What parents and students need to know:

Parent/Guardian must notify the attendance clerk in advance, at least five (5) school days, prior to the planned departure from school, unless due to COVID related absences.
Short Term Independent Study is approved for leaves between 3-10 school days per occurrence. Short Term Independent Study is limited to a maximum of 14 school days in one school year. Absences that extend beyond the approved dates may trigger a truancy letter since these additional days are not state approved absences.
To ensure that the student is able to maintain academic progress in his/her regular classes, parent/guardian may request Short Term Independent Study for the following reasons:
1. Planned family vacation
2. Due to an emergency
3. Illness
Short Term Independent study will not be issued for the first five (5) days of school or for the last five (5) days of the school year. (Some exceptions may apply; can be waived by the site Principal.)

Procedure:

Contact the attendance clerk & request short term independent stud.
A Master Agreement will be created by the attendance clerk. This must be signed by both the student and parent/guardian and must be returned to the attendance clerk before the first day of Short Term Independent Study. NOTE: This is a legal requirement. Failure to return the signed Master Agreement before a trip will result in Short Term Independent Study being denied and student absences will be marked as unexcused.
Assignment sheets (Work Record Forms) will be created by the attendance clerk and given to the student. It is the student's responsibility (6th-12th grade) to give the assignment sheets to the classroom teachers to request assignments. TK-5th grade student's teachers will be notified by the attendance clerk. Work will be collected and given to student's parents in the office. Students should give these sheets to their teachers as soon as they receive them so that the teacher has time to fill out the sheet and assign work. It is also the students responsibility (6ht-12th grade) to collect the assignment sheets from their teachers before they leave for Short Term Independent Study.
All assigned work must be completed during the period covered by the Master Agreement.

Upon Return to Campus:

Copies of all work & work record forms are due to the attendance clerk within 1 day of the student returning to class. All copies of assignments must have the student name, class, and date on the top right corner of the page. Any work turned in electronically must be printed off and also turned into the attendance clerk.
When the student returns from Short Term Independent Study, the student/parent/guardian will make copies of all the work that was assigned, along with the work record forms (copies can be made in the office when requested). A certificated teacher will review the work solely for attendance purposes. If the student completes all assigned work and submits copies of the work to the attendance clerk, full attendance credit will be given. Partial attendance credit may be applied if not all of the work was completed or submitted.

IMPORTANT: Copies of signed assignment sheets (Work Record Forms) and all completed assigned work are due to the attendance clerk within 1 day of the students return to school. Please give copies to the attendance clerk and originals to teachers. Work not returned within 1 day may result in a penalty on the assignments.

Students who do not complete their Independent Study work per the written agreement will not be allowed to participate in our Short Term Independent Study program for the remainder of the school year.

Weaverville Elementary School