Attendance

State law requires all children attend school daily unless they are ill or there is a family emergency.

If a child has three unexcused absences in one month or between two and five during the year, a petition must be filed with Kitsap County Courts.  The definition of an excused absence is as follows:

  • Illness
  • Health care appointments
  • School-approved activities
  • Parental approved activities (such as vacations, visitation of relatives, etc.):A family vacation is only excused if there is prior written approval by the building principal and there is not a serious, adverse effect on the educational progress of the student
  • Religious reasons: The right of parents to determine when their child may be absent from public school in order to observe a religious holiday shall not be limited by school officials

Absences

It is very important that children attend school as regularly as possible, however, we encourage you not to send children when they are not feeling well enough to take part in regular school activities. 

Missing 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days over the course of a school year, negatively affects a student’s academic performance. That’s just two days a month! This is known as chronic absenteeism. Students who are chronically absent in kindergarten are less likely to read by 3rd grade. When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and chances for graduating. 

Our goal here at Emerald Heights is to keep our attendance absentee rate below 10%. For our whole building we are at 93%. Ideally, we’d love to see this up around 95%. 

We want ALL of our students here at Emerald Heights to be successful. Let’s work together to make sure that all students are here every day unless they are sick. 

Parents must contact the school office before 9 a.m. to report that their child will not be in attendance on that day, or leave a message on the school’s voice mail between the hours of 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. When we do not hear from you, we will try to verify your child’s absence by contacting you at home or work. If we do not receive a note or phone contact within two days of the absence, the absence is considered unexcused.


What's your attendance?

Extended Leave Request

If you are planning a trip that requires your child to miss more than 3 days, please ask our office about a Leave Request Form.  This is to ensure that you understand the district policy on attendance and that you are responsible to make sure your child makes up any missed assignments.

Requests For Homework

Homework assignments are available for students who are absent.  Please call the school office before 9:00 a.m. to allow teachers sufficient time to prepare assignments, which may be picked up the following school day.

Late Arrivals

Students who arrive after 9:10 a.m. must check in at the office before going to class.  This will prevent them from being marked absent or not being included in the lunch count.  If your child is to arrive after 9:30amand wishes to purchase a hot lunch, the office must receive a phone call with that request.  If the office has not been called prior to 9:30 a.m. the student should bring a lunch to school.

Checking Students Out Early

There will be an occasion (doctor, dentist, etc.) when students need to leave class early.  Help us to maximize learning time by making this a true exception.  When students leave class early at the end of the day it creates disruptions of learning for all students.  The classroom is called, the teacher is asked to restate ending directions and homework reminders, student learning time suffers.  If you must check your child out early, please follow this procedure:

  • Come to the office, provide picture identification to office staff.
  • Sign your child out on the Child Check Out log at the frontdesk.
  • Wait for the school staff to call the classroom and have your child come to the office.

Please plan an extra few minutes to complete this process, allowing the student to be located and to collect their belongings.  Children will not be released before the end of school without an authorized adult.

As we increase the learning opportunities and requirements, interruptions must be minimized.  Thank you for your help in planning appointments outside the school day when possible.