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Watchung Hills Regional High School Watchung Hills Regional High School

Off-Canvas

Attendance Office

 

Attendance Office
908-647-4800 ext. 4831

 

Absences:

Reporting an absence:
  • All absences must be called in or input through parent access, regardless of whomever else you have informed. 

    • Report an absence via Parent Access, go to Attendance Tab --> Notify Attendance Office

    • You may also call 908-647-4800 ext. 4831. Please provide the date of the absence, student’s name, and student ID number, if available.

    • Absent students are responsible to make up all assignments in a reasonable amount of time. Although they will be marked absent, if your child is able, they may log in and attend their classes virtually in order to stay current with instruction.

  • All absences will be considered unexcused until documentation is provided.

Excused Absences:

  • If the student goes to a physician, please obtain a physician’s note stating the student’s name and date of absence. The physician's note can be dropped off in person to the Attendance Office upon returning to school or emailed to whrhsattendance@whrhs.org and the absence will be adjusted to an excused absence. Without the physician’s note, the absence will remain unexcused. All notes must be received within two weeks of the absence for the absence to be excused. Notes written by parents stating that their child was sick or went to the physician’s office are not considered an excused absence.
  • Please notify the Attendance Office if the student has a driving test.
  • Please notify the Attendance Office and student’s guidance counselor if the student is absent from school due to attending a funeral.
  • College visits are considered excused absences only if we receive a note on college letterhead, stating that the student visited on a specific day. An invitation to visit or correspondence from the school is not acceptable for the absence to be considered excused.

Tardies:

  • The student must sign in at the tardy table or with attendance in the main office when tardy or returning to school.
  • If a student forgets to sign in, their previous classes will be recorded as an unverified absence and will result in being marked as cutting class.
  • All tardies are considered unexcused unless the student has a physician’s note.
  • Three unexcused tardies are subject to discipline and count as one absence.

Early Dismissals from School:

  • Please send in a written note with the student’s name and ID number, time of dismissal, and parent cell or work number.
  • Driving permission – Although you have provided written permission for your child to leave school and drive, we must always obtain verbal permission from a parent. Parents must call the Attendance Office to grant permission for their child to drive themselves home if they are leaving school early, even if they are eighteen years of age.
  • Parents must come into the Attendance Office and sign out the student if he/she is not driving. Students may not sign out and meet their parents in the parking lot.
  • If a student is returning to school after a physician’s appointment, they must sign into the Attendance Office. The student may reenter the school unaccompanied.
  • Please note that we are unable to call students out of class from 1:50 pm – 2:15 pm if an early dismissal was not pre-arranged.
     
  • Parents will not have access to the parking lots between 2:00 pm and 2:30 pm due to bus traffic.
 

Nurse Home:

  • If a student is ill while in school, they must go to the nurse’s office. If the student needs to go home, a parent or guardian is required to sign the student out of school or give permission for the student to drive home. In both cases, students are signed out through the nurse’s office.
  • If a student is sent home from the nurse and they return to school, they must go directly to the nurse’s office before attending class.

Extended Absences:

  • Please send in a note and call us with dates the student will be absent.
  • Please have the student come to the Attendance Office to pick up an extended leave form.
  • The student will bring the extended leave form to each of their teachers to communicate their absence and obtain their signature. Once complete, the student returns the form to the Attendance Office.

Home Instruction:

  • If a student is going to be absent five or more consecutive days due to illness, injury, or other conditions, please contact the student’s guidance counselor and Mrs. Tomassetti, Administrative Assistant at extension 4868 to discuss the situation and accommodations.
  • The school must be in possession of a physician’s note stating the reason and specific length of time for home instruction. The physician's note is valid for 20 days. If the student is still receiving home instruction after 20 days, a new note must be provided by the student's physician. (Refer to Student/Parent Handbook-Home Instruction tab)

Automated Calls

  • If the student is late to school or missed three or more classes, our computer system generates an automated call. We cannot control or stop the late call from going out even if you called us about the student’s lateness.
  • If a student is absent and you forgot to call, please call us so we can verify the absence.