Coming to school every day, on time and ready to learn, is important for your child's success. At Brier Creek, our instructional day begins promptly at 9:15 and every minute is important. Being on time means students are in their classrooms at the 9:15 bell. Our instructional day ends at 3:45. Early check-outs are not permitted after 3:15.

When your child does need to miss school, please provide a written note or an email to the teacher within two days of his or her return to school or the absence(s) will be recorded as unexcused. Reasons for excused absences include:

• illness or injury of the student
• a death in the family
• health care appointments for students
• court appearances for the student
• religious observance
• natural disasters
• outside educational opportunities (you'll need to submit this form in advance to the Data Manager)

If you are considering submitting a Request for Excused Absence for Educational Opportunity, please note the following criteria must be met: (1) the initial intent of the trip should be for educational purposes; (2) the experience should be comparable to what the student would have experienced in school; and (3) the student's absence(s) from school would not interfere with the education of the student. If the submitted educational opportunity is a family trip/vacation, does not have significant educational impact, the student has a significant number of absences or poor attendance history, or there are academic concerns with the student missing school, the Request for Excused Absence for Educational Opportunity will be denied.

Regardless of whether or not an absence is excused or unexcused, students are expected to make up the work they miss when they are out of school. It is important for them to master all of the skills and concepts taught throughout the year and their teachers will work with them to help them get caught up when they have to be out. 

At Brier Creek, we have an attendance team that meets monthly to review student attendance data. If a student has an excessive number of excused or unexcused absences, the parent will be notified via a letter. Because your child's attendance at school is so important to us, you can expect that school staff, including the Principal, Assistant Principal, School Social Worker, School Counselor, and Teachers, will follow up regularly to work with you and your child to support regular school attendance. If there are needs that other staff such as the School Nurse or School Psychologist can help with, we can reach out to them as well. 

For more information, review Board Policy 6000: Attendance.