Our goal every school year as a district is to ensure that every student attends school regularly.
Showing up for school has a huge impact on a student’s academic success, starting in kindergarten and continuing through high school. Even as children grow older and more independent, families play a key role in making sure students get to school safely every day and understand why attendance is so important for success in school and in life.
Daily attendance is one of the most important factors in whether or not a student will succeed in school. Research shows that students who attend school regularly:
- Learn more
- Have fewer discipline problems
- Acquire better study habits
- Generally, are more successful than students who do not.
We realize some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. But, we also know that when students miss too much school, regardless of the reason, it can cause them to fall behind academically. A child is less likely to succeed if they are chronically absent. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 18 or more days over the course of an entire school year.
Absences can add up quickly, and often they accumulate without the family realizing how may have been missed. A child is chronically absent if they miss just 2 days of school every month!
Going to school regularly matters!
We do not want your child to fall behind in school and get discouraged. Please ensure that your child attends school every day and arrives on time. Here are a few tips to help support regular attendance:
- Make sure your child keeps a regular bedtime and establish a morning routine.
- Lay out clothes and pack the night before.
- Ensure your child goes to school every day unless they are truly sick.
- Avoid scheduling vacations or doctor’s appointments when school is in session if you can.
- Talk to teachers and counselors for advice if your child feels anxious about going to school.
- Develop backup plans for getting to school if something comes up. Call on family, neighbors, or another parent to take your child to school.
If your child is absent from school, it is important for the parent/legal guardian to call or email your child’s school on the day of the absence.
- High School Attendance: 845-987-3050, ext. 12507 or wvhsattendance@wvcsd.org
- Middle School Attendance: 845-987-3100, ext. 16507 or attendancewvms@wvcsd.org
- Park Avenue Attendance: 845-987-3170, ext. 14507 or pesattendance@wvcsd.org
- Sanfordville Attendance: 845-987-3300, ext. 13507 or sesattendance@wvcsd.org
Please also send in a WRITTEN NOTE when your child returns to school and hand it into their building’s health/attendance office. Students absent for 4 or more consecutive days for medical reasons are required to submit a doctor’s note upon their return.
Legal reasons for an absence from school include sickness, health treatments, death in the family, religious observance, or a court appearance. Upon returning to school, or when asking for early dismissal, all students must have a note of explanation signed and dated by a parent or guardian.
Let us know how we can best support you and your child so that they can show up for school on time every ready to learn. We want them to be successful in school!
If you have questions or need more information, please feel free to contact your building’s attendance office or Heather Roecker, Coordinator of Health & Attendance.
Click here to read the WVCSD Attendance Policy.