Hello BK families,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday and a great start to the new year! As a reminder, we have a late start on Wednesday and regular 8:00 a.m. starts the rest of the week.
As we enter into the second semester of school, I wanted to remind everyone of our attendance, closed campus, and dress code policies.
Bishop Kelly’s school policy states:
“All students are required to be in attendance at school at least ninety (90) percent of the time school is in session during each school semester. The Attendance Committee may deny credit for a class to any student who is not in school at least ninety (90) percent of the days that school is in session. Students who are more than ten (10) minutes late are considered absent instead of tardy.”
With our modified block schedule, a student can not miss more that seven (7) absences per class. Going over on absences puts your student at risk for losing credit for a particular class.
These absences DO NOT count toward the allotted seven (7) absences:
- In-school Absence (IA) includes absences that occur within the school day that pull a student from class to another area within the school. Examples include extended visits to the office, nurse, or when a student is at a school approved meeting (i.e., student body, college meetings, etc.).
- Activity Absence (AA) is an absence for school-sponsored programs in which classes will be missed.
- Doctor Excused (DR) is an absence due to medical reasons that is confirmed with documentation by professional personnel. (Examples include medical doctors, dentists, psychologists, etc.)
- Bereavement (BR) is an absence taken due to a death in the family.
- School Excused (SC) absences include absences for college visitations or extenuating circumstances approved by the administration. College visits beyond two (2) need to be approved by the administration prior to the absence. College visits are for Juniors and Seniors only.
- College Visit (CV) is an absence for a student meeting with recruiters on Bishop Kelly campus.
- Court Appearance (CA) absences used for students having legal obligations.
In all instances, parents need to notify the attendance office when your student will not be in school.
Thank you for your support of making attendance a priority!
Activities Eligibility
Bishop Kelly’s Academic Expectations policy states that students must attend at least 60% of the school day in order to be eligible to participate in the day’s event. (4 periods out of 7 on a traditional schedule; 3 periods out of 5 on the modified block.) This includes games, concerts, daily practices, etc. Penalties for being late to practice (detention, appointments, meetings, etc.) are left to coach’s discretion.
Closed Campus
As stated in our Student Handbook:
“Bishop Kelly High School is a “closed campus”. It is not appropriate , nor allowed, for students from other schools to come to BK just to hang out; therefore, if you have a visitor(s) that would like to come to BK, that are here for a genuine purpose, please know that they will be required to get proper permission before visiting campus. Alumni and parents are welcome to our campus, however, as with any visitors, they will need to come to the front office to obtain a visitor’s badge. Students that wish to shadow current BK students are welcome with the proper permission given that they have an interest in attending Bishop Kelly in the future.”
We’d ask for our parents, grandparents, alumni, etc to help our efforts in maintaining our educational environment from 8:00am to 3:10pm. As much as possible, please make appointments, birthday surprises, etc. after the school day. Please also help us limit unnecessary campus visitations during the day and lunch hour for safety reasons. This includes guests or family members coming to “hang out” with kids during lunch and food delivery drivers coming and going from campus (Please, no more Uber Eats!)
Dress Code
As we start a new semester, please remind your child to dress according to our dress code policy. We have this policy in place to help our students “dress for success’, display modesty, and for safety/ recognition purposes. This is a total team effort and any help from your end is greatly appreciated. If your child needs a “refresher” please have them read pages 6-10 in the Student Handbook.
Thank you for helping to keep our standards of Excellence!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Cheryl K. Hutchinson
Vice-Principal of Student Affairs
Bishop Kelly High School
Just a reminder that transcripts will be made available for seniors with GPA and class rank on January 30, 2019. First semester report cards were mailed home on January 8, 2019.