Huskie Howler
August 19, 2024
Dear Huskie Community,
We have had a terrific first few days of school. It is always energizing to see our halls filled with students returning to Naperville North for a new school year! Below are some important items to support your family’s success this year.
Pick-up/drop-off times at NNHS can be frustrating as we are a landlocked area with restricted entrances and exits, and no control over lights that govern the city streets. Here is a Guide to Dropping-Off Students that contains a detailed map and directions for a smoother transition in and out of the school lanes.
Digital Hall Pass: This year, Naperville North, Naperville Central, and all five junior highs will be using a digital hall pass for students when they leave their classroom. The digital hall pass will allow for teachers to continue instruction with minimal interruption while still holding students accountable to the norms of the school. Students will utilize their school issued Chromebooks to create a digital pass, take a physical pass from the class, and enter the hallway. The system will allow administrators and campus supervisors to limit the total number of passes available at a time to help keep traffic in the hallways low. The system will also be able to limit passes during key instructional time like the first or last minutes of class. Students were trained on the system on Friday, August 16th and will start implementing the system completely on Tuesday, August 20th.
Wednesdays are late start days which means that students arrive for the first period in time for a 9AM start time. Assume that every Wednesday is a late start unless otherwise directed by the administration for instances such as state testing and exam days.
Homeroom/WIN period will continue each Tuesday/Thursday. This time in each student’s schedule will be opportunities to meet with teachers who require or request them to relearn a concept, review student work, or make up missing assignments. There will be spaces to work individually or collaboratively with peers and other types of interventions and extensions. Students can’t be called out of Homeroom or WIN. Homeroom/WIN is a class that has required attendance, just like all other periods.
Save the Date - please join us on Wednesday, September 11 at 7:00 pm for Open House.
NNHS/NCHS Attendance Procedures and Consequences
There is a positive relationship between regular attendance and academic success. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that students be present in class. Regular attendance and punctuality are essential if students are to make use of the educational opportunities that school offers. Parents, guardians or those having legal custody, have the responsibility for their student’s regular school attendance; therefore, they are the only people who may call the school to report or resolve absences, regardless of student age. For returning Huskies, the below is a reminder of our expectations for timely and consistent attendance. For new Huskies, we take attendance very seriously at North as a top indicator of school engagement and learning.
Vacations are not considered a valid reason for student absence. While we consider family time important, we encourage vacations to be scheduled around the school calendar. The Illinois State Board of Education mandates vacation days taken during the school year are unexcused, even if under the 10 day cap and/or were arranged as pre-planned absences. Absences that exceed the ten day cap - as well as those considered truant absences - afford no make-up privileges.
Reporting Student Absences:
1. If a student is absent the parent or guardian is required to report the absence by calling 630-420-6982, or by submitting a request through Infinite Campus. Both systems can accept messages 24 hours a day. The absence must be reported by a parent or guardian as early as possible.
2. Failure to contact the Attendance Office within 48 hours will result in an unexcused absence/truancy, and appropriate disciplinary consequences may be assigned.
Note: Students who are reported absent by a parent or guardian must leave the school premises for the duration of their reported absence. Students are not permitted to be reported absent and stay in the building.
3. Please allow for processing time in online absences or call outs for passes to be delivered when you are picking up your student throughout the day. We need 2 hours of lead time to ensure that your student will be aware of the pass and released from class. If you have an emergency, please call the main office or your student’s student services assistant.
Reporting All Day Absences:
1. Call 630-420-6982 (press 1) and be prepared to report student name and ID#. An all day absence can also be reported by a parent or guardian through Infinite Campus.
2. Please follow the directions of the menu.
3. If a student is being reported absent for the 3rd consecutive day, please additionally report that absence to the student’s counselor and/or the Health office if the absence is medical.
Reporting Late Arrival/Early Dismissal Appointments:
1. Parents or guardians must call 630-420-6982 (press 2) to report late arrivals, early dismissals and appointments. Late arrival or Early Dismissal requests can also be made by a parent or guardian through Infinite Campus.
2. Late Arrivals: student name, student ID, reason and time student will arrive late.
3. Early Dismissals/Appointments: student name, student ID, reason and time student will leave and return.
4. If a student needs to be excused during the school day, a parent must call 630-420-6982 (press 3). Students leaving campus without prior parent notification may result in truancy and disciplinary consequences.
5. Students must sign out and show the authorized dismissal pass when leaving and sign in when returning.
Note: Students may be required to bring official documentation, including official doctor’s notes to verify absences. The document should be brought to the Health office upon the student’s return to school. Failure to supply proper documentation may result in the absence being recorded as a truancy.
Pre-Planned Absences:
Pre-Planned absences represent an attempt by the Board of Education and the high school to accommodate special and unique needs for approved student absences from school.
Pre-planned absences for three (3) or more consecutive school days must be arranged with the office of the Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction. Students will be required to obtain a Pre-Planned Absence Form from either Student Services 1 or the Naperville North website, and work with each of their teachers to document missing work and due dates for making up work. The signed form, along with parent confirmation, will need to be turned in to the office of the Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction prior to the absence. Students may be required to turn in assignments or take assessments prior to the absence.
Students who are absent for fifteen (15) or more consecutive days due to non-health related reasons may be dropped from their classes. If the student returns, he/she and their parents will need to complete the enrollment process at the District Office.
Definitions of Absence Related Terms:
1. AUTHORIZED ABSENCE (not to exceed ten per semester, unless authorized by building administration): Students are allowed full make-up privileges.
o Illness and/or doctor’s appointments
o Death in the immediate family
o Family emergency and/or parental request
o Pre-planned absence
o Observance of a religious holiday
o In-school suspensions
o Field trips
o Nurse appointments for an entire period
o Hospitalization
o Appointments with Student Services staff
o Administrative reasons
o College visits
*Mental health days were implemented by the State of Illinois in January of 2022. As we’ve learned more about the state’s expectation of those days for students, we can outline for you what those days are, and are not, as we move into the 2024-25 school year. 5 mental health days are allotted for students who may struggle with social emotional well-being on occasion. When they do, they may be called out for a mental health day from school. This is NOT a sick day, or a day to extend a vacation. When a student is called in absent for mental health reasons, it lets our Student Services staff know that there needs to be follow-up with the student and family with an offer of resources, including required follow up during school hours with certified staff.
*Civic Engagement Day provides that any child from a public school, subject to guidelines established by the Illinois State Board of Education, shall be permitted by a school board at least one school day-long excused absence per school year for any middle school or high school student for a child that is absent from school to engage in a civic event. A school board may require that the student provide advance notice of the intended absence and require that the student provide documentation of participation in a civic event.
2. UNRESOLVED ABSENCE: Unresolved absences must be resolved/cleared within 48 hours or the absence will be considered a truancy. If a student feels that he/she was incorrectly marked truant from a class period(s), it is his/her responsibility to resolve the absence(s) with the classroom teacher and his/her Dean.
3. MAKE-UP PRIVILEGES: It is the responsibility of the student to make contact with their teacher to make up work due to absences, pre-planned absences or field trips.
o Truant absences, and absences exceeding the allowable cap, have no make-up privileges.
o Authorized absences have full make-up privileges until the attendance cap has been met.
o Field trips are not pre-planned absences nor are they considered an absence by state mandatory guidelines. Students may be required to turn in homework prior to a field trip.
Truancy Disciplinary Procedures:
Due to the positive relationship between regular attendance and academic success, it is essential that students attend class. Absence and tardiness limit the educational opportunities and benefits provided by classroom instruction. In addition, students who are absent from or tardy to class infringe upon the rights of those students in attendance and their teachers by disrupting the normal flow of an instructional program. For these reasons it is essential that students attend school on a regular basis and that absences are caused by legitimate and compelling reasons only. A concerted effort should be made by students and parent(s)/guardian(s) to avoid scheduling appointments and activities, which interfere with school attendance and class schedules.
A truant is defined as, "any student who absents himself or herself from attendance during all, or part of, a school day during the time when school is in session without parental permission or valid cause."
Below are the steps that will be followed should a student be found truant at Naperville North High School.
Single Period Truancy
· First Incident – may include dean meeting, 1 hour detention, and phone call home. If found to be off campus, an automatic 4 hour Saturday detention will be assigned.
· Second Incident – may include dean meeting, 2 hour detention, and phone call home.
· Subsequent Single Period Truancy – may include dean meeting, 4 hour detention and parent meeting.
· Students with Truant absences have no make-up privileges.
If a student is truant from a class five (5) times, he/she may be withdrawn from the class and placed in a study hall. No credit will be given and a withdrawn fail grade will be listed on the transcript. A notification system will exist to inform students and parent(s)/guardian(s) of these incidents of truancy. This notification system will provide that due process procedural rights are being accommodated.
In addition, community service hours may also be assigned to students in violation of the truancy policy. Please be aware that it is the schools’ responsibility to report chronically truant students to the DuPage County Regional Office of Education if they are in violation of Illinois School Code 11:90.The ROE may require the student and parent to attend court. Various outcomes of court proceedings include probation, fines, change of educational placement, and monitoring by the DuPage County Truancy Officer.
We encourage students and parents to be cognizant of class attendance at all times. A student or parent may obtain attendance records via the online Student Information System, Infinite Campus, or request a printout from the attendance office.
Go Huskies!
Sincerely,
Jay Wachtel