Attendance

Contact Student Life if your child is absent. Call 615-590-6037 or email.

Email Asst. to Student Life

Daily attendance is both a school and a state requirement, and the school must validate that students are not truant to grant course credits toward promotion to the next grade level and graduation requirements. Beyond legal requirements, regular class attendance is essential for student intellectual growth and managing the rigorous courses at JPII.
Definition of Tardy vs. Absence

An absence is defined as missing an entire day of school OR arriving after 11:00 a.m. on a given day.  Tardy is arriving after 7:55 a.m. and but before 11:00 a.m. OR arriving late to the start of any class throughout the day.

Excused vs. Unexcused Absences
If a student has an appointment with or diagnosis from a medical professional and brings documentation to school, the absence is excused. School trips, school-sponsored athletic contests, college visits (see below), and bereavement leave are also excused. All other absences are unexcused. The Administration realizes that other circumstances may arise where a student may need to be absent.  Parents / legal guardians will be allowed to excuse up to five (5) total absences per year for their student by providing a note (email) to the Student Life office. Student Life will consider additional circumstances on a case-by-case basis, e.g., a death in the family, a major family event, etc.   Any further absences will be considered unexcused unless specifically approved by the Dean of Students. and will be cause for a review by the Administration to determine the student's future at school.  

Excessive Absences (Time for Time Program) UPDATE FOR THE 25-26 SCHOOL YEAR

• At three (3) unexcused absences per class per semester, a parent will receive an email notification from the Student Life office. This is an opportunity to correct the attendance record if there are inaccuracies.
• At five (5) unexcused absences per class per semester, parents will receive an email notification informing them that their student will be responsible for making up missed classes in a Time-for-Time program. The student will need to attend one hour of Saturday School for every unexcused class absence after five unexcused absences in a class. The fee for Saturday School is $25 per hour.  (For example, John has 6 unexcused absences in math class and 8 unexcused absences in English class in the first semester. He would need to attend 4 hours of Saturday School, and his student account would be charged $100).
• Saturday Schools will be held from 8:00 am to noon on a few Saturdays towards the end of a Semester. The Student Life Office will communicate directly with the families of a student that needs to attend.
• Students who do not make up missed class time in a given semester run the risk of not being allowed to enroll at JPII in the following semester.

Absences During Exams
Absences during exams should only occur due to illness or extenuating circumstances.  Students missing exams for early travel or extended holiday will be required to take all their exams. To ensure student success, students may not take scheduled exams outside of the scheduled time unless one of the following occurs, and then only with the approval of the Principal: 
a) Death in the family,
b) Graduation of an immediate family member,
c) Illness (physician's note required)

Exam security, availability of personnel, as well as fairness to all students requires adherence to the exam schedule. Family vacations do not qualify for rescheduling of exams. Students who must make up exams for reasons other than the three above will incur additional fees for exam administration and proctors. Students will make up exams for first-semester exams when they return for the second semester on the first Saturday. For second-semester exams, students will make up exams when they return.

School-Related Absences
Field trips for educational purposes enhance the learning process. For that reason, school-sponsored field trips, early dismissals, absences for athletic events, or other activities of rare circumstances that the school has pre-approved do not generally count toward days missed if the procedures below are correctly followed. If a student is not meeting their educational commitments in a class, the Administration reserves the right to veto this activity. Please note that if a student is academically ineligible, they are not permitted to travel or compete with their team or club for school-sponsored activities. Commitment to one's studies is a prerequisite for other activities.

School Day Expectations
No student may leave the campus during the academic day without the permission of the Student Life office. Students who violate this policy are liable for suspension.

Students who drive to school may not return to their cars without permission from the Dean of Students or staff from the Student Life office during the academic day.

Students cannot enter the school building until 7:15 a.m. each morning.

Students may not congregate in the parking lot but should enter the building as soon as they exit their cars.

High school students can have lunch and congregate in the courtyard directly in front of the school. All other outside areas of the campus are off-limits for students from 7:55 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. unless accompanied by faculty.

JPII is a closed campus during lunch.  Parents may not excuse their students to go off campus with friends to eat lunch. If there is ever a celebration that is important enough that the parent wishes the student to go off campus for lunch (i.e. after Ring Mass) the parent will come to check out the student and drive them to lunch. Students will not be allowed to drive themselves to lunch with friends - even with parent permission.

Definition of Tardy vs. Absence

An absence is defined as missing an entire day of school OR arriving after 11:00 a.m. on a given day. Tardy is arriving after 7:55 a.m. and but before 11:00 a.m. OR arriving late to the start of any class throughout the day.

Tardiness Procedure

If a tardy is due to a doctor's appointment, we require that students bring a note from the doctor to excuse a tardy. Students tardy for any other reason will be considered tardy unexcused and be issued a point. Parents may excuse up to three (3) tardies per year for their student with a tardy note (can also be a call or email).

Students arriving at school any time after 7:55 a.m. must check in with Student Life; they must have a note before going to class. Students not in their assigned location by 7:55 a.m. will be marked tardy unexcused and issued a point unless they present a physician’s note to the Student Life office the following day. Students will receive a Point for each unexcused tardy.

Any student who needs to leave school during the academic day for an appointment must submit a note to the Student Life office from the parent/legal guardian explaining the reason for early dismissal by 7:55 a.m. that day. Students should report to Student Life or the front office to sign out at the appointed dismissal time. If the student is leaving for a medical or dental appointment, they must bring a note from the healthcare provider the next day to account for the absence.

Students will not be dismissed from school during Mass. If a student needs to be dismissed from school during Mass time, the parent/legal guardian must ensure the student is dismissed before Mass begins. School personnel will not disrupt Mass to locate the student. Please refer to the daily schedule for Mass times.

If a student faces an illness during the school day, they must first see the nurse before leaving school. In balancing the health needs of students and prioritizing students’ class attendance, the school nurse must sign off on a student leaving school during the school day. If the issue relates to mental health, e.g., anxiety attacks, depression, self-harm, etc., the student should see a counselor before being signed out to leave during the school day.

Students missing school due to familial obligations, e.g., a sibling's graduation, a family wedding, etc., must seek prior approval for the absence/early dismissal at least 24 hours before the dismissal.

Failure to present proper documentation or gain prior approval for absences may result in Student Life consequences ranging from Loss of Privileges (LOPed), Saturday school, or being placed on the Academic Probation list, depending on the frequency and severity of the situation.

Students are permitted to stay on campus after school if they are involved in a school-sponsored activity, are waiting for a bus, or studying in the CIE (Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship). Middle School students must attend the Middle School Aftercare Program. The CIE closes at 5:45 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 4:00 p.m. on Fridays. Students must leave campus if they are not participating in a school-sponsored activity.

Juniors and seniors may take two college visit days per year that do not count toward the absence policy. The School, however, encourages families to visit colleges during school breaks. Documentation of the visit must be provided to the Student Life office upon return.

Students must be in class no later than 11:00 a.m. to participate in an athletic practice or game. The only exception to this rule is if the student brings in an official medical note from their physician, dentist, or medical provider. Students arriving from a medical appointment must be in school before noon to be eligible to participate in a game or practice.