Attendance
Attendance at a Glance
This page serves as a "one-stop-shop" resource for attendance information and forms!
NOTE: As of the 2026-2027 school year, we will no longer use the attendance email address. Sapphire will be the main means of submitting absences to the Office.
For instructions, please review the documents below!
Parent Request Forms
Reference
Compulsory Attendance
Student attendance through the age of 17 is mandatory in Pennsylvania. At certain benchmarks of student absence, procedures are put in place to identify and correct barriers to regular attendance, with the last step potentially being a referral to the district magistrate for truancy. We want our students to be in school and prefer not to make school attendance a legal issue until necessary.
Automatic Absence Alert
Parents are no longer asked to telephone the school when students are absent. The Automated Absence Alert system will inform parents each day that their students are absent from school. If/when your student is absent or does not report to their first-period class, they are recorded as absent. This call will normally occur by approximately 10:00 am. Should you have questions or concerns, you may contact the attendance secretary by calling: (717) 732-0723 (ext. 1301).
Excused Absences
Absences shall be treated as “unlawful” or “unexcused” until the district receives a valid written excuse explaining the absence. While most absences for common occurrences such as illness are routinely accepted, the administration reserves the right to question or deny an excusable absence; such occurrences are rare.
Students may have up to (10) ten days of absence per academic year. Absences in excess of 10 days will necessitate a written excuse from a medical practitioner in order to be considered “excused.” Instead of a medical appointment, the school nurse may excuse the student's absence.
The following is a list of excusable reasons for absence:
- Illness: A doctor's excuse is required if a student misses (3) three or more consecutive school days.
- Medical appointments: A doctor’s note must be obtained and submitted upon return.
- Subpoenaed court appearances
- Approved educational trips: Requests must be submitted to the grade level assistant principal 5 school days before the trip.
- Major religious holidays: Requests must be submitted to the grade level assistant principal 5 school days in advance.
- Family matters, emergencies, or other urgent reasons approved by the administration. Examples may include: Funerals, sudden family health emergencies, etc. – notice preferred in advance
- Authorized school activities
Educational Trip
A total of five (5) excused school days will be permitted for the use of educational trips each school year. An educational trip request form must be submitted for approval at least five (5) school days before the trip. Requests for educational trips during the first ten (10) days, during the Keystone testing windows and the last ten (10) days of the school year are discouraged and may not be approved. Students are responsible for all schoolwork missed while on the approved trip. The same parameters that apply to the make-up of work from any other absence shall also apply in this case.
Unlawful and Unexcused Absences
Absences for students who do not submit excuse notes within 3 days will remain coded as Unlawful or Unexcused. The administration also reserves the right to question or follow up on a submitted excuse.
The following is a list of inexcusable reasons for absence:
- Leaving school during school hours without permission from the administrator
- Absence from school without knowledge or permission of parents/guardians
- Absence from school without knowledge or permission of school authorities
- Absences from school without written excuse submitted within three (3) school days of the absence
- For students who are on a required doctor's note, absences from school require a written doctor/physician note that is not submitted within three (3) school days of the absence
- Appointments that can be scheduled outside of school hours such as driver’s tests, background checks, private athletic/music/performance lessons, etc.
- Leaving school without permission will be treated as an unlawful/unexcused absence and subject to disciplinary action.
- Students whose parents/guardians pick them up due to illness without proper approval from the school nurse (i.e., student has contacted them via cell phone and bypassed formal illness procedures)
Medically-Related Late Arrival or Early Dismissal
We encourage students to participate in medical appointments outside of school hours. Knowing this is not always possible, we will honor requests for medically excused absences in the middle of the school day.
- An early dismissal request for a medical appointment should be presented to the main office by 8 am on the day of the early dismissal. Reasons for the early dismissal must be stated in full. Upon return to school, students must provide a written doctor’s note for the absence to remain “excused.”
- Students arriving late due to a medical appointment must provide a doctor’s note, as well.
- Students must sign in and out of the main office.
- Students shall be released from school only to their parents/guardians or to persons authorized by their parents or guardians as listed in Sapphire. Additions to a student's contact list in Sapphire must be done at the district office or through the parent portal.
- No student may sign themselves out for early dismissal. This includes students 18 years or older.
- Students dismissed from school due to illness by the school nurse and not returning to school that day may not participate in or attend any after-school activities or events without providing a physician's note.
College Visits/Job Shadowing
Teachers and counselors at East Pennsboro Area High School believe that it is important for students to visit prospective colleges or employers in order to help them determine the colleges or career of their choice. Seniors and Juniors will be granted a maximum of three (3) days per school year for college visitations or career shadowing. A visitation/shadow form must be completed by the organization being visited and submitted to the attendance secretary for the absence to be recorded as excused. This absence will be treated separately from the district educational trip guidelines.
Tardiness
Students are required to be in their 1st period class by 7:30 am (not just in the building) for attendance recording and by 9:30 am for two-hour delays. A 30-second warning bell will sound at 7:29:30. Those entering the building after the 30-second warning or arriving at class after 7:30 from inside the building must check in at the office for a tardy pass. The student must present this tardy pass to the teacher upon entering the class.
Students who engage in extracurricular activities, such as band, chorus, interscholastic and intramural sports, musicals, the prom, and so on, must be in school by 9:30 am to practice or participate in an activity that day. Students must be present by 9:30 am on Friday, for weekend events. This includes two (2) hour delay days. The only exceptions are for doctor/dental appointments, funerals, subpoenaed appearances in court, approved field trips or other emergency situations to be considered on a case-by-case basis by the administration.
All students are encouraged and expected to be in school on time. All late arrivals to school are unexcused or unlawful, except for the following reasons:
- Medical illness
- Death in the immediate family
- Religious holidays
- Emergencies approved by building administration
Tardiness due to doctor or dentist appointments will be recorded as excused provided the student arrives at school with an official excuse from the doctor's or dentist's office. A maximum of six (6) parent notes excusing student tardiness will be accepted without penalty for the reasons listed above. They are to be submitted within one (1) school day of the tardy. Doctor’s notes are required to excuse further tardiness.