Attendance Procedures

Procedures and policies regarding student attendance

Attendance Office Contact Information

  • Email - @email  Do not email attendance employees’ FCPS email.
  • Phone: 703-718-2528     
  • Location: Room 301A, Inside the Main Office

About the Attendance Office

  • Attendance is checked daily each period and for full-day absences.
  • Calls and emails are sent to parents at 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. via an automated attendance system from FCPS.
  • If you have sent an email/left a message regarding an absence, but still receive an auto call, please check SIS-Parent Vue to see if the attendance is correct prior to calling the Attendance Office.
  • If you receive a call indicating an individual class absence, please verify/have your student verify with the teacher before calling the attendance office.
  • NOTE: Students may not call or check themselves out.
  • *NO STUDENTS will be dismissed after 2:30pm 

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What is Excused?

Illness, medical appointment, religious holiday, death in the family, and suspension

ALL DAY ABSENCE - Excused

Parent/guardian must provide a written note, call, or email the attendance office within 3 days of the absence. After 3 days, Assistant Principal’s approval is required.

Include This Information:

  • Student Name
  • Student ID Number
  • Reason for Absence
  • Parent/Caller Name
  • Contact Number for questions
  • *If reporting an ill student, include symptoms, especially if they have fever, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, and/or cough. If your student has a diagnosis from a healthcare provider, please include that information.

LATE CHECK IN - Excused

Same communication requirements as all day excused absence.

STUDENTS MUST CHECK IN AT THE ATTENDANCE OFFICE UPON ARRIVAL, even if they arrive between classes. If parent has provided communication to excuse the late arrival, attendance will be updated from “unverified” to “excused” in SIS when the student checks in. If a student checks in after 10:00 a.m., parent should expect to receive the morning automated attendance call/text/email.

PLANNED EARLY CHECK OUT - Excused

*NO STUDENTS will be dismissed after 2:30pm

Same communication requirements as all day excused absence.

STUDENTS MUST GET A CHECK OUT PASS FROM THE ATTENDANCE OFFICE BEFORE LEAVING CAMPUS

Best practice is for student to bring note to attendance office by 9:45 a.m. to receive their pass. Once student has their pass, they simply show it to the teacher at the beginning of the period in which they are leaving. If communication is received via email or phone, the student must stop by the attendance office to pick up the pass before the period in which they are leaving. If student does not check out properly, their absence will not be excused.

UNPLANNED EARLY CHECK OUT

Parent will need to come to the office to check the student out. Please allow 15 minutes for check out. Photo ID is required. Student will be called from class to meet parent in the office. Please know unplanned check outs interrupt class instruction and should be avoided if possible. In person early check out must be done before 2:30 p.m. to avoid hindering bus traffic. Students may not leave campus without checking out through the attendance office or the absence will not be excused.

SICK STUDENT EARLY CHECK OUT

STUDENTS MUST GO TO THE CLINIC TO CHECK OUT OF SCHOOL SICK.

This helps us identify outbreaks of which our community should be advised. Parent will need to come to the office with photo ID. Please allow 5 minutes for check out from the clinic.

Prearranged Absences

If a student knowingly will miss multiple days of school, a Prearranged Absence Form must be used. The form is available online (https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/se289.pdf) or in the main office. The completed form is turned in to the student’s Assistant Principal for approval.

What is Unexcused?

Car trouble, power outage, traffic, parking, vacations, sibling running late, missed bus, oversleeping, child care situations and any other reason unacceptable to the Principal or her designee.

Unexcused Tardy LATE ARRIVAL TO SCHOOL

Students arriving late without a note report to the SWEEP station closest to their class during the first 15 minutes of school. After 8:25 a.m., students report to the attendance office for an unexcused pass.

Unexcused Tardy BETWEEN CLASSES

Students arriving late to class within 15 minutes after class change report to the SWEEP station nearest their class. If arriving late from lunch, students report to the lunchroom administrator (or to the SWEEP station if late from D lunch.) After SWEEP stations close, students report to the attendance office.

SIS Parent Accounts

Parents need to have an active Student Information System (SIS) Parent Account to be able to login to FCPS 24-7 Learning: Parent View. Parents can track attendance in real time and email the teachers through their SIS Parent account. FCPS 24-7 Learning provides parents access to [email protected] to view and update Emergency Care information. Contact Darlene Snyder at 703-718-2591 or @email if you need to set up a SIS Parent Account.

ROBO CALLS

These automated calls/emails/texts are generated from the SIS records and sent to the contact email/phone on record.  Please check SIS Parent to see the attendance details that generated the call. Often a student is marked “unverified/absent” and later changed to “tardy” or present by the end of the class period. You will receive an additional evening call if there is still an “unverified” absence and the attendance office did not receive communication about why your child was not in school.

For questions regarding single period absences, contact the teacher directly via email.

Excessive Absences/Tardies

Absences are cumulative during a school year and intervention will be initiated at 5 absences.

Tardies are cumulative for the school year and consequences begin at 10 tardies.

Important: Any student absent from school for 15 consecutive days, regardless of reason, will be withdrawn from the school. Parents will then need to re-enroll the student.

FCPS Attendance Regulations 

 

Excessive Absences 

  • Excessive absences will result in interventions beginning at 5 absences. 

NOTE: Absences are counted cumulatively during the school year.

  • Tardies are cumulative for the school year and consequences begin at 10 tardies.
  • IMPORTANT: According to state law, any student absent from school for 15 consecutive days regardless of reason will be withdrawn from school. Parents will need to re-enroll their students if this occurs.

Todo lo referente a la Asistencia