ATTENDANCE POLICY
Hamilton District Christian High expects all of their students to attend every class of every course for which they are registered. There are many circumstances that occasionally keep students from attending class. From planned extra-curricular activities to unplanned illness, each circumstance needs to be communicated to the office by the sponsor teacher or parent/guardian in order for the student to be considered excused Any and all absence affects student learning; therefore, it is important for students to keep absences to a minimum. All unexcused absences will be addressed by leadership or office staff. Each individual situation will be addressed restoratively (see: Living in Community, in HDCH Handbook). Responses may include a conversation about the absence, an opportunity to make-up missed classwork outside of class time, or a conference with parents/guardians Each individual situation will be assessed and the outcome will be primarily aimed at supporting student achievement and success
EXTENDED ABSENCES
Hamilton District Christian High strongly believes in the value of being present in a learning community Teachers and peers play a significant role in day-to-day learning in school. With a high value on relational learning and collaboration, our program is not designed for students to complete fully independent work without teacher input. We are not set up to deliver remote instruction for prolonged periods of time. Therefore, it is not reasonable, nor in some cases possible, for classroom teachers to prepare special packages of materials ahead of time or to spend a significant amount of time re-teaching missing lessons on a one-to-one basis upon return
Our course calendar cautions that missing more than 20% of courses may mean that a student may be disenrolled from a course. This policy is in place to line up with our priority on in-person learning and the understanding that learning at HD is done in the community with teachers and peers It also protects the academic integrity of the ministry-approved credits earned toward the Ontario Secondary School Diploma that we are held to as an organization. If a student has not attended enough class to demonstrate understanding of the overall curriculum objectives, we can not issue a credit.