Attendance

The attendance of children is a responsibility shared equally by school and parents. Teachers and parents work together to develop characteristics important to the educational growth of children. Proper work habits, such as punctuality and regular attendance, are essential to a child’s development. Absences for non-medical or non-emergency reasons should be avoided. Although we recognize the importance of family time and adventures, if you choose to take a family vacation during the 180 regularly scheduled school days, your child will be expected to make-up class work when they return to school.

Absentee Call-In Program

If your child is to be absent or tardy, please call the Absentee Call-In line at 508-634-2215 before 8:30 A.M. on the day of the absence.  An answering machine will record your message.  Leave your child’s name, grade, and teacher’s name.  This audiotape is then reviewed every morning and compared with the teachers’ attendance lists.

This program is for the safety of your children.  If we do not hear from you prior to 9:00 A.M., a call will be made to your home or office as a safety check.  It is important that the Principal’s Office has updated names and numbers in case there is a need to contact you.  A form for this information is sent home during the first week of school.  If you should need to change names and numbers after you have completed the form, please send a note to the office.

Upon returning to school, students must provide a written note (not e-mail) to the teacher explaining the reason for the absence.  If your child is out of school due to illness for 10 days or more, State Law requires a physician’s note for re-admittance to school.  In the case of an extended legal absence (14 days), home tutoring will be arranged through the Pupil Personnel Director.

Change in Routine

Parents are required to send a note (not e-mail) to school when there is a deviation from the child’s normal method of returning home from school. Please do not call the school to change dismissal plans (with the exception of a legitimate emergency); this only creates confusion for the child, the Principal’s Office, and the classroom teacher.  Plans should be made in advance so that written communication can be sent to school by the child’s parent on the morning of the change.

Tardy 

Children who arrive at the Memorial School after 8:15 a.m. are considered tardy.  Parents must provide a note of explanation when a child is late for school.  Children must be brought to the Prospect Street entrance and signed in at the office when they arrive after 8:15 a.m.

Dismissing Child

Students should not be dismissed from class except in cases of illness or injury. Doctor and dentist appointments should be scheduled AFTER school hours.

If a child must be dismissed during the school day, a note (not e-mail)must be sent from home on the morning of the dismissal specifying the time the student is to be picked up and by whom. All parents must report to the Principal’s Office (Prospect Street entrance) to pick up their child and to sign the Tardy/Dismissal Log.

The person picking up the child may be required to show identification to the school secretary. For your child’s safety, no child will be dismissed from school unless the parent or designee reports to the school office and signs the child out. If returning to school the same day, the student must be signed in by the parent or responsible adult to indicate his/her return to the building.