(this email was sent to all families on 11/8/21)

Greetings Caregivers:

We are exceptionally grateful for your continued caution this year as you keep students home if they are not feeling well. One impact of this (in addition to keeping us all healthier) is that the attendance tracking workload is much heavier than it has ever been.

To manage this increased workload while still preserving the integrity of our communications around attendance, we are instituting a few changes effective Tuesday, November 9th.

Robo-Texts
At 9am, we will be sending robo-texts to caregivers of ALL students marked absent, whether or not we’ve heard from you. This notification will let you know if your child is not at school for attendance in the first hour.

If you have already reported your absence, you do not need to do anything.
If you haven’t reported the absence at this point, send an email to attendance@greatriverschool.org to let us know the reason for the absence.

Any student with an absence that was not reported by a caregiver will be marked as “Unexcused.”

Want to opt-out of all texts from the school? This video shows you how to manage your alert preferences. We want to hear from you if your student is absent. The reason for the absence is important so that we can help support your student if necessary.

Accessing Your Student’s Attendance

You can look up your student’s attendance for their current classes at any time in Powerschool. You can also set up an email notification to give you a summary (linked here)of attendance for your student at a specific interval (daily, weekly, monthly). If you need help accessing your Powerschool portal, contact passwords@greatriverschool.org.

General Attendance Reminders (from the Family Handbook)

Early Departure: For students leaving the school building before the end of the school day (e.g., for medical appointments) we ask that caregivers/guardians complete the Early Release google form found on the website OR the caregiver enters the building to sign the student out at the Front Office. Students returning to the school after an appointment may sign back in without a caregiver present. If leaving early, adolescent students must stop at the office in the morning and receive an early leave pass that they will show their guide.
Reporting Absences: To have an absence excused in our records, we must receive notification through the Attendance Line (651-305-2780, ext 1) or attendance@greatriverschool.org. Please report absences no later than 8:00am (note: the handbook says 8:30, but we greatly appreciate earlier notice).
Late Entry: If a student comes into school late (after 8:30am), they must stop at the office and sign in using the iPad. The office will provide them with a late pass to give to their guide (this will ensure students receive a tardy instead of an unexcused absence).

Specific Guidelines for Adolescent (Grades 7-12) Attendance

Students should attend all classes, advisories, and independent work periods.
Students should be in their first classroom no later than 8:30am.
Students may not leave the building or school premises during school without caregiver/guardian permission.
Students who become ill at school must sign out at the front desk.
For adolescent levels, a student who is more than 10 minutes tardy to any class will be marked absent for attendance purposes. The first ten minutes of a class are vitally important.
3 unexcused tardies in any given class will be recorded as 1 unexcused absence.
Any student having 10 or more excused or unexcused absences in a given class (including Advisory, CAS, and the Independent Work Period) will result in no credit for that class, which will be recorded on their transcript. If a student wishes to receive credit for the class they must petition the Head of School or Dean of Students and the guide of the class.

Thank you,

Stacey Kreger
Director of Administration