Attendance Information
Build the Habit of Good Attendance
Dare County Schools Attendance Guide
Our mission is to support families and promote regular attendance in order to increase student learning.
What can be considered an excused absence?
- Illness
- Injury
- Quarantine
- Death in immediate family
- Medical and dental appointments
- Court or administrative proceedings
- Religious observations
- Educational opportunities
- College days
If your student is absent, you MUST provide a statement in writing that includes the following:
- Date the note was written
- Full name of the student
- Date of the absence(s)
- Reason for the absence
- Contact information for the person writing the note for verification signature
Reminder
You have 3 days to submit a written request for an absence to be excused.
School and Illness: Should Your Child Stay Home?
Keep your child home from school if they:
- Are too sick to participate in normal activities.
- Need a level of care or observation not manageable at school.
- Recovering from any surgery or serious injury requiring narcotic pain medication, do not return to school until narcotic pain medication is no longer needed.
Common Illness Guidelines (English) | Common Illness Guidelines (Spanish)
Returning to School After an Illness
In order to protect the teachers, staff, and other students at our school, we ask that your child meet the following guidelines before returning to school after being sick. If you have any questions about your child returning to school, please contact the school nurse.
- Temperature less than 100 degrees without fever reducer for 24 hours. No vomiting or diarrhea in the last 24 hours.
- If prescribed antibiotics, return to school only after student has been taking the antibiotic for 24 hours.
- If student has had a surgical procedure, do not return to school until narcotic medications for pain are no longer needed.
- Keep student home for severe sore throat, excessive cough producing phlegm, severe headache, earache, or stomachache.
- No live lice
- If your child has ANY illness that makes him or her unable to eat/drink/sleep or otherwise carry out their normal school activities without pain, discomfort, or fatigue, please keep them home until the illness has passed.
Did You Know?
- Students should miss no more than 9 days of school each year to stay engaged and successful.
- Frequent absences can be a sign that a student is losing interest in school, struggling with school work, dealing
- with a bully or facing some other difficulty.
- By 9th grade, attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.
- Missing 10%, or 2 days a month, over the course of the school year, can affect a student’s academic success.
What You Can Do?
Make it a Priority
- Maintain daily routines, such as finishing homework and getting a good night’s sleep
- Try to schedule dental and medical appointments after the school day
- Keep your student healthy
- If your child must stay home due to illness or quarantine, ask the teacher for resources and ideas to continue learning at home.
Stay Engaged
- Notice and support your student if they show signs of anxiety
- Monitor you students academic progress and seek help when needed
- Stay on top of your student’s social contacts
- Address behavioral issues or school discipline policies that may lead to your student missing class.
Communicate
- Know the school’s attendance policy – incentives and penalties.
- Check on your student’s attendance to be sure absences are not adding up.
- Seek help from school staff, other parents or community agencies if you need support.