Attendance

Attendance, punctuality, and participation are essential for success.

Students are directly accountable to the Vice-Principals' Office and to each subject teacher for daily attendance. A student who is absent from school for a full day or any part of a day, must present, immediately upon return to school, a satisfactory written explanation for the absence, signed by the parent or guardian. This note is to be brought to the Vice-Principals' Office by 8:45 a.m. where it will be kept on file. Students will be given a computer generated admit slip. Students who are 18 years of age or older may write their own notes.

In the case of student illness resulting in an absence, parents are required to telephone prior to the start of the school day. Voice mail is available at all times. Please call 416-393-9180 option #1 to report an absence. If you prefer, a school secretary will receive parent calls after 8:00 a.m. Parents (students if over 18) should indicate if a test, presentation or due date is scheduled for that day. Even when an absence is reported by telephone to the school, students are still required to bring a written note when they return. Any unexplained absence will generate an automated phone call to the student's home, reporting which class(es) of the day the student has missed. If there are errors, students are requested to come to the VPO to arrange for corrections to their attendance record.

A record of absences will be included on all report cards. A student who fails to maintain regular attendance may be withdrawn from school.

Punctuality

A student who arrives late will receive early morning sign-ins, afternoon detentions, or suspension from class. Persistent tardiness and the consequent interruption of classes will not be tolerated.

Signing In

If a student arrives after 9:00 a.m., s/he will be marked late by the classroom teacher. A student who arrives at school after the morning announcements must sign in at the Vice-Principals' Office.

Signing Out

If it becomes necessary to request an excusal from school for an appointment, the student must sign out in the Vice-Principals' Office before 8:45 a.m. and present, at that time, a written note from a parent explaining the reason for the request.

Occasionally, unavoidable circumstances may occur during the day to warrant a student's leaving school. If so, the student should report directly to the Vice-Principals' Office. An attendance secretary or school official will then contact parents to arrange for the sign-out.

Contacting Students During Classes

School policy is to not interrupt classes. Messages will be placed on the message board outside the Vice-Principals' Office. Students should make a habit of checking this board regularly.

Planned Absences

It is expected that students and their families prioritize the importance of education by scheduling absences during non-school times. Students absent during regular school days must provide a letter of notification from their parents to the principal at least two weeks prior to leaving. The note must state that the parents and the student are aware that the student is responsible for work missed and it is understood that teachers are not required to provide make-up tests and assignments.

Students who fail to make arrangements two weeks in advance of their planned absence will receive a mark of zero for missed tests and assignments.

Arrangements for missed tests and assignments must be made two weeks before the planned absence with individual teachers. These arrangements mayinclude an altered due date (or test writing date) before or after the absence or may be an estimated mark based on the cumulative mark to date. This procedure will be applied only once during the school year. After this procedure has been used, no marks will be assigned for missed in-class assignments or tests.

Students are reminded that they and their parents are entirely accountable for absence from school and from classes.