• Important School Attendance Information
• Your school social workers:
• Amber Cruze, 9th and 10th grade and Annette Long, 11th and 12th grade
• Average Daily Attendance for 2020/2021 school year: 77.82%
• Current Average Daily Attendance 2022/2023 school year: 85%
• Tennessee State Attendance Law:
• Every parent, guardian or other legal custodian residing within this state having control or charge of any child or children between six (6) years of age and seventeen (17) years of age, both inclusive, shall cause the child or children to attend public or nonpublic school, and in event of failure to do so, shall be subject to the penalties provided in this part. If a student transfers from a school to another school in the same LEA, the LEA shall remit copies of the student's records, including the student's disciplinary records, to the school to which the student transfers. If a student transfers from an LEA to another LEA, then the LEA from which a student transfers shall remit copies of the student's records, including the student's disciplinary records, to the LEA to which the student transfers. All records shall be remitted in accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. (Tennessee Code Annotated 49-6-3001(c)(1))
• Knox County Schools Policy:
• Acceptable (excusable) absences:

  1. Personal illness, injury and hospitalization.

  2. Illness in the family temporarily requiring help from the child.

  3. Death in the immediate family.

  4. Recognized religious holidays regularly observed by persons of the student's

  faith.

  5. Verifiable family emergency.

  6. Court appearances for summons, subpoena or court order.

  7. For students with a parent or guardian who is deployed as member of the

  United States Armed Forces the following excusable absences shall apply

  provided appropriate documentation of the service member’s deployment is

  furnished:

  1. (1) An excused absence for one (1) day when the member is

  deployed;

  2. (2) An excused absence for one (1) day when the service member

  returns from deployment; and

  3. (3) Excused absences for up to ten (10) days for visitation when the

  member is granted rest and recuperation leave and is stationed out of the country.

  8. Students who are pregnant are excused from school for hospitalization and

  doctor’s appointments when a physician’s statement is provided. If a student

  is participating in a homebound program due to pregnancy, the homebound

  teacher will maintain attendance documentation.

  9. Juniors and seniors are allowed two (2) days per year for college visits. These

  will be counted as excused absences. Visits must be arranged through the

  school counseling office.

  10. Students participating in school-sponsored activities whether on or off-

  campus shall not be counted absent. In order to qualify as “school

  sponsored,” the activity must be school-planned, school-directed, and

  teacher-supervised.

  11. Extenuating circumstances determined on a case-by-case basis.
• Every student has 10 parent notes they are allowed to use each school year for absences
• School is your student's first and most important job. They are learning about more than math and reading. They’re learning how to show up for school on time every day, so that when they graduate and get a job, they will know how to show up for work on time every day.
• ·Students who attend school regularly are more likely to graduate and find good jobs. In fact, a high school graduate makes, on average, a million dollars more than a dropout over a lifetime.
• School only gets harder when student's stay home too much. Sometimes it’s tempting to stay home because they have too much work or don’t understand what’s going on in class. But missing a day only makes that worse.
• if you are struggling with attendance, housing, transportation, food, clothing, etc., please contact us at 865-594-1240

Current attendance incentive: The whole school can earn a dress down day every Wednesday if students are on time to school and class AND attend school 90% of the time. If the school earns a dress down day, it will be announced on Tuesday afternoon at the end of the day.