Mr. Hansen’s Absence and Tardiness Policies
Legitimate reasons for missing class include
emergencies, field trips, school-sponsored sporting events, school-sponsored
retreats, and meetings with college representatives. In addition, Form VI students
with a passing average may “cut” class once per semester in accordance with
school policy.
In the list below, I distinguish between emergencies and planned
absences. Rules #1 through #5 are essentially a paraphrase of the student handbook, Sections I.D.7,
I.F.1, III.H.8, and IX.F.2. The other rules (#6 through #14) refer to areas in
which teachers set their own policies.
General School Rules (Paraphrased)
1. Emergencies (illness,
funeral, unusual traffic situation, etc.): On each day that you are absent,
your parents must call Ms. Spaulding at (202) 537-6412 by 8:00 a.m. For
illnesses longer than a few days, a written statement from your doctor may be
required. For emergency absences, there is no need to notify me, since I will
receive a list from Ms. Spaulding. During your absence, please check assignments
on the onCampus system in order to stay as up-to-date
as possible.
2. Planned absences or early departures (school notification): Again,
your parents must notify Ms. Spaulding by 8:00 a.m. There are a few exceptions
(school sports, field trips, and Form VI cuts) for which your parents need not
call Ms. Spaulding, since your teachers will already be informing her.
3. Planned absences (teacher notification): All of your teachers would
appreciate it if you notify them in advance of any class periods that you are
planning to miss. I have taken this one step further by requiring advance
notice by email of at least 48 hours
(24 hours for seniors) so that I can adjust your test and quiz schedule if
necessary. I will probably forget if you tell me in the hall, but email
guarantees that both you and I have a written record with a timestamp. Be sure
to put a double underscore (__) at the beginning of your subject line so that
it will catch my attention and dodge the spam filter. See #8 for additional details.
4. More information about planned absences: Medical and dental
appointments should not be scheduled during school hours unless there is no
other option. Family vacations during school days are discouraged and should be
cleared far in advance with the Head of Upper School. Please note, even if the
Head of Upper School approves of such a vacation, teachers are not required to
offer make-up work or to make special accommodations for you. (The reality is
that most teachers will try to be helpful, but you should keep in mind that any
make-up work they offer you is a favor
to you, not something they are required to do.) “Bridging over” into breaks is
particularly discouraged, since St. Albans already provides ample time off,
including a two-week spring break, during which your family can travel
together. Form VI: You are encouraged to use the long Columbus Day weekend in
October and the long first weekend of November for your college trips. Other
college trips and meetings with college representatives must be reported in
advance. Be sure that Ms. Spaulding (202-537-6412) is informed of all trips,
and use the college meeting sign-up sheets provided by Ms. Stratton and Ms.
Magaziner Mills.
5. Other absences: If you are absent for a mysterious/unknown reason, I
will report you to the Dean of Students as being unexcused. Therefore, it is extremely
important that your parents notify Ms. Spaulding. Penalties for a first offense
are fairly mild (perhaps a Saturday morning work detail in addition to the
point penalty described in #11 below), but repeated offenses can result in
suspension or expulsion.
Policies Unique to Mr. Hansen
6. (Seniors only) Exception to policy #5 for Form VI: If you are absent for a
mysterious/unknown reason, I will initially report you to the dean. However, if
you still have a cut that you can use, I will apply the cut so that you will
not receive any punishment. You will then have no more cuts remaining in the
semester.
7. Make-up work: For emergency absences, my policy is a grace period of
one school day for each class day missed. (Note that under the 7-day rotating schedule
instituted in 2013, school days and class days are different. A regular week,
Monday through Friday, has 5 school days but only 3 or 4 class days.) For
example, you would have 3 school days to get caught up after an illness that
caused you to miss 3 days of the class that you have with me. I may grant
extensions on a case-by-case basis.
8. Advance work: For any non-emergency absence, you need to do your work
in advance. For example, if you go on a field trip, or if you are in Form VI
and take a cut or a college trip on a certain day, then you will earn a zero
for any test or quiz given on that day unless you have already made
arrangements with me at least 48 hours in advance (24 hours for seniors). Email
is the method of notification that I require, since that way we will both have
a record. Be sure to put double underscore (__) at the beginning of your
subject line so that it will catch my attention and dodge the spam filter. More
than 48 hours’ notice is desirable, since the scheduling of a make-up test or
quiz on short notice may require a nonstandard version, e.g., an oral
examination. If you do not give a full 48 hours’ notice of a planned absence,
or if you forget to inform me by email, I will try to accommodate you, but if I
cannot, you may have to take a zero. Even if there is no test or quiz on the
day you are missing, you are required to turn in your homework or other
assignments on time. Reason: This is a planned absence we’re talking
about. It is not fair to your classmates if you get an extension. In certain
circumstances, I may grant extensions, or I may accept some of the work before
you leave and the rest after you return, but you should never assume that this
is the case. By default, any homework, quiz, or test that you miss will be a
zero.
9. Gray areas: With respect to make-ups, not all absences fall neatly
into a category of “emergency” or “planned.” For example, the chorale may be
asked on a Thursday to sing at a funeral service the next day. If you are in
the chorale and have a test scheduled for Friday, would you have to take the
test on Thursday during office hours, or would you be entitled to take it the
following Monday? Situations like this need to be settled on a case-by-case
basis. Here, requiring you to take a make-up test before or after school on
Friday seems like a compromise that is fair both to you and to the other
students.
10. Points that cannot be made up: Some points cannot be made up, even
if you have a valid excuse. Examples include class participation bonuses,
class-wide bonuses if I am late, pop quizzes, equipment checks, and
typographical errors. (I customarily award half a point to the first student to
spot a minor typographical error, or 1 point if the error has some mathematical
significance.) In the cases of quizzes and equipment checks, I generally drop
the lowest 2 or 3 scores for the quarter, which means that a few zeros will not
count against you. I may make an exception if you have a long-term illness or
another reason that causes you to miss a great number of classes.
11. Tardiness (unexcused): There is a penalty of 1 point for each minute
of unexcused tardiness. Beware, that means that an unexcused absence for a full
period equals a 65-point penalty in addition to any other disciplinary
consequences that you may receive. Turnabout is fair play: If I am late to
class for a non-emergency reason and do not bring a note from a teacher or an
administrator, then each minute or fraction counts as a bonus point for the
people who are quietly waiting before I arrive. “Cell phone peloton pricing”
applies: for example, a minute and 15 seconds counts as 2 points, and everyone
who arrives in the same cluster (peloton) receives the same time. That means
that you do not need to run to beat me to class, since we will both have the
same recorded time. If you and I are in the same cluster, and if I am late,
then you receive neither a penalty nor a bonus. Because almost everyone will
occasionally be late for unavoidable reasons, you can miss up to 10 minutes per
quarter without penalty. (I accomplish this by adding a 10-point bonus for
everyone each quarter.) Since there are several hundred points possible in each
quarter, an occasional minute or two of tardiness will not affect your grade at
all.
12. Tardiness (excused): The thing to remember is that unlike emergency
absences, which can sometimes be cleared up after the fact, tardiness counts
against you whenever you forget to bring a note. (Exceptions: Students coming
from a class at NCS are allowed 5 extra minutes, and tardiness for the first
period of the day can be excused either with a note or with a parent phone call
before 8:00.) The note must state the date and time and must be signed
by a faculty member or one of your parents. If the note is for more than one
student, all names must be listed on the note. Please do not ever show up late
to class and ask, “Oh, should I have brought a note?” The answer is always yes,
but I won’t send you out again to get your note. Go ahead and take a seat
quietly, minimizing the disruption to the class, and accept your penalty points
gracefully.
I
reserve the right to reject a note if, in my judgment, the tardiness is
unwarranted or key information is missing. Also, trying to pass a forged note
or a note written on a previous day would count as an honor code offense, and
believe me, you don’t want to deal with that. I take an aggressive stance about
bringing cases before the Honor Council. Don’t ever ask, “Mr. Hansen, can’t you
just give me a warning?” You are receiving your warning right now.
13. Traffic: Washington traffic, though slow, is usually quite
predictable. I do not consider tardiness to be excused if you are stuck on,
say, Wisconsin Ave. southbound, because there has been a traffic jam there
every weekday morning for as long as I can remember. However, if you encounter
a truly unusual traffic jam that makes you late, then bring a note signed by a
parent, or have your parents call Ms. Spaulding before 8:00. If you show up
late to class, the normal rules apply. To clarify, that means that if you
appear without a note, and if your parents do not call Ms. Spaulding’s office
by 8:00 (but they do call later in the day to explain), then your tardiness is
unexcused. You are responsible for bringing a note.
14. Strategies for avoiding tardiness: We go by U.S.
Naval Observatory time, which matches the two wall clocks in the refectory
or the clock in our room, all of which are accurate to within a few seconds. In
the event of a discrepancy, we always use USNO time. As for the problem of
moving between classes in less than 5 minutes, one strategy (not recommended)
would be to start putting away your books and papers 2 or 3 minutes before the
end of your previous class. Please don’t do this, because it is disrespectful
to your teacher. However, if the class runs long, you should request a note. If
the teacher habitually runs overtime, consider preparing a stack of notes
reading, “Please excuse [write your name here] for being late on [date]. He
left my room at [time]. Thank you.” Then simply ask your teacher to sign the
note. That way, you’ll never lose any points for tardiness, and you’re actually
being helpful to your teacher, since all he or she needs to do is to sign the
note.
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Last updated: 20 Jan 2018