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Regular school attendance is required. It is important that students arrive on time and that they do not miss school unless they are ill. A record of absences and tardiness is a part of each student’s file.
Parents are asked to call the Lower School Office message line (503-768-3177) by 9:00 a.m. on the day their child is absent. We ask that for extended absences you send a note to your child’s teacher.
Students who are tardy feel rushed and frequently are not ready to settle down to work. Students need to be in their classrooms and ready to work by 8:00 a.m.
We ask your help with a concern we have about nonmedical, non-emergency absences. Excused absences, of course, are granted for illness or other emergencies. In these cases, students will be allowed time to make up work and the faculty will offer help, although it must be recognized that it is impossible to reconstruct the classroom learning situation once it has been missed.
As we hope you understand, “elective” absences are not condoned by the School. We do, however, recognize that there are rare situations when the educational benefit of the absence would convince us that the absence should be excused. In these cases, please approach the School well in advance of the absence so that special assignments can be made. If the trip is not considered educationally valuable, we cannot ask teachers to prepare assignments in advance. Of course, the homework will be available to students upon their return, but it will be the student’s responsibility to make up any course requirements at the convenience of his or her teachers. If extra tutoring is required to bring the student to current status with the class, it will be the responsibility of the family to arrange for and provide the service.
As you schedule family trips and other excursions, we greatly appreciate your cooperation in not scheduling absences for your children during the school year. In an effort to help families plan vacations, we release the school year calendar well in advance. Please remember to avoid early departures and late returns from scheduled vacations as well.
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