Attendance

Attendance Procedures (Updated for 2024-2025 School Year)

FCPS is excited to announce an important update beginning with the start of the 2024-25 school year.  Parents and caregivers will have the option to submit their student’s attendance directly through ParentVUE starting the first day of school, August 19, 2024.  This new feature aims to streamline the attendance reporting process and enhance communication between parents and schools. This change will make it more convenient for parents and schools to manage students' attendance while ensuring the highest level of security.

ParentVUE offers a more secure and reliable platform for managing students' attendance information.  ParentVUE will replace the current Attendance Forms, which will be discontinued at the end of the 2023-24 school year.  Schools must remove links and instructions related to attendance forms from their websites by July 1, 2024. 
A new link for parents and caregivers to submit attendance via ParentVUE will be shared with schools closer to the start of the school year. Detailed instructions and support resources will also be provided to staff, parents, and caregivers to help all users navigate this new feature. Parents and caregivers can still report absences and tardies by calling the school or sending an e-mail to the attendance line.

General Absences

Parents/Guardians should report absences, late arrivals, and early departures to the Attendance Office by:

Please include in email/message:

  •  student name and ID, if known
  •  grade
  •  date and time of absence, late arrival or early dismissal
  •  parent name and phone number
  •  reason for absence. Please be specific about the reason why your child will not be attending school that day. If sick, please indicate what symptoms your child has and if they have seen a  medical professional.

Legitimate reasons for excused absences include 

  • student illness
  • death in the family
  • doctor or dental appointment
  • religious or cultural observance of religious holiday 

Examples of unexcused absence include 

  • family and/or student trip
  • non-school related activities
  • missed school bus
  • oversleeping
  • traffic

Late Arrivals

Students arriving late must report to the main office to sign in and receive a pass to class.  Students will be considered excused tardy if the student has a parent note or the parent has emailed or called and the reason for tardiness is excused under FCPS policy.  Students arriving on late buses are marked excused tardy.  Students are responsible for any work missed.

Early Dismissal

Parents should email @email or leave a message on the Attendance Message Line, 703-750-8315 if their child will be leaving early.  Parents should include the date, time and reason for the early departure. The student must come to the main office to pick up a pass to leave class and must sign out before leaving.  Students also may bring a parent note to the main office in the morning with the date, time and reason for leaving school and receive a pass to leave early.  Students who leave without checking out will be marked unexcused.   Parents may come to the office to sign a student out but students are not paged during the school day or the classroom called.  Students are responsible for missed work. 

Prearranged Absences

Students should use the New Prearranged Attendance Form SS/SE-289 (11/19) to request prearranged absences of more than one day. Prearranged absences may be requested up to three weeks before the absence.  Students complete the top of the form and have parent/guardian sign. Students notify teachers of the upcoming absence and obtain each teacher’s initials on the form for the classes they will miss. After the teachers initial the form, students turn the completed form into the attendance office in the main office 3 - 5 days before the absence or scan and email the form to @email.  The attendance office will obtain the administrator signature on the form.

Due to varied demands on teachers for make-up work, teachers shall have discretion to decide the type and amount of work and when students shall make up work for preapproved absences. Teachers shall not be required to provide assignments in advance of the absences but may do so at their discretion. Parents and students are encouraged to work with teachers prior to the absence to develop a plan for making up missed work, including expected deadlines. Parents and students are expected to access assignments and class materials online, and to stay current with assignments while out of school, to the extent possible. 

Questions?

E-mail [email protected]