Absence Info - Attendance Matters
To report an absence, please call only the phone number listed below, or contact the email address listed below. Please do not email a teacher, staff member or office staff, or call a classroom/teacher directly. Absence information should only be left on the attendance phone line or the attendance email address. Any student absent from school without contact from a parent will be considered unexcused.
Hadley: 630-534-7201 (calls are accepted twenty-four hours a day) or via email: hattendance@d41.org
Attendance Matters!
Did you know by middle school, chronic absenteeism is a warning sign that students could fail key classes and drop out of high school and 9th grade attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores?
Missing 10% of the school year, or two days a month, can substantially affect your child. Students should miss no more than 9 days of school each year to stay engaged, successful and on track to graduate.
About 1 in 4 students in Illinois misses about one month of school each year. Missing just one to two days a month may not seem significant, but over time, it adds up. Missing as few as 10 days a year can slow academic growth and achievement in both reading and math. This impact may prevent a student from meeting grade-level targets.
Absences impact all students, even those already above grade level. Advanced students may miss out on important academic enrichment opportunities, such as advanced math, due to several absences.
Excused and Unexcused Absences
In our school district, absences are considered excused or unexcused based on whether they have a valid cause. Here's a simple way to understand the difference:
Excused Absence
An absence is excused when the reason is outside the family’s control.
Examples include:
- Illness (including mental health days)
- Doctor or dentist appointments
- Family emergencies (such as a funeral or serious issue)
- Religious holidays or observances
- Family Member Military Deployment
Make sure to notify the school about the reason for your child’s absence to ensure it is marked correctly.
Unexcused Absence
An absence is unexcused if it could have been avoided and thus does not have a valid cause. Examples include:
- Oversleeping
- Missing the bus
- Vacations or trips
- Sporting events, practices, or tournaments.
- Family events or personal reasons that were within the family’s control
Attendance and Truancy
Definitions
Truant - A "truant"is a child subject to compulsory school attendance and who is absent without valid cause from such attendance for school day or portion thereof.
Valid cause for absence - A child may be absent from school because of illness, observance of a religious holiday, death in the immediate family, family emergency, situations beyond the student's control as determined by the Building Principal or such other circumstances that cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian for the student's safety or health.
Chronic or habitual truant - A "chronic or habitual truant" is a child who is subject to compulsory school attendance and who is absent without valid cause from such attendance for 5 percent or more of the previous 180 regular attendance days.
Truant minor - A child to whom supportive services, including prevention, diagnostic, intervention and remedial services, alternative programs, and other school and community resources have been provided and have failed to result in the cessation of chronic truancy or have been offered and refused.