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Attendance

Daily and regular attendance at school is extremely important in the West Jefferson Hills School District.  We like sharing the following information with all families each school year, in order to ensure a positive experience for all.   

A maximum of ten (10) days of excused and unexcused parent written absences are permitted per year.  All absences beyond ten (10) days require an excuse from a licensed physician, otherwise they will remain unexcused.

Unexcused absences do not carry make-up privileges.

In order to help you keep track of absences, a courtesy letter will come home at the 7-day mark.  Once your student hits the 10-day mark, another letter will be sent letting you know the threshold has been reached and doctor notes are now required. 

If a child accumulates a total of 18 (excused & unexcused) absences, the child will be prohibited from participating in certain activities at the school.

The following list outlines those absences which are and are not excused. 

As per school board policy, the following are considered excused absences:  

  1. Illness (parent or doctor note -- doctor’s notes do not count toward the 10-day maximum per year) 
  2. Quarantine (parent or doctor note -- doctor’s notes do not count toward the 10-day maximum per year)
  3. Recovery from accident (parent or doctor note)
  4. Death in family (counts as a parent note and toward the 10-day maximum per year)
  5. Family educational travel, with prior approval on an Educational Vacation form as found on Skyward (counts as a parent note and toward the 10-day maximum per year)
  6. Religious holiday absences (does not count toward the 10-day maximum per year)
  7. Approved family emergencies. Family emergencies must be approved by a Principal or Administrator (counts as a parent note and toward the 10-day maximum per year).  Otherwise, the excuse will remain unexcused. If you write “family emergency”, you will be contacted by the Principal to verify.
  8. The following are considered examples of unexcused absences:
    1. Family visiting from out of town, or visiting family out of town
    2. Birthday or a family birthday 
    3. Slept in
    4. Missed the bus
    5. Vague notifications such as “my child will be absent today.” The state of PA requires a specific reason.

Ways to Submit an Absence Excuse Request

  • Through your Skyward Account
    • Fill out the form, comment must state “Why” they are absent
  • Send an email to the Secretary and the Teacher
    • Note must state “Why” they are absent 
  • Send in a note or doctor's note when the student returns
    • Note must state “Why” they are absent
    • Doctor's note doesn’t have to state “Why”, just that they were seen

If you Submit an Absence Excuse in Skyward and state it is for a doctor's appointment, remember that you must send in the doctor's note for the absence to be changed to doctor excused. 

You only have to do one of the 3 above, or can do the email & Skyward request and then send the doctor's note as a follow up.

The doctor's note can be sent to secretary through email