Attendance:
If a student is not seated in their first period class by 7:45, they will be considered absent (shown as IUn in PowerSchool.) Prior to the end of 2nd period, an attendance rollover will take place and those students still marked as absent will be marked absent for all 9 class periods. That evening you will receive both a phone call and an email from our BlackBoard messaging system alerting you of your child’s absence. Please send them in with an excuse within three (3) days of their last absence. You can either provide us with a parent note, an email or you can fill out an absence excuse found here: Excused Absence Form. Parent notes can be placed in the absence excuse bin in the Student Affairs Office. Each student is allocated 15 absences (for any reason), per school year, before a doctor’s excuse is required. Any absence over 15, that is not accompanied by a medical excuse, will remain unexcused.
Tardies:
If your child is going to be entering the building late, they must first go through the Student Affairs Office to receive a late pass. Please provide your student with an excuse. Acceptable forms are a parent note, doctor's excuse, email or an online form submission found here: Tardiness Form. If they enter with an excuse, their absence will be changed to an excused tardy (TEx.) If they do not have an excuse, they will be entered as tardy unexcused (TUn.) If your child is marked as tardy unexcused, that evening you will receive both a phone call and email from our BlackBoard messaging system alerting you of their tardy. Each student is allocated 4 tardies, per semester (parent note or online submission) before a doctor's excuse is required. Disciplinary action will be taken for excessive tardies. There are no half days at the High School. Students must be present a minimum of 3½ consecutive hours in order to participate in an after school activity or a game or practice for a sport that is in season.
Early Dismissals:
If your student will need to leave the building prior to the end of the school day (2:40pm), you must provide them with an early dismissal note. This can be a parent note, email or online submission found here: Early Dismissal Form. A student is allocated 13 early dismissals per school year. All early dismissals require BOTH written and verbal confirmation. Please call Mrs. Lucia in the Office of Student Affairs (724-745-1400, ext. 5009) to confirm your child’s early dismissal. All early dismissal requests must be made by 9am. If you are requesting an early dismissal after 9am, please allow 20-30 minutes for your request to be processed. Once both forms are received, a pass will be sent to your child and they may leave at the time of their dismissal. If you are picking your student up, they will meet you outside, if they are a driver, they are free to leave and drive themselves. If you choose, you can come into the main office to sign your student out. No student’s will be permitted to leave until both forms of confirmation are received. All early dismissals will be entered as ER in PowerSchool. If your child has medical documentation for their early release, please provide us with this information and we will change their ER to a medical early release (MER.) Medical early releases are not counted in attendance reports. There are no half days at the High School. Students must be present a minimum of 3½ consecutive hours in order to participate in an after school activity or a game or practice for a sport that is in season.
The Student Affairs Office is closed daily from 12:30-1:00. Students may leave during the closure IF their early dismissal request was submitted and confirmed prior to the closure. If you did not submit a request and you need your child to be released during the office closure, please come to the main office to sign them out.
Votech (WACTC):
Please note that if your child attends WACTC and is absent from school, you must provide 2 excuses (parent note or medical excuse). One will need to be given to Mrs. Lucia in the Student Affairs Office and one will need to be given to WACTC. No copies will be made of a student's excuse and forwarded to another location.
Pre-Planned Trips:
The pre-planned trip form is available on the High School website under “School Links” or by clicking here: Pre-Planned Trip Form. This form must be submitted no later than two weeks prior to the start of your trip. Please note that students will only be given one day, for each day they are absent, to make up their work, and they are highly encouraged to make arrangements for their work prior to their trip.
Standing Medical Notes:
If your student has a standing medical note, please note that we will need an updated copy for this school year. Medical notes are only good for one school year and must be updated annually.
Mrs. Lucia can be reached by email at luciam@cmsd.k12.pa.us and by phone at 724-745-1400, ext. 5009.
