Parent Handbook

Attendance

Students are expected to arrive in their first period class by 7:22 AM to be considered on time. Students should remain in school until dismissal at 1:34 PM to be considered in attendance for the entire day.

Student attendance is important to student success. Missing any part of the school day becomes an attendance issue. Therefore, parents are required to submit a written explanation of the reason of the student’s absence within 3 days of the student’s return to school. The written explanation must include the dates and/or time of the absence, for which excuse is sought and the specific reason for the absence. Any documentation that supports the written explanation should be attached.

The Dept. of Student Services of the SLCSB must review the explanations for absences that are resumed after the 3 day period to determine if the absences will be excused.

When Students Must Leave Early

At LPA, our instructional time is highly guarded. It is our policy that we do not interrupt class time for non-instructional purposes i.e. buzzing classrooms or hand carrying notes or forgotten items to school. This interrupts the learning environment for all students. Announcements are made 1st and 7th hour where a few minutes are built into the schedule for this purpose. In this way, we are able to protect our seven instructional blocks of time. Moreover, we ask parents to schedule appointments that take your child from school to correspond to our bell schedule whenever possible. We understand that your time is also valuable. Therefore, to expedite the process we ask you to follow this procedure:

• Send a note to school with your child on the day that you must pick him/her up early
• The note should reflect a pick up time that corresponds with the bell schedule
• Your child should take the note to the appropriate front office (high school or middle school) for approval first thing in the morning
• The child then shows the note to the teacher at the beginning of the class period from which he/she will leave early
• At the designated time, the child leaves the classroom and meets the parent in the school office where the parent will sign the student out

Leaving Campus After School

Students are required to leave campus within fifteen minutes after school is dismissed unless they are participating in an authorized extra curricular activity. Students who walk home are required to leave campus immediately. Parents are asked to adhere to this rule and pick up students within fifteen minutes after the end of the school day. Violation of this regulation will result in a parent conference and possible suspension.

Emergencies

To insure the safety of all students, the following policies will be observed:
1. All students will have emergency access information on file in the main office.
2. No student will be released to an adult not listed in the emergency access information unless prior arrangements have been made by a parent.
3. Anyone picking up a student must show a valid Florida driver’s license.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Parents may request a meeting with teachers to discuss their child’s performance by calling the guidance office. Teachers are available after school for conferences. One day’s notice in advance gives time to plan for the conference and avoid conflicts.

Student Parent Handbook 2023-2024