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Willow Creek Composite High School > Plans/Reports > Policies > Attendance

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School Attendance Policy

All students are expected to attend classes regularly and punctually (Alberta School Act). Research and experience have shown that good attendance is an important factor in high achievement. Excused absences are granted two ways and all absences must be excused by parent or guardian:

Parents or Guardians can contact the office (signed note or phone call) up to six months in advance to explain their child’s absence. If a parent has notified the school on the day of, or prior to, the absence, the student's name will be put on an excused list and the student will not require any further follow-up when they return to school. This is by far the easiest and most effective way to clear absences.
At the grade 9-12 Campus, parents may send a note to school or telephone the school the morning of the student's return. In this case, the student must go to the office before the start of classes and get a green re-admit slip. This slip will be presented to each of the student's teachers as proof their absence has been cleared.

Note: If the student fails to get a parent to explain their absence to the office, the student will be issued a pink conditional slip that is good for one day. The student will not be allowed to return to classes the next day unless a parent contacts the office to clear the original absence. This is to ensure that parents are aware of every absence a student has. Students who anticipate an absence should notify their teachers and request assignments that will be missed. All students are responsible for catching up on missed work. Students who are not excused may receive 0% for missed work and exams. Willow Creek Composite High School will adhere to the Livingstone Range School Division Policy of a 90 % attendance rate. Students who fail to maintain a 90% excused or unexcused attendance rate may be required to meet with the counsellor or administration to discuss program changes.

Students who must leave school during the school day for whatever reason must check out and back in at the office.

Admin Procedure 330

The Livingstone Range School Division’s Administrative Procedure 330, #5 states that it is the school administration's responsibility to determine what shall be considered an excusable absence. The following is a list of excusable absences:

Illness, confirmed by a parent.
Medical or legal appointments, confirmed by a parent, doctor or legal counsel.
Compassionate reasons i.e. death or serious illness in the family, confirmed by a parent
Family supervised activity, with prior school notification by the parent(s).
Religious holiday of the denomination to which the student belongs.
An imposed suspension or expulsion is in place.
School sponsored extra and co-curricular activities
Other reasons as approved by the school administration.

Students are encouraged to make non-excusable appointments or other nonessential trips after school hours. Any student missing classes for reasons other than those listed above will be considered skipping. Students who miss excessive amounts of school and have chronic punctuality problems (lates) will be subject to one or more of the following actions:

conference with the student and /or parent(s)
adjustment of programs or schedules
provided with appropriate counseling
denial of school privileges or assigned a task to complete
attendance at Friday afternoon or Saturday School
withdrawl from classes
repeating of classes or grade
placement of the student on probation (attendance contract)
withdrawl from school

Only the administration can excuse absences. Students must notify the office prior to, or on the day of, their absence.

The School reserves the right to consequence a student for inexcusable absences regardless of whether a parent or guardian approves the absence.