Attendance
Absences
Children who regularly attend school are more engaged, connected and achieve at higher levels. Please make every effort to get your child to school regularly.
If your child is going to be out of school, either in person or virtually, please make sure to call our absence line at 978-579-0870 and press 1 to report the absence giving a specific reason such as, "My child has a fever" or send in a note for an upcoming absence "My child will be out of town at a family wedding." While an email to the teacher is always welcome, it should not be the primary way to report your child's absence.
Each student absence or tardy will be coded as excused or unexcused.
An excused absence includes:
- Documented illness or injury
- Bereavement/family funeral
- Major religious observances
- Extraordinary family circumstances
An unexcused absence includes, but is not limited to:
- Chronic absences or tardies without medical documentation
- Truancy
- Non-emergency family situations
- Family vacations
Attendance letters will be sent home for students that have 5 unexcused absences, tardies or early dismissals. Meetings with the administration will be requested for students that have 10+ absences from school. Our hope is to work together with families to ensure that all of our students are in school regularly.
In Massachusetts, Chronic absenteeism is defined as the percentage of students missing 10 percent or more of their days in membership. In a typical 180-day school year, this is the percentage of students who miss 18 or more days. The chronic absenteeism rate includes both excused and unexcused absences and is calculated for students in grades 1 through 12.