|
Greetings Mercy Families,
I am pleased to share the revised attendance policy and procedures, as referenced in the 1/9/25 communication here. You can review the full details below.
Attendance Updates
Verified & Unverified Absences: We respect your right to call your daughter out of school, yet your daughter's presence in class is crucial to her educational progress. Starting this semester, Mercy will distinguish between verified absences (VA) and unverified absences (A) in PowerSchool. A verified absence is one that the Attendance Office has received documentation for upon return to school. Some acceptable examples of documentation are:
- doctor's notes
- airline tickets
- travel itineraries
- college visit letters
- conference agendas
- court letters
- attendance at a Mercy-sponsored activity
An unverified absence is assigned when a parent/guardian calls their daughter out with no reason stated and/or no documentation presented. Unverified absences include absences due to illness unless documentation is provided. Students are allowed 10 unverified absences per semester without consequence. As stated in the Mercy Student and Family Handbook, pages 38-39, actions taken for more than 10 unverified absences are as follows:
- 11-15 unverified absences - automatic deduction of 5% from final grade
- 16-20 unverified absences - automatic deduction of 10% from final grade
- 21+ unverified absences - the student will receive NCR in each class and must earn credit by repeating the class or taking another similar class
PowerSchool has already been updated with these new codes and you will see them appear for 1st semester. Attendance recorded for the 1st semester will not be affected by the new codes.
Leaving During the School Day: Recently we have noticed an increase in students leaving during the school day, especially on days when we hold Mass, all school assemblies, or assessment days. We are proud to be a Catholic school devoted to the sacramental life of our community. As the source and summit of our Christian life, the Eucharist and this prayerful time together strengthens our community and provides a shared moment for reflection, unity and spiritual growth. Attendance at Mass and other all-school assemblies is mandatory for all students; we are not whole without them. If a student misses Mass or an all-school assembly, she must provide acceptable documentation upon arrival. If documentation is not provided that day, she will receive two detentions.
Tardies to School: Students who arrive up to 15 minutes late are marked as tardy. Students are allowed 6 tardies to school per semester. With the 7th tardy to school, two detentions will be assigned to the student, and the Dean of Student Affairs will call the parents/guardians to discern the reason for excessive tardiness. One detention per tardy will be assigned after that. Students arriving more than 15 minutes late will be assigned an absence (A) in PowerSchool.
Long-term Absences (two or more days): Parents/guardians may communicate long-term absences directly to the Attendance Office. Communication no longer needs to go to the Dean of Student Affairs. The handbook states:
Since sufficient vacation is provided in the school calendar, additional vacation time is not condoned. If special circumstances require a student’s absence that does not coincide with school vacations, the following long-term absence process must be followed:
- A parent/guardian must inform the Attendance Office by email (attendance@mhsmi.org), letter, or phone call (248-476-2222) at least one week prior to the anticipated long-term absence.
- The Attendance Office notifies the student’s adviser, counselor, all teachers, and the Dean of Student Affairs of the anticipated long-term absence.
- The student will work with each teacher to arrange a day/time to make up all missing assignments and assessments.
Teachers are not expected to provide special tutoring or make-up work and are not obligated to re-teach material missed due to these absences.
Attendance Office: Please be advised that all absences need to be called into the Attendance Office no later than 9:00am on the day of the absence. Parents/guardians must also contact the Attendance Office if their daughter arrives to school after 8:15am or leaves school before dismissal time. When a call, email, or text from SchoolMessenger is received regarding your daughter’s attendance, please promptly respond so your daughter's daily attendance is accurate.
Any questions or concerns regarding attendance should be directed to the Attendance Office, attendance@mhsmi.org, 248-476-2222.
Coming Soon
We are excited about two recently purchased systems to improve student attendance and behavior tracking. The new attendance system will notify students, parents/guardians, and teachers immediately when a student arrives at school late or leaves school early. The behavior system will inform students and parents/guardians when a student is acknowledged for positive behavior or receives a detention for a minor school policy violation. Our desire with these new systems is to improve communication to keep parents/guardians aware of their student's attendance and behavior records throughout the year. The two systems will be rolled out in the upcoming weeks.
We look forward to a great rest of the school year and thank you for your continued cooperation and support!
Sincerely,
Eleasha Mercer Tarplin '94
Dean of Student Affairs
| 
