Student Attendance

Regular attendance invites a student to build habits that promote lifelong success. Due to state legislation, Logos Academy records both excused absences as well as unlawful absences that lead to truancy. 

Daily absences and planned absences can be recorded HERE. Planned absences include vacations, family events, college visits, scheduled surgeries, etc.

All doctor’s notes should be emailed to office@logosyork.org or turned in to the student’s homeroom teacher.

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Attendance policy as stated in our Family Handbook (pages 38-40):

Excused Absences

Absences for any of these reasons are recorded as excused. Students are allowed a total of 10 excused absences without official documents each year. Please indicate the nature of these absences in your communication with the school (office@logosyork.org). (Official documents include but are not limited to doctor’s notes, court issued documentation, etc):

• MEDICAL: Medical reasons documented with a parent/guardian or doctor note submitted within 5 days of student return from absence. (For prolonged medical absences, see section regarding “Extended Absences” below.) Medical excuses include quarantine, recovery from an accident, and danger to health from serious exposure. 
• SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY: Students sent home sick with a fever of 99.9 degrees or higher are asked not to return to school for a full 24 hours after the fever breaks without medicine. 
• COVID-19 SCREENING/ILLNESS 
• DEATH IN IMMEDIATE FAMILY 
• OBSERVANCE OF A RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY
• REQUIRED COURT ATTENDANCE
• EMERGENCIES: Logos Academy understands that unforeseen events occur. Family emergencies that center around and specifically include the student may be authorized as a lawful absence at the discretion of the Academic Team (which includes the principals and assistant head of school). Details about the nature of the emergency should be included in the communication to the school.
• PRE-PLANNED ABSENCE: Logos Academy encourages family time as well as educational/church opportunities. Whenever such an opportunity or event arises, parents/guardians are required to fill out the pre-planned absence request form online (at least ten days in advance). Families are asked not to plan an absence during the last 10 days of the school year. If a student misses the final days of the school year without advance arrangements, the student may not be able to complete the course (for consequences, see “Report Cards, Standards for Passing Grade Levels, & Credit Recovery” under the “Academic Assessment” section).  All pre-planned absence requests will be evaluated by the principal on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the student’s academic/behavioral records, the quality of the experiential learning experience, or the nature of the family event, and the requirements of our course schedules and academic assessments. (Some examples of excused pre-planned absences are an educational trip, college visit, sports participation, immediate family member’s wedding, or church attendance.) 

Unexcused (Unlawful) Absences

Absences that do not qualify for one of the excuses above will be recorded as unexcused/unlawful. These absences include any cases where:

• No parent/guardian communication is provided
• Students are kept out of school to support the needs of parents/guardians or other family members (i.e. babysitting, doing errands)
• Oversleeping
• Job hunting
• Car troubles, lack of transportation to school, missing the bus
• Four unexcused tardies have occurred (each tardy is recorded as 0.25 of an unlawful absence)

The following communication notices will be sent home via email/mail with regard to unexcused absences:

Doctor’s note is required	Sent on the 10th day of absence due to illness without a doctor’s note. All future absences will be recorded as an unexcused (unlawful) absence.
Truancy Warning Letter	Sent after 1st and 2nd unexcused absences, indicating that a student will be truant at 3 unexcused absences.
Truancy Letter	Sent after a student reaches 3 unlawful absences, explaining Pennsylvania truancy laws and consequences and inviting parent(s)/guardian(s) to a Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP) meeting.
Official notice letter	States that 6th unexcused absence, and all thereafter, will be filed with the District Magistrate. The student may also be withdrawn from the school at the discretion of the Academic Team.

Extended Absences

The administration at Logos Academy understands that there may be extreme cases in which a student will be absent for an extended period of time (e.g., severe illness). Parents/guardians should be aware that Logos Academy is not equipped to serve the educational needs of a student who is unable to attend school for an extended period of time, and families may be required to find other educational options. Should such a situation occur, however, Logos Academy will work with the family on a case-by-case basis to accommodate the situation as best as possible, to minimize the disruption of the educational process.

Excused and Unexcused Tardies

Parent(s)/Guardian(s) are required to sign students in at the front desk after 8:00 AM. Four unexcused tardies equals one unlawful absence, and three or more unlawful absences will be treated as truant, as described above under the “Unexcused/ Unlawful Absences” section of this handbook.

Individual Student Early Dismissal

For a student to be dismissed early or to leave school for any portion of the day, the parent/guardian should  send an email to the front desk <admins@logosyork.org> by the morning of the dismissal authorizing the absence and explaining the lawful excuse (such as medical appointment or court hearing). If a student attends school for less than three and a half hours on a regular day or two hours on an early dismissal day, they will be counted as absent (and it will not be excused without a valid note).

All dismissal changes for any student must be made prior to 2:30 PM (or 10:45 AM on early dismissal days) to avoid confusion at dismissal and to ensure that proper transportation is arranged.

To accommodate our regular dismissal processes, students will not be dismissed between 2:45 PM and 3:00 PM except for regular dismissal procedures.

Making Up Work

Students will be given a number of days to catch up on assignments that is equivalent to the number of days that the student was absent (regardless of the reason for the absence). Teachers are not expected to prepare work for students and to send it home in advance of any absence, but teachers may do so as they are able if given sufficient notice. Once the student returns to school, teachers will determine and communicate ways that the student can make up class assignments. It is the student’s responsibility to catch up on all assignments in a timely manner.