Attendance
Regular class attendance lies at the heart of Chaparral Star Academy’s teaching and learning process. A student benefits from regular class attendance in many ways, grasping facts and concepts more thoroughly from class discussion and teacher explanation. These benefits typically enhance student performance on graded exercises and create communal experiences from which the entire class can benefit.
Valid reasons arise, of course, for missing class, including illness, family emergencies and extraordinary opportunities. Three times of the year are considered to be sacrosanct in the area of student attendance: assessment test days (e. g., STAAR, End of Course, Midterms & Finals, PSAT days), semester examination days, and the last day of school. As a general rule, absences will not be excused on these days except in the cases of personal illness, religious reasons or family emergency.
MINIMUM ATTENDANCE POLICY
Any student may not be absent more than 10% of the instruction days for any class semester. Attendance will be calculated on a semester basis for all courses in all grades. This includes both excused and unexcused absences. If the student exceeds this limit, the student will NOT receive credit for the respective high school course. Absences are calculated per class, in addition to per school day.
A student in grades K-7th may not be absent more than 10% of the school year. This includes both excused and unexcused absences. If the student exceeds this limit, the student will be retained in the current grade. For 2022-23, the breakdown is described below.
A student in grades 8-12 may not be absent more than 10% of each semester for respective high school courses. This includes both excused and unexcused absences. If the student exceeds this limit, the student will lose credit in the respective high school course. For 8th graders, the student will be retained for attendance in non-high school courses as described above for K-7th grades. For 2022-23, the breakdown is described below.
90% ATTENDANCE RULE BREAKDOWN (2023-24)
FOR GRADES K-8 (non-high school courses)
YEARLONG ATTENDANCE
175 Instructional Days
75% Attendance = 132 Days
90% Attendance = 158 Days
More than 43 Days Absent = Less than 75%
More than 17 Days Absent = Less than 90%
FOR GRADES 9-12 (by high school course)
SEMESTER 1
85 Instructional Days
75% Attendance = 64 Days
90% Attendance = 77 Days
More than 21 Days Absent = Less than 75%
More than 8 Days Absent = Less than 90%
SEMESTER 2
90 Instructional Days
75% Attendance = 68 Days
90% Attendance = 81 Days
More than 22 Days Absent = Less than 75%
More than 9 Days Absent = Less than 90%
TARDIES
If a student arrives late (more than three minutes beyond the student’s first period at school or the daily attendance period; more than one minute beyond the posted start time for other periods) to a scheduled class, that student is considered “tardy” for that specific date in that class, regardless of circumstances. The teacher will make note of this in his/her gradebook.
Normal classwork assignments will be required and accepted. Students should not expect teachers to repeat material missed by the student due to tardiness.
If a high school student is tardy 10 minutes or more for a specific course, then the student is counted as absent for that course (in lieu of a tardy). This also applies to any middle school students for high school courses in which they are enrolled. If an elementary student is tardy 45 minutes or more upon first arriving to school, the student is counted as absent for the day. This also applies to any middle school students for non-high school courses in which they are enrolled.
The official daily attendance will be taken during 2nd & 8th periods for each respective session (8:30am & 12:50pm).