Attendance
Regular attendance is essential for students to learn responsibility and to be successful in school.
When an absence is expected
Absences should only occur due to:
- Personal illness
- Critical sickness in the immediate family
- Death in the immediate family
- Recognized emergencies
- Approved school activities
Immediate family means the student's mother, father, brothers, sisters and grandparents.
A doctor's note is required for any office visit, or for any absence longer than two days.
Excused and unexcused
An absence for one of the reasons above is excused, provided parents send a signed note.
An unexcused absence is one that occurs for any other reason. A student may receive a zero for all work missed, and is responsible for asking their teachers whether provision can be made for tests or quizzes.
Family vacations, extended weekends, time with visiting relatives, and a desire to spend a special day with your student do not qualify. Genuine once-in-a-lifetime opportunities are considered case by case and must be requested and approved well in advance.
Students are not excused for company workdays or career days, except in their junior and senior years if they are genuinely investigating that career.
Limits that affect promotion
| Maximum absences per year | 21 days |
| Maximum absences per semester, high school | 12 days |
A student missing more than twenty-one days is not eligible for promotion. Where hospitalization has been a factor, the administration reviews the student's academic record. High school students may not be given credit for a course if they miss more than twelve days in that semester.
Half days
A student arriving after 9:00 AM, or leaving before 1:00 PM, is counted absent for one-half day. Without a note justifying the cause, that half day is treated as unexcused.
Tardies
Students arriving after 7:45 AM and before 9:00 AM are tardy. The student and parent go directly to the school office and sign the tardy log with the arrival time, the student's name and the complete reason. Students who drive themselves still sign in, with a note from a parent.
After three unexcused tardies a parent conference is scheduled automatically. Detentions may be assigned.
Appointments
Schedule doctor and dentist appointments after school, or as late in the day as possible. Non-emergency appointments that take a student out of the school day should be arranged through the office in advance, so the teacher and parent can plan the make-up work.
Make-up work
Junior and senior high students are expected to ask their teachers for the work to be made up. If a student is absent more than one day, parents should arrange to pick up the work.
Absence and activities
A student who is absent or suspended for the day may not participate in any school-related activity that day.
Early arrivals and late pickups
The school office is open 7:35 AM to 3:30 PM. The school cannot assume responsibility for students who arrive before 7:35 AM.
All students must be picked up by 3:25 PM. Call the office in an emergency and we will work with you. Repeated late pickups will prompt a meeting with the administrator.
Reporting an absence
Call the school office at (281) 492-3448.
Come see the Academy
The best way to understand Westside Baptist Academy is to walk the halls while school is in session. Tours take about an hour.