Attendance

Regular attendance at school is an important part of every student’s success and is necessary in order to gain the greatest benefit. Students who are frequently absent from school miss direct instruction and regular contact with their teachers.

Please contact your Family Coach to address any situations which may hinder your daily attendance.

Attendance:

  • In order for an absence to be registered as excused, a parent or guardian must submit a written explanation or medical excuse to the “Attendance Office” by completing the attendance submission form through the Tyler SIS within three (3) days of the absence.
  • Complete the attendance submission form. In the event you are unable to submit your student’s excuse using the Sapphire SIS, you may fax an excuse to 484-588-0238.
    • The faxed excuse should state the student’s Name, Date of Birth, Student ID, the date of the absence, as well as the reason for the absence.
    • Students who are absent due to a power outage, home internet issue or illness:
      • Must have the legal guardian notify the Attendance Office by completing the attendance submission form through the Sapphire SIS.
      • Do not contact Technical Support as they are unable to troubleshoot or correct your issue and will not be able to provide assistance or a ticket number.
    • Students who are absent due to school-issued computer technical issues:
      • Must contact Technical Support/Customer Care at 855-412-3712 and troubleshoot the issue to receive a technical ticket number.
  • Excuses will not be accepted by phone.
  • The parent or legal guardian has three (3) school days from the date of absence to submit the excuse to the Attendance Office.
  • If the Attendance Office does not receive an excuse within three days of the absence, the absence will be recorded as an unexcused absence.
  • A maximum of ten days excused absences verified by parental notification may be permitted per school year.
    • All absences beyond ten cumulative excused days require a written excuse from a physician or ticket of technical difficulties from the Help Desk.

Compulsory Attendance Requirements

All absences are counted as unexcused until the Attendance Office receives written notice explaining the reason for the absence through your Sapphire SIS account.

If a written excuse is not received within three days of this notification, the absence will permanently be added to the student’s file.  Please know we cannot adjust attendance over the phone.  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania law and school policy requires that every child of compulsory school age attend school daily.

2020-21 School Year Compulsory School Age Changes

Beginning with the 2020-21 school year, children are required to attend school from ages 6 to 18.

The Department of Education has enacted a change in the Compulsory School Age requirements effective at the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Act 16 of 2019 amends the Public School Code to redefine compulsory school age as “the period of a child’s life from the time the child’s parents elect to have the child enter school and which shall be no later than 6 years of age until the child reaches 18 years of age or if they have received a certificate of graduation whichever comes first.

  • The change has lowered the age a student is required to comply with compulsory attendance requirements from age 8 to age 6 and raises the age a student must comply with those same requirements from age 17 to age 18.
  • There are limited exceptions to compulsory attendance requirements for students under the age of 18.   A student may not withdraw before the age of 18, even with a parent signature, unless the student meets one of the exceptions to compulsory attendance.  Exceptions can be found here 24 P.S. §13-1330.
  • Video: Submitting an Excuse to Attendance
  • Video: Attendance Matters

 

Truancy vs. Chronic Absence

Truancy

  • Counts only unexcused absences
  • Emphasizes compliance with school rules
  • Relies on legal and administrative solutions
 vs.

Chronic Absence

  • Counts all absences: excused, unexcused, and suspensions
  • Emphasizes academic impact of missed days
  • Uses community-based, positive strategies

Truancy Policy

Click HERE to view Agora’s truancy policy.

Attend today, achieve tomorrow

Good school attendance means…

Attendance Image Attendance Image Attendance Image Attendance Image Attendance Image
Elementary students
read well by the end of third grade		 Middle schoolers
pass important courses		 High schoolers
stay on track for graduation		 College students
earn their degrees		 Workers
succeed in their jobs

Too many absences -excused or unexcused- can keep students from succeeding in school and in life. How many are too many? 10% of the school year -that’s 18 missed days or 2 days a month- can knock students off track.

 

Attendance Mode

  • Students are required to follow the school calendar, which includes 180 school days. Attendance only occurs on “school days” as listed on the school calendar.
  • In partnership with families, Agora will identify the best learning path for each student’s academic success. The two paths are Synchronous and Asynchronous.

-Synchronous means that participation in live sessions and within coursework each school day is required to be considered present.

-A student on the Asynchronous path will need to login to the OLS/LMS account daily and complete work to be considered present.

-An Individual Learning Path will be created for each student to identify which is best for their academic success. Each student will begin their Agora school year as a Synchronous Learner.

When Your Student is Absent

Students should make every effort to attend school daily and should use a backup plan to continue to attend school when technical issues arise.

  1. When a student is absent, the parent or legal guardian must notify the Attendance Office of the reason for their absence.
    • The legal guardian must notify the Attendance Office by completing the attendance submission form through the Sapphire SIS.
    • Video: Submit Attendance Excuse
  1. Students who are absent due to a power outage, home internet issue or illness:
    • Must have the legal guardian notify the Attendance Office at by completing the attendance submission form through the Sapphire SIS.
    • Do not contact Technical Support as they are unable to troubleshoot or correct your issue and will not be able to provide assistance or a ticket number.
  1. Students who are absent due to school-issued computer technical issues:
      • Must contact Technical Support/Customer Care at 855-412-3712 and troubleshoot the issue to receive a technical ticket number.
      • The legal guardian must complete the attendance submission form through the Sapphire SIS with the Technical Support ticket number and the reason for your student’s absence.

 

Excuse Notes

  1. In order for an absence to be registered as excused, a parent or guardian must submit a written explanation or medical excuse to the “Attendance Office” by completing the attendance submission form through the Sapphire SIS within three (3) days of the absence.
  2. Complete the attendance submission form in Sapphire SIS.  If you are unable to log into Sapphire SIS please submit a tech ticket to support@agora.org to get the issue resolved.  As a temporary solution you may submit an excuse using one of the following two options:
    • You may fax an excuse to 484-588-0238. The excuse should state the student’s Name, Date of Birth, Student ID, the date of the absence, as well as the reason for the absence.
    • If you are unable to login to the Sapphire SIS or fax an excuse, please reach out to your family coach.
  3. Excuses will not be accepted by phone.
  4. The parent or legal guardian has three (3) school days from the date of absence to submit the excuse to the Attendance Office. If the Attendance Office does not receive an excuse within three days of the absence, the absence will be recorded as an unexcused absence.
  5. A maximum of ten days absences verified by parental notification may be permitted per school year. All absences beyond ten cumulative days require a written excuse from a physician or ticket of technical difficulties from the Help Desk.

 

Educational Trip Leave

Students may be excused for educational trips not sponsored by the school according to Section 11.26, Annex A, Ch. 11 of the Pennsylvania School Code. Please understand that it shall be the parent or legal guardian’s responsibility to contact the Attendance Office to determine what obligations must be met as a result of this proposed absence. Further, understand that:

  • The request must be completely filled out and submitted to the Attendance Office five (5) school days prior to the trip.
  • No more than ten (10) days of absence will result.
  • The parent or guardian must complete an Educational Trip request form through the Sapphire SIS.
  • Experiences such as “Long Weekends” and “Vacations” will not justify any request.
  • Requests will not be approved for time off during the state testing window.

To access this live form, please login into the Sapphire SIS.  Click the ‘eforms’ tab on the left side.  Finally, click ‘optional”.

School Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP)

The School Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP) is developed cooperatively with involved stakeholders through an Attendance Improvement Conference, which is required upon the Charter School’s notice to the child’s parent/guardian following the child’s third unexcused absence.
The Attendance Improvement Conference engages all participants involved in the child’s life to explore possible solutions to increase the child’s attendance.  Maintaining open communication between the child and adults will facilitate positive outcomes. The purpose of the Attendance Improvement Conference is to discuss the cause(s) of the truancy and to develop a mutually agreed upon plan to assure regular attendance.