September 2024

Dear Parents and Guardians:

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you back to a new school year. At this time, I would like to remind you of the importance of daily attendance and punctuality for your child’s academic progress.

Please note that New York State Education law and the New York City Chancellor’s Regulations state that all students are expected to attend school every day. Good attendance aids student achievement. This is so important that New York State Education law and the Department of Education stipulate that students who do not attend at least a specific percentage (90%) of the school year may be in danger of not being promoted. Chancellor’s Regulation A-210 mandates that if your child is ill and must be kept home for 3 or more days or for frequent absences due to illness, you are required to send in a doctor’s note when your child returns to school. If a student is absent from school for reasons other than illness, a note must be sent to school explaining the reason for the absence. Vacations, other than those recognized by the official New York City Department School Calendar are forbidden. Good attendance is mandatory for all children beginning in Kindergarten and through their entire educational career.

Similarly, punctuality is also mandatory. Being late causes stress, which inhibits student concentration. In addition, lateness decreases a student’s valuable instruction time. It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure that their children arrive at school prior to the beginning of the school day.

Policy Regarding Late Arriving Students 2023-2024

Main Building and Annex

• School officially begins at the main building at 8:00 a.m.
• We have a grace period of 9 minutes before a child is given a late pass. If a child arrives at
  school between 8:00 and 8:09 a.m., he/she will not be marked late at the security desk and he/she
  will not be issued a late pass. Students will go directly to class and will not be marked late or
  absent.
• If a child arrives to school at 8:10 a.m. or later, he/she will be given a late pass and will be
  marked late to school at the main office. Suzanne Formica (Main) and Cheryl Guglielmi (Annex),
  reviews all attendance sheets to ensure that students are properly marked late on the ATS
  attendance bubble sheet. The names of those students who were marked late by the teacher but who
  were not issued a late pass are erased.
• Suzanne Formica (Main) and Cheryl Guglielmi (Annex) also bubbles in “late” for all the students
  who received a late pass but were not marked late on the ATS attendance bubble sheet. For those
  students who were bubbled “Absent” on the ATS attendance bubble sheet but who were actually late,
  Karin will bubble in the correct bubble.
• On severe inclement weather days, we will not mark students late to school.
• Children who take DOE school buses will never be marked late unless their parents drives them to
  school late. Students will not be marked late if the school bus does not show up at the bus stop
  and parents had to drive their children to school.
• A student must be in attendance by 1:35 p.m. to be marked “Late” and not “Absent” for the
  day.

Please be reminded that students are required to be in school for the entire day unless a child is sick or has a medical situation. Students will not be released early for any extra-curricular activities including piano lessons, gymnastic, dance, etc. The only exception to this rule is an early dismissal on Wednesday afternoons for those children participating in religious instructions. Parents are required to submit the registration letter from the religious program as proof of enrollment. Please submit this documentation to the school secretary Mrs. Kennedy. Parents who habitually remove their children from school early will receive a home visit from the District Attendance Teacher to discuss the illegal removals and set a plan in place for the immediate halt to the practice.

Please note that as per Chancellor’s Regulation A-750 “Educational neglect is considered to be the failure of a parent, or person legally responsible for a child, to ensure their child’s prompt and regular attendance in school, or the keeping of a child out of school for impermissible reasons…” New York State Social Services Law mandates that school personnel report all suspected cases of educational neglect.

Every aspect of your child’s academic, social and emotional growth is a priority for every member of the staff of P.S. 188Q. However, we cannot do it alone; we need your cooperation to achieve our mutual goals. Please make sure that your child attends school each day and that your child arrives on time.

Sincerely,

Christina Figueroa
Principal

2023-2024 Attendance Policy