ATTENDANCE

Regular attendance is essential for the student to make the most of his/her education. Regular attendance helps the student to benefit from teacher-led and school activities, to build each day’s learning from the previous days’ instruction, and to fully capitalize on the benefits that can be derived from a class room learning experience. Absences from class may result in serious disruption in the student’s mastery of instructional materials. Therefore, the student and parent should make every effort to avoid unnecessary absences.

In order to dissuade absences, DES has created the Tardy system, which records a negative point for every instance a student comes late to class. Once the bell rings (indicating the conclusion of a period), all students are required to be seated until the instructor arrives for the next course period. During this time, any student who exits the classroom and returns after the instructor has arrived will receive one tardy point. A student who receives more than three tardy points will receive an ‘absent’ in his/her attendance record and a student who receives more than six tardy points will be subjected to disciplinary action (see Student Code of Conduct). A student is exempted from receiving any tardy point if:

• The student obtains permission from the instructor to exit the classroom. This permission will be granted for restroom purposes only.

• The student was called upon by the previous course period instructor / office staff for urgent matter. Under such cases, the student should obtain a note stating the same with the instructor’s / office staff’s signature. The student should present this note to the instructor upon returning to the class.