Attendance

Check – In:

Students arriving to school following the 7:20AM tardy bell will report to the Attendance Office – A2. To be considered for an excused check-in, the student must bring a note signed by parent/guardian stating the date, reason for the lateness, and a phone number for follow-up. To be excused for a doctor or court appointment, the student must provide medical or court documentation of the appointment when he/she returns to school. Students arriving late to school without proper documentation will be considered unexcused. Check-ins will be regarded as tardies. Parents are not required to check their
child in. 
Parent notes will be accepted for seven (7) check-ins or tardies per semester. After seven check-ins or
tardies, formal medical documentation will be required for the purpose of validating a serious or
extended illness. Medical or dental documentation maybe faxed to the Attendance Office at 770-985-
5075.
Please note, failure to check in with the Attendance Office may cause the student to be considered as
AWOL from class.

Check-Out:

Students who need to leave campus during the day must check out through the Attendance Office-A2.
Students who do not follow this procedure will be considered AWOL and may receive appropriate
consequences. Contact with a parent or guardian is required before a student is released from school.
This includes all students including those 18 years old or older. Parents are not required to come inside
for student if verification has been made.

Procedure for Checking Out:

• Students must bring a note to the Attendance Office A-2 between 6:55 a.m. – 7:15 a.m.
• The note should include the following: date, student’s first and last name, student number, check out time, reason for the check out, if the student will be picked up or drive, parent signature and phone number(s) for verification. No student will be released until contact with parent is made. Please allow your child at least 10 minutes to leave class and report to the Maroon Gym Lobby when checking out.
• Student will report back to the Attendance Office A-2 to pick up their check out ticket.
• Student will meet their parent at the Maroon Gym Lobby entrance of the school near the student drop-off unless other arrangements have been made or the student is allowed to drive.
• Students are not allowed to check-out after 1:45 p.m. or during final exams.
• Students checking out for a doctor, dental or court appointment will be considered unexcused until the Attendance Office has been provided with medical or court documentation of the appointment.

For an emergency/illness and other check outs:

In the case of an emergency, please call the attendance office at 678-344-2607 for check out.

• Students who need to check out for an illness or injury must be processed through the clinic. They should NOT contact their parents via cell phone to check out.
• The student should obtain a pass from his/her teacher to go to the clinic to call a parent, guardian or emergency contact person listed on the clinic card.
• The parent/guardian will be contacted for permission to check out. Only those listed on the clinic card will be allowed to check out students.
• Student will bring a permission slip from clinic to the Attendance office for an excused check out due to illness.
• Students must officially check out through the Attendance Office.

Please remember, the cell phone policy does apply and cell phones are prohibited during instructional time. This includes receiving or sending text messages during class periods. Students are allowed to use their phones during lunch and before/after school hours. 

Absences or check-ins/tardies are unexcused for all other reasons, including but not limited to:

• Missing the Bus
• Oversleeping
• Power Outage
• Vacations
• Trips
• Family Visits
• College Visits *
• Car Trouble/ Car Accident/Traffic Congestion
• DMV Appointment
• Passport/Immigration/Social Security documents
• Babysitting
• Running Errands and/or Skipping School
• Unspecified Family Emergency
• “Senior Skip Days” are a violation of the Attendance Policy.

If the student has no note, he/she will be considered as having an unexcused absence or check-in. If the student fails to bring a note, the absence will be regarded as an unexcused absence.

*To excuse a College Visit (Maximum 3 Days Per Year)

Students are encouraged to visit colleges in the summer or on weekends. A College Visit absence will be marked unexcused until proper documentation is received verifying the visit. ie: official written invitation from college for a specified visit date, stamped signature on college letterhead with date of visit, etc.

State law requires school attendance for students age 7 to 16.
Gwinnett County Board of Education Policy states that students will be excused from school under the
following circumstances:

• Personal illness: individuals whose attendance in school will endanger their health or the health of others. Medical documentation may be required upon the return to school for the purpose of validating a serious or extended illness.
• Serious illness or death in immediate family, formal documentation of a funeral brochure, program, or obituary is required to be excused.
• Doctor/Dentist/ other healthcare professional appointment, a doctor, dental, or other healthcare provider documentation is required to be excused.
• Recognize a county approved religious holiday.
• Student under orders of government agency, a court or government mandated paper is required to be excused.
• Voter Registration (18 years or older) or voting
• Service as a page in the Georgia General Assembly
• Conditions rendering school attendance impossible or hazardous to student’s health or safety
• A student misses school day to spend time with active duty combat-zone parent(s) who are about to leave for overseas deployment or who are between military deployments.

For an absence to be excused, the student must bring a signed note from a parent or guardian or formal
documentation stating the reason for the absence within 2 days of returning to school. Please make
sure to include the student’s name, student number, and the date(s) of absence, reason for the absence,
parent or guardian’s name and a phone number. All day absence notes are given to the 1st period
teacher. For signature verification purposes emails to excuse absences cannot be accepted.

Parent notes will be accepted for up to ten (10) excused all day absences and six (7) check-in or tardies
per semester. Formal medical documentation may be required for the purpose of validating a serious
illness or extended illness. 

All students are expected to be in school and/or in class on time. Students are considered tardy after the
first (1st) period tardy bell sounds (7:20AM). Tardies to school are classified as excused or unexcused
according to the state guidelines for absences. After six (7) excused tardies (per semester), medical
documentation is required to excuse subsequent tardies.

Tardiness to school for medical or court appointments will be classified as unexcused until proper
documentation is received from the physician or office of the court.

Students arriving to school late to any class after the tardy bell are sent to the Attendance Office – A2
for TAP (Tardy Accountability Program). Parents are not required to check the student in. Students
arriving late to school must present a note from a parent/guardian stating the date, reason for the late
arrival, parent signature, and a parent phone number for verification. The reason must also be an
approved excused reason listed under Excused Absence Policy. Otherwise the tardy will be classified as
unexcused. To be excused for a doctor or court appointment, the student must provide medical or court
documentation when he/she returns to school and be turned in to the attendance office.

Students are expected to be in class on time as listed on the bell schedule. There is adequate time
between classes and before school for students to arrive on time. Students should be in the classroom
or gym when the tardy bell begins to ring. Tardies to class may only be excused by school personnel. All
other tardies are considered unexcused. TAP consequences will begin when a student reaches his/her
7th tardy.

Certificate of Enrollment and Alcohol Drug Awareness Program (ADAP)

These forms are available at the Main Office Desk:

• Before School (6:55am – 7:15am)
• During the student’s lunch (not Guided Study)
• After School (2:10pm – 2:25pm)

Certificate of Enrollment

• The cost for the COE is $5.00
• It takes twenty-four hours to process the paperwork from the time the forms are submitted.
• The COE is only valid for 30 days from the date it was signed by the Administrator.
• A COE is needed for your Learner’s Permit and another COE will be needed for your Driver’s License.

Alcohol Drug Awareness Program (ADAP)

• If you took Health at BHS and passed the ADAP test, you were given a certificate at the end of class.
• The cost to replace a lost ADAP Certificate is $5.00. (this can only be reprinted if you took health at Brookwood)
• It takes twenty-four hours to process the paperwork from the time the form is submitted.