Your child’s success starts with showing up.

Coming to school every day, ready to learn, builds strong habits and supports academic growth. By law, children ages 7–16 must attend school regularly.

Excused absences

Your child’s absence may be excused for:

• Illness or injury

• A death in the family

• Health care appointments

• Court appearances

• Religious observances

• Natural disasters

• Educational opportunities (requires advance approval)
  
  

To request an excused absence for an educational reason, complete one of these forms before the absence:

• Request for Excused Absence for Educational Reasons (English)

• Request for Excused Absence for Educational Reasons (Spanish)
  
  

Unexcused absences

Please send a written or digital note within two days of your child returning to school. Without a note, the absence will be marked unexcused.

If your child has three or more unexcused absences, your school will contact you to discuss ways to support regular attendance.

Making up work

Students are responsible for completing all missed work. Teachers will share schedules and expectations for making up assignments.

Learn more

For details, read School Board Policy 4400: Attendance.

Dear Parents and Guardians,, 

Effective 09/04/2024, the following updates to attendance procedures have been implemented:

• Handwritten notes from families will be accepted for attendance purposes. Per WCPSS policy 4400, "When a student must be late to school or leave school early, a written excuse (print or digital) signed by a parent or guardian should be presented upon the student’s arrival at school". Please see the above listing for excused absences. 
• Families may also upload a copy of their absence note to the online submission portal.
• For the safety and security of all students, verbal authorization over the phone is not sufficient to release a student from campus, regardless of age. If you need to request your student leave early, a written follow-up (such as an email or signed note) is required to complete the dismissal process.  Current students may not check themselves or a sibling(s) out of school without prior written parent authorization. The email or note should be from a parent/guardian indicating the name of the student(s) to be picked up and the name(s) of the person authorized to pick the student(s) up.  Valid identification is required for student pick-up. 
  • An email should be sent to attendance436@wcpss.net for documentation purposes.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in following these procedures, which ensures safety and proper accountability for all students.