Attendance and Lates Policy

W.P. Wagner Attendance & Lates Policy

We believe that schools should provide an environment where students can connect with their teachers and peers and to maximize their learning opportunities. For this reason, it is important for students to be in class and ready to work at the beginning of each period.

Students are expected to attend all of their scheduled classes throughout the school year. As identified in the W.P. Wagner Rights and Responsibilities document related to section 31 of the Education Act, students have a responsibility to attend school regularly and punctually.

Parents and guardians play an important role and responsibility in ensuring students attend regularly. This attendance expectation is based on the link between regular attendance and academic success as well as students’ sense of belonging to the school. To support regular student attendance, students and parents will be notified when 20% of a course has been missed. The notification is intended to open the line of communication between the school and the family to improve student attendance.

If attendance does not improve, further action will be taken, such as:

parent/student meetings
attendance contracts
loss of privileges
possible suspension
course removal

Academic courses will be removed if a student misses 25 classes (excused or unexcused). Other courses will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

To report an absence, parents/guardians should:

Use SchoolZone - On your mobile phone or desktop computer, enter your child’s absence starting a week before it occurs or up to the day they are absent. In SchoolZone, choose the Student Profile Menu and Attendance to enter an absence.
Phone the school at 780-469-1315 (available 24 hours).

*Please note:

a confirmed absence (CA) is not considered an excused absence and will be counted in the absence totals for school staff to notify families
students who are excused or confirmed absent should not be in the school

Below is a list of district standard attendance codes and reasons:

Absence Reason	Code	Example of Use	Education Act Interpretation
Absent	AB	No reason given	Absent - Unexcused
Confirmed Absent	CA	School notified with reason not conforming to Education Act excused	Absent - Unexcused
Illness	IL	Student is sick	Absent - Excused
Other Medical	OM	Any medical/dental other than illness	Absent - Excused
For all other absence types, please contact the office.

Lates

Being on time for classes demonstrates respect for teachers and peers and promotes an environment conducive to learning. Students are expected to arrive at school on time each day and to be in class when the bell sounds at the beginning of each period. Moving music is played in the hallways to help students be on time. Therefore, five lates will count towards a recorded absence.

Extended Absences

A great deal of learning occurs in the classroom through the use of guided questions, labs, hands-on experiences, dialogue, and problem-solving. Parents/guardians who choose to excuse children from school or take their children out of school for an extended holiday or trip are choosing to accept responsibility for their children’s learning during that period of time.

If you have scheduled a holiday during school time, notice must be given 4 weeks in advance so that teachers can communicate with parents/guardians about what topics of study the child will be missing and/or alternative learning methods can be discussed and determine if the amount of time missed will exceed attendance expectations. Teachers are not required to develop handouts or specific lessons for extended holiday time.

Reporting of student achievement for material missed during the extended absence may indicate 'unable to assess' or 'absent during this unit’. Any missed assessments will be completed upon return at the teacher's discretion.