Attendance

If Your Child Will Be Absent From School

• Follow these steps to report an attendance event. Remember, timely communication is key!

You can choose two ways to communicate your student's absence/lateness or early dismissal:

• Use your Skyward Family Access account. Choose the Attendance Tile, then select Attendance Request. 
• Email attendance@rak12.org. You must include the following:
  1. Your child's full name and grade
  2. The date of the attendance event
  3. Your name and contact phone number
  4. Most importantly: the reason for the absence/lateness/early dismissal
• When requesting an early dismissal please provide the name of the person picking up the student and the approximate pick up time.

Please Keep in Mind:

• A student who is sick should never be sent to school.
• To request school work to be compiled and picked up by a family member or friend, please call your child’s home base teacher by 7:30 AM. Any calls requesting work made after 7:30 AM may not be ready at the end of the day. You are also welcome to email individual teachers requesting assignments or updates.

When Your Child Returns To School After Being Absent

• Whenever possible, get a doctor note for school missed due to appointments. You must always provide a supporting doctor note for absences over three (3) consecutive days.
• Regularly review your student’s attendance record on your Skyward Family Access account. Inform the attendance office if you see any discrepancies and be sure to update us on the status of any unexcused attendance marks.

Excused Absences

The following is a list of excused reasons for absence. Any absence resulting from a situation other than those listed below may be considered unexcused:

• Observance of a religious holiday
• Religious instruction with a maximum of 36 hours per year
• Trips to exhibitions or places for educational purposes (colleges, participation in organized group presentations with an academic focus, attendance at conferences or places for academic purposes), maximum five (5) days per year, with prior notification in writing and approval from administration.
• Planned vacations up to a maximum of five (5) school days, with prior notification in writing and approval from your student’s grade-level Principal.
• Medical / health related appointments that cannot otherwise be scheduled after school hours.
• Illness, or recovery from an injury or medical procedure.
• Death in the family.
• Court appearance.
• Unavoidable family emergencies.
• Inclement weather resulting in impassable roads.

**If documentation is not supplied within three (3) school days of the absence, the absence will be considered unexcused.

After School Activities Following Absences

Students not in attendance for the school day may not participate in after school activities for the day (athletic games, dances or proms, clubs, concerts, practices, etc.) Students who miss the day before a non-school day event must have prior administrative permission to attend. Administration has the right to review circumstances of any absence and determine if participation after school or during the weekend following an absence is warranted.

If you require an exception to these policies, please be in contact with your student’s grade-level Principal:

• Michelle.Boyd@rak12.org (9th-12th)
• Heather.Rinker@rak12.org (5th-8th)
• Kendra.Gruber@rak12.org (Kinder-4th)

To report an error in your student’s attendance record, please contact attendance@rak12.org.

To report an issue with your Skyward Family Access account, please contact Andrea.Blanton@rak12.org.

K-6th Grade:

When a K-6th grade student exceeds fifteen (15) absences a doctor’s note will be required for all subsequent absences or the absence will be considered unexcused. A K-6th grade student with fifteen (15) or more total absences, excused or unexcused, will be considered for retention in his or her current grade

​​7th-12th Grade​:

When a 7th-12th grade student exceeds twelve (12) absences a doctor’s note will be required for all subsequent absences or the absence will be considered unexcused. A 7th-12th grade student with twelve (12) or more total absences, excused or unexcused, will be considered for retention in his or her current grade.

It is the belief of Renaissance Academy that time in class is a critical step in the learning process. Class discussions, activities, and work which may not be graded are just as important in assessing student learning and success as tests, quizzes, and projects. Any upper school student who misses 12 or more full days of school (excused or unexcused), or 12 or more classes of a specific subject (excused or unexcused) may not be awarded credit for the class. Students will receive either a 64% as their final grade for high school or a 59% for middle school if they had a passing grade at the end of the year. A student who fails the class outright will receive the earned grade. Students who wish to appeal this policy due to medical or emergency reasons must contact the Principal and request a hearing with the Board of School Directors.

School hours for all students are 8:00 am to 3:30 pm.  It is every parent/guardian’s responsibility to get his or her child to school on time and it is the responsibility of every student to report to each class on time. Renaissance Academy believes that students who are late to school or are tardy to class begin the day or individual class at a disadvantage.

Five (5) unexcused lateness’s (grades 7-12) or three (3) or more unexcused lateness's (grades K-6) each trimester may result in the following corrective action:

1. Warning
2. Counseling
3. Family/School Meeting
4. Truancy Elimination Plan
5. Alternative Placement

Unexcused lateness’s that total eight hours (one school day) when combined with unexcused absences, may result in a citation to the parents by the sending school district.

7th-12 grade students who are late to class during the school day and do not have their agenda signed by a staff member are considered unexcused and late to class. If a student accumulates 5 unexcused tardies to a single class during a trimester, after school detention will be assigned.

If Your Student(s) Needs to be Dismissed Early Please Follow the Steps Below

You can choose two ways to communicate your student’s absence/lateness or early dismissal:

• Use your Skyward Family Access account.  Choose the Attendance Tile, then select Attendance Request. 
• Email attendance@rak12.org.You must include the following:
  1. Your child’s full  name and grade
  2. The date of the attendance event
  3. Your name and contact phone number
  4. Most importantly: the reason for the absence/lateness/early dismissal

When requesting an early dismissal please provide the name of the person picking up the student and the approximate pick up time.

• Only authorized adults whose names are on file in the main office may sign out and pick up your child. Any other individuals picking up your child will require written authorization in the form of a physical note, fax or email; no verbal requests or confirmations will be honored, including phone calls.
• A student CANNOT sign themselves out of the building. If your student is a driver (17 years old in PA) and needs to leave for an early dismissal, he or she MUST have a written note from a parent or guardian. Students who are 18 may not sign themselves out.
• Please provide the Student Information Manager with names and telephone numbers of adults who may pick up your student. Please update the names if your family situation changes.
• Students who leave school early may not return to school for an after school event without pre-approval from administration.
• Students are not allowed to leave class to wait for a parent/guardian to pick them up. They are to remain in class until the parent arrives at the main office and physically signs them out. At this time a call will be made to the student’s classroom. 

Excused Absences / Tardies / Early Releases

Following is a list of excused reasons for attendance incidents. Any absence, lateness or early release resulting from a situation other than those listed below will be considered unexcused.

• Observance of a religious holiday
• Religious instruction with a maximum of 36 hours per year
• Trips to exhibitions or places for educational purposes, maximum five (5) days per year and must receive administrative pre-approval. (Exempt Absence) - Request for Educational Travel Form
• Planned vacations up to a maximum of five (5) school days, with prior notification in writing and administrative pre-approval.
• Medical / health related appointments which cannot be scheduled after school hours
• Illness or recovery from a medical procedure.
• Death in the family
• Court appearance
• Unavoidable family emergencies
• Inclement weather resulting in impassable roads

If documentation is not supplied within three (3) school days of the absence, the absence will be considered unexcused. Failure to provide an excuse for an absence after three days will result in the absence being permanently counted as unlawful.

Unexcused Absences / Tardies / Early Dismissals

When the school does not receive an excuse note within three (3) school days after the return to school, the attendance incident becomes unexcused. Unexcused absences exceeding three (3) school days total may result in corrective measures.

A student with three (3) or more unexcused absences may be issued a citation with District Court by the student’s sending school district.

Examples of unexcused attendance events include:  Over-slept, missed bus, traffic, stopping for breakfast, early pick-up for convenience purposes only (which are not for one of the excused reason listed above).

Our Responsibility 

Renaissance Academy will notify parents/guardians of a first and second unlawful absence. Upon a third unlawful absence, Renaissance Academy will notify parents/guardians to coordinate a school/family conference to discuss truancy and develop a mutually agreed upon Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP).

A sixth unlawful absence will result in a student being considered habitually truant, and Renaissance Academy will work to gain attendance law compliance through a referral to the District Magistrate, Office of Children and Youth, or the County Juvenile Probation system. Renaissance Academy will work with the family to provide support and referral information for assistance from community social service agencies.

What is a Student Attendance Improvement Plan

The Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP) is written at the school/family conference which is held after the third unlawful absence. During the conference, possible solutions to increase the student’s school attendance will be explored. Participation by the student and family is an integral component of this conference. Issues to be addressed at the school/family conference may include but are not limited to:

• Reason for absences
• Student’s current academic level, needs and goals
• Student’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as social, emotional, physical, mental and behavioral health issues
• Issues concerning family and home environment
• Any other issues affecting the student’s attendance

After School Activities Following Attendance Events:

Students not in attendance for the school day may not participate in after school activities for the day (athletic games, dances or proms, clubs, concerts, practices, etc.) Students who miss the day before a non-school day event must have prior administrative permission to attend. Administration has the right to review circumstances of any absence and determine if participation after school or during the weekend following an absence is warranted.

For more information on Absences and tardiness please contact attendance@rak12.org.