Attendance Information
The Importance of Attendance
One of the most important things your child can do to achieve academic success is also one of the most basic: BEING IN SCHOOL EVERY DAY. As a parent or guardian, it is possible to plan ahead in order to limit your child’s absences, make school attendance a priority, and help your child from falling behind if it is necessary to miss a day of school.
The Henderson County Public School Attendance Policy states that elementary students must be in attendance for a minimum of 164 days to be considered for promotion to the next grade. This limits the number of absences for students in elementary schools to 16 days per year.
Arriving On Time
Students are expected to arrive at school on time and be in their classroom by 8:00 am. A student entering class late not only impacts his/her own learning but also disrupts the flow of the classroom and the entire community of learning. Upon arrival, tardy students must check in at the office. Excessive tardies may result in a referral to the Henderson County Public Schools’ attendance counselor, required conferences, and/or required after school make-up time.
Early Dismissal
We request that you do not pick up your child before regular school dismissal at 3:00 pm. If you need to take your child out of school before the end of the school day, you will need to come to the front office to sign them out as an early dismissal. For the safety of our students and ease of the dismissal process, no early dismissals will be allowed after 2:45 PM. All adults must be prepared to show photo identification when picking up a child. This simple procedure is for the protection of your child. We will not release a student to anyone except the parent, legal guardian, or a person you have authorized to pick up your child. Please keep in mind that just as with tardies, a student leaving class early not only impacts his/her own learning but also disrupts the flow of the classroom and the entire community of learning.
NC Law & School Attendance:
According to NC General Statute: If 10 unlawful absences cannot be justified, the principal is required to investigate and further notify the District Attorney for suspected truancy or file a complaint with the juvenile intake counselor. An ‘unlawful absence’ is defined as a student’s willful absence from school without the knowledge of the parent or guardian, or the student’s absence for any reason other than illness or injury, quarantine, death in the immediate family, medical or dental appointments, court or administrative proceedings, or religious observances.