Academic Policy
ATTENDANCE
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires that the school term be a minimum of 180 days or its equivalent of a minimum of 900 hours of instruction.
When a child is absent for any reason, he/she must bring a written excuse from his/her parent/guardian stating the days of absence and the reason for the absence. Failure to bring in a written excuse will result in an unexcused absence. A Doctors excuse is needed after 3 or more consecutive absences and/or after each additional absence beyond twenty (20) accumulated absences; consecutive or non-consecutive.
If your child is absent from school please call the office between the 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. to indicate why the child will not be in school. If the school office has not heard from a parent or guardian by 9:00 a.m., the school office will call the home and inquire why the student has not arrived at school.
TARDINESS
Tardiness is checked each day and a record is kept on permanent file as it is for absence. Tardiness should occur very rarely, if your child is tardy, he/she must bring a written excuse with the necessary information, just as done for absence. If your child/children are tardy more then 6 times within a grading period the child/children will be reported to the Truancy Officer in the child’s/children’s school district of residence.
DEFINITION OF TARDY AND ABSENT
If a child arrives between 8:20 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. the child shall be considered tardy. Arrival after 9:20 a.m. shall be interpreted as an absence for the morning session. If a child leaves prior to 1:00 p.m. the child shall be considered absent for the afternoon session. If a child leaves the school, returns, but had been gone for more than two hours, the child shall be considered as absent for half a day.
ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATE
An Attendance Certificate will be awarded to any child who has not been tardy in excess of three times and has not been marked as absent.
MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS
A student may be excused, during the school day, for a doctor or dentist appointment if an excuse is presented to the principal’s office. The note should indicate the time of the appointment and who is coming for the child. If possible, appointments should be made outside of school time.
NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT
All divorced parents must furnish the school with a copy of the custodial section of the divorce decree. This is needed for the administration to have a clear understanding of the non-custodial parents’ rights.
CHOIR CLASS
Choir is an elective class; however, once a student has elected to be a choir member withdrawal from choir class will be accepted up to mid-term of the first grading period. Any withdrawal after this time will result in an incomplete grade for each of the remaining grading periods within the current year.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS
Please refer to section on Dress Code for proper physical education class attire.
If at any time it is necessary for a student to refrain from physical activities, please send a note stating the reason to the teacher. If a student is excused from gym class, he/she will not be permitted to take part in any after school sports program that day.
EDUCATIONAL/VACATION TRIPS AND MAKE-UP WORK-ABSENT FROM SCHOOL
1. An application for approval of an educational/vacation trip must be obtained from the school office and completed and returned to the office at least ten (10) school days prior to the beginning of the trip.
2. Educational/vacation trips must be limited to one per school term.
3. Students must be doing passing work in all subject areas.
4. Students must be regular in attendance.
5. No work in any subject area should be incomplete at the time of the request.
6. Every effort must be made to work ahead in all subject areas before leaving on the trip.
7. Any work missed during the approved trip must be made up in full. It is the responsibility of the student (and parent/guardian of primary students) to meet with the teachers to acquire missed assignments. Even though the child will be enriched through his/her travel experiences, class time cannot be fully compensated for by completing missed assignments due to the nature of hands-on activities, class discussions, and demonstrations.
8. If work is not completed after return of the trip, within a reasonable amount of time that work will be considered a failure. No incomplete grades will be given.
Example: Make-up work, when absent, should be completed as follows.
1 day absent = 2 days to complete make-up work.
2 days absent = 4 days to complete make-up work.
Etc.
GRADING
Report cards are presented to grades 1 through 4 at the end of each nine-week period. Kindergarten and middle school grades 5 through 8 are on a trimester grading period (every twelve weeks).
Students are graded by two systems. The first, indicated by a letter, ranks the child with regard to his/her work in each subject area. The second, indicated by a number, specifies the progress of the student in each subject with regard to his/her expected performance. In grades 1-4, check marks, given for subject sub-divisions; indicate areas of concern. Grades awarded in each of our special subjects (i.e. Language, Physical Education, Art, Computer and Music) are of the number system only.
A - 93-100 Grades 1-4: Grades 5-8:
B - 85-92 1-Excellent 1-Exceeds Expectations
C - 76-84 2-Steady Progress 2-Meets Expectations
D - 69-75 3-Needs Improvement 3-Does Not Meet Expectations
E - 68-Below
Mid-term grades are sent home halfway between each of the four grading periods and each of the three trimesters.
RECOGNITION OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Achievement Awards are given to any student in grades one through three who does not receive any 3’s (Needs Improvement) on his/her report card. In grades four through eight, any student earning all A’s and no 3’s receives First Honors; student’s earning all A’s and B’s and no 3’s receives Second Honors; and any student earning A’s, B’s and C’s with no D’s or 3’s receives an Achievement Award.
PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES
A conference between the homeroom teacher and the parents/guardians will be scheduled once or twice a year, for grades one through eight. A spring conference is scheduled for Kindergarten. Both parents/guardians are encouraged to attend. Either the parent/guardian or teacher may initiate additional conferences at any time during the school term. Many times the student is positively influenced when they realize the parents/guardians and teachers are taking the time to discuss his/her strengths and weaknesses. Cooperation often brings success and encouragement to parents/guardians, teachers, and most importantly, to the student.
NEGATIVE PROGRESS REPORTS/UNSATISFACTORY WORK/INCOMPLETE WORK
See “Ineligibility”
HOMEWORK
Homework assignments are necessary to reinforce each day’s schoolwork and to help children develop habits of work and study. Parents/guardians give valuable assistance to the school when they insist that a definite study time, in a quiet atmosphere, is a regular and normal part of the child’s evening schedule. Completion of homework will be strictly enforced. Students not complying with homework regulations will be disciplined in a manner deemed most suitable, by the teacher, for the age of the student and the degree of infraction.
The following guidelines assist the teacher and student in planning and completing homework assignments:
Grades One and Two: 30 minutes
Grades Three and Four: 40 minutes
Grades Five and Six: 60 minutes
Grades Seven and Eight: 60 to 80 minutes
WRITTEN PAPERS
In grades K through four, students complete their assignments in pencil. Student assignments for grades five through eight may be done in pencil, ink or by computer printer (subject to approval by teacher). Assignment headings; name, subject, date, etc.; are left to the discretion of the assigning teacher.
RETENTION
Retention of a child will be determined by conference between parents/ guardians, teacher(s) and principal. Because the total development of each child is essential, emotional, psychological, and social growth will be considered as well as academic achievement.
RECORDS
Although law does not require the schools under the Diocese of Erie to obey the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the Diocese has adopted similar guidelines in order to protect the rights of students. The principal supervises the records of the students and will assist you if you have any questions.
In the elementary schools of the Diocese of Erie, the following procedures are followed: (Category A, Category B, and Category C)
A. Collection and Maintenance
1. As long as the child is in the school, statistical information as seen on the registration form, and academic records as seen on report cards and standardized tests will be kept in the child’s file. Should any Category C information be obtained about a child, (potential or temporarily useful information such as legal or clinical findings, discipline memos, and other similar data) it will be filed separately evaluated periodically and destroyed if its usefulness in no longer apparent.
2. When a child leaves the school, only the permanent folder which contains the minimum statistics and standardized achievement scores, with the academic records, are maintained in the inactive file.
3. Each year, students are evaluated not only through the testing programs by the teachers, but also through a Diocesan Testing program which uses standardized tests. Parents/guardians receive copies of the results of these evaluations through report cards, conferences, and computer printouts.
B. Dissemination of Records 1. Parents/guardians have the right of access to all educational records. Should the need arise; this right can be exercised by appointment at a time mutually convenient to the parties concerned.
2. If a child transfers to another school (public or private), the records will be forwarded to the new school when that school requests them. Parents/guardians may receive a copy for a nominal fee if they so wish, but they must make the request.
3. The records of a student will not be sent to a third party unless the parent/guardian signs a release form.
4. Directory information, which includes such information as the student’s name, address, telephone number, birthday, dates of attendance, and awards, will be released to third parties (news releases, honor rolls, athletic programs) without the signed release form unless a parent/guardian stipulates otherwise.
C. Conference
Should parents/guardians not understand a procedure or question the records for their child, they should schedule an appointment with the principal of the school to discuss their questions/concerns. If further action is necessary the procedures, as stated, in the Diocesan School Policies and Administrative Procedures for Elementary Schools should be followed. | 