Attendance Policy
A student enrolled in GRACE is expected to be present every day school is in session. Attendance is directly related to school success and is critical to mastery of content. All absences negatively affect education. When planning family trips, parents should consider utilizing the planned teacher in-service or workdays already on the school’s Academic Calendar to avoid students missing critical instructional time. Parents are responsible for reducing the number of days their child misses school. Out of respect to others, a child is to remain home if he/she is sick; however, all other absences should be kept to a minimum.
When a student must miss school for any reason, parents should e-mail the appropriate campus (TK6attendance@GRACEChristian.net or 712attendance@GRACEChristian.net) to notify the school of the absence. Attendance will be taken daily in the elementary grades (TK-5) and each period in middle and high school (grades six through twelve).
It is also important for students to be on time for school and for each class. Students who arrive late to school must be signed in at the front desk before reporting to class. A student who misses more than three and one-half hours of school in grades TK-5 will be counted absent for the day. Students participating in extracurricular activities must attend school for at least three and one-half hours on the day of a performance, practice, or game in order to be eligible to participate. Extenuating circumstances such as medical appointments, dental appointments, or funerals are allowed, but being tired or “resting up” are not considered an acceptable excuse.
Tardies in grades six through twelve are counted by period, and all tardy procedures apply to each class period. A tardy of 15 minutes or more will be counted as an absence for that period. In addition, three tardies in any given class will count as one absence for that class. For more information on tardies, see Tardy Policy.
Make-Up Work
Once a student returns to school from an absence, they will have two times the number of days absent to make up missed assignments, tests, or quizzes.
Parents are encouraged to notify the school in advance of planned absences so that students can be provided with some of the work that will be missed ahead of time.
Excessive Absences
The State of North Carolina and the school’s accrediting bodies require students to be in class a minimum number of seat hours to receive credit for that class toward graduation.
An accumulation of more than 10 absences in any subject per semester is cause for concern and may jeopardize a student’s ability to successfully complete the class. Missing 10 or more classes per semester will result in a meeting to include the campus principal, teacher(s), and the parents, during which an action plan will be created that will allow the student to make up the work missed and learn the content covered during these absences.
More than 20 accumulated absences will result in failure to pass a class and could jeopardize a student’s future enrollment at GRACE.
No at-home assignment can fully replace the live, experienced interaction that comes from a teacher conducting a lesson or introducing a skill. The nature of the absences, the circumstances involving the student, and the course itself all combine to determine the percentage of time that may be missed and still allow students to complete a subject. GRACE administration will work with the student and family, but since we do not offer any homebound services, there may be times when a student is not able to complete the work for a class because of their inability to physically be in the classroom. Medical documentation supplied by the student’s doctor must be provided to the administrator for any modifications to be made.
The administration will consider exceptional circumstances when determining the best solution for each student, which may include withdrawing from the GRACE course or replacing the credit with an online course.
