the students or teacher. School begins at 8:10 AM. Students arriving after 8:25 AM, regardless of the reason, will be considered late and will be marked as such in his/her permanent records. A student who has excessive latenesses will not be able to return to the academy the following school year.