Policies

Attendance Policy

Poor attendance at school often results in less than satisfactory academic progress. Excused absences are granted for two reasons: illness and family emergencies. In each instance, the absence must be verified with a note from parents or guardians when the child returns to school. Absences for any other reason are considered unexcused.

In accordance with the Virginia School Attendance Law of July 1999, the parents of any student who continues to accumulate unexcused absences after being notified of attendance concerns by school personnel may be referred to a Truancy Panel that convenes at the Department of Court Services. After the seventh unexcused absence, the student and parents may be called to appear before the Juvenile Court Judge, and parents may be subject to legal penalties.

Students who attend our school as a result of an administrative transfer must maintain good attendance (including on-time arrivals) to remain in good standing. Failure to do so may result in the termination of the transfer request.

ACPS Attendance Regulations (PDF)

Absence Reporting

Please remember to report any absence to the school registrar—include your child's name, grade, teacher and reason for absence to jpattendance@acps.k12.va.us

Dismissal Procedures

Dismissal for students in kindergarten and grade 1 will begin at 2:25 p.m.; student bus riders in grades 2-5 will be dismissed at 2:35 p.m.; and, car riders/walkers will exit the building at 2:38 p.m. Lastly, students who attend Campagna for aftercare will report to the cafeteria at 2:38 p.m. Parents who pick their children up in the afternoon are asked to park their cars along Polk Ave and walk to the front entrance to await their child (grades 1-5) if they are being dismissed from the walkers’ exit or meet the kindergarten staff at the kindergarten entrance. Walkers will be dismissed from the front of the building. During inclement weather and during the winter months students will be dismissed from the gym.

Please send a note to your child’s teacher whenever you need to pick your child up before 2:35 p.m., or whenever you need to change your child’s after-school plans. This ensures appropriate communication and minimizes classroom disruptions.

Please note that we are not able to honor change-of-plans requests that are phoned into the school office after 12:00 p.m.

It is essential we are given ample notice of bus/dismissal changes. Please send only authorized adults to pick up your children. Dismissal changes may be phoned into the office or sent in with your child in writing.

Birthday Celebrations

Children’s birthdays are recognized by their classroom teacher and during P.E. class with a special song.

Birthday parties are not permitted during the instructional day.

In keeping with the ACPS Student Wellness Policy – JHCF (PDF) and allergy concerns, outside food is not permitted to be shared with students.

We require that birthday celebrations are recognized through other means. Some suggestions for parents may include small goodie bags filled with non-food novelties such as erasers, pencils, and stickers; or donation of a book to the school library.