SR Attendance Policy

All students should email their teachers directly to ask questions about content, assignments, etc. Parents should submit the Absence/Tardy Notification Form located on the Parents page on the website or in the Veritas app. ALL absences or tardies need to be submitted using this form.

Absence Notification Form

ALL 8th-12th Grade students must email their teachers in addition to a parent submitting the Notification Form. This is a crucial part of students taking on more responsibility as they get older.

As much as possible, please try to schedule these appointments during your child(ren)'s home days or during an off-period for your older students. If your child has an appointment during the day, parents must check their child out at the 2nd floor Reception desk or in the Grammar School Office in order for their child to leave campus. Students who drive to school are allowed to sign themselves out at the 2nd floor and leave on their own, but they must sign back in when returning to campus.

All appointments, including medical and driver's license appointments, are considered planned absences. This means that work for any missed class(es) must be turned in prior to the absence. Any work not turned in will receive a grade of zero.

We prefer for families to use school breaks as a time to take family trips. Our classroom time on campus is so valuable and we'd like your child(ren) to be present for all classroom days.

However, if you do go out of town, as noted in our Attendance Policies of the Student Handbook, student work must be turned in ahead of time, communication with each teacher is required before departing, and the Absence/Tardy Notification Form must be submitted. Vacation or “days off” are considered planned absences.

School-Related Absence (A-SR)

An absence necessitated by an approved school activity is excused. This includes field trips, class trips, official Veritas Academy sports and fine arts, approved club events, and up to two absences per year in the student’s 11th and 12th grade years for college visits.

• All work related to these absences can be made up without penalty in accordance with the late work policies.
• School-related absences do not count toward the absence threshold.

Excused Absence (A-EX)

An absence due to an illness or emergency is generally unplanned and is excused as long as a parent completes an Absence Notification Form on behalf of their student and the student (in 8th grade and above) contacts their teachers directly to determine due dates for missed assignments; this needs to be done within 24 hours of the absence.

An absence due to a medical appointment or approved vacation is generally planned and is excused as long as a parent completes an Absence Notification Form on behalf of their student and the student (in 8th grade and above) contacts their teachers directly to determine due dates for missed assignments; this needs to be done as far in advance as possible and no later than 48 hours prior to the absence.

• All work related to excused absences should be completed in advance—or by the date determined by each teacher—or the student will receive a zero for missed assignments in accordance with the late work policies.
• Excused absences count toward the absence threshold.

Unexcused Absence (A)

An absence due to any other reason is considered unexcused. The parent must still complete an Absence Notification Form on behalf of their student to communicate the reason for the student’s absence, and all students in 8th Grade and above must also contact their teacher directly to notify him/her of their absence.

• All work related to unexcused absences is forfeited and will result in a zero on missed assignments.
• Unexcused absences count toward the absence threshold.

 

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Absence Threshold

For high school credit-bearing courses, students may be absent 12 classes per year in a 4-day per week course, 8 classes per year in a 3-day per week course, 6 classes per year in a 2-day per week course, and 4 classes per year in a 1-day per week course. Any additional absences will be viewed as excessive, and the student’s final grade will be reduced. See definitions above for types of absences to determine which absences will count toward this threshold and which will not. This chart shows which courses are in each category.

The first absence beyond the threshold will result in the student’s final grade being reduced by 3 points. In a 3-day or 4-day per week course, each additional 4 days of absences will result in a further reduction of 3 points to the final grade. In 2-day per week courses and 1-day per week courses, the further reduction occurs at an additional 3 days and 2 days respectively.

Because Veritas provides an in-person curriculum, in the case a student’s absences exceed 22 days in a 4-day per week course, 16 days in a 3-day per week course, 12 days in a 2-day per week course, or 8 days in a 1-day per week course, the student will be dropped from the course and receive an incomplete on his transcript.

For seniors who have an exceptional medical reason, permission to participate in the graduation ceremony may be granted if the student is on a well-defined plan for completion of the Texas requirements for graduation. Participation in commencement under these circumstances will be ceremonial, and the awarding of a Veritas diploma will not be guaranteed.

Please refer to the student handbook for this important information. ALL absences, whether they are planned or unplanned, excused or unexcused, count towards the allowed number of absences.

For high school credit-bearing courses, please refer to the Excessive Absences Chart to see how many absences are allowed in each course. If the maximum number of absences for a course is exceeded, the final grade in the course will be lowered.

For the purpose of visiting colleges, two absences during the student's junior year and two absences during the student’s senior year will be considered excused if the student notifies the Registrar and his/her classroom teachers in advance of the absence.

If it is determined that a student has skipped class, the work missed for the class may not be made up and the student will be assigned service hours equal to 2x the class time missed. Skipping class includes decisions to miss class in order to work on another class and any unexcused absence on the day of a scheduled test or presentation.

Parents in the schools of Logic and Rhetoric are notified via automatic e-mail each day if their student was absent in any class that day.

An exception may be granted by the Head of SL or Head of SR if a student has been unable to meet the attendance requirements due to circumstances beyond the family’s control (such as extended or repeated illness) and provided the student has, in the judgment of the instructor, achieved minimum mastery of the course content.

In the event of an unexpected event, such as a death or accident in the family, all efforts will be made to assist the student and family in meeting requirements. Adjustments may be made with regard to required assignments; however, mastery of course content is still necessary to satisfactorily complete the course.