Skip To Main Content

Logo Image

Walled Lake Western Logo

Logo Title

Attendance Policy

Attendance Office: (248) 956-4421 | Attendance Hotline: (248) 956-4600

Please call the attendance hotline before 7:00 a.m. every morning your student is absent or late.

Note: Notifying a teacher or counselor of your child’s absence does not replace calling the attendance office. For a student’s absence to be “excused” you must call the absence/tardy within 48 hours. A student’s absence a cannot be “excused” if it is called in after the 48 hour deadline.

Attendance Policy

At Walled Lake Western, we believe in the value of having every student, everyday engaged and learning in school. Consistent attendance provides students the opportunity to learn core academic skills and to develop the soft skills needed for future success. Class attendance is necessary to be able to develop and hone skills in leadership, conflict management, teamwork, time management, communication, problem solving, and many other important career-impacting abilities.  Daily lesson plans in the classroom allow for student growth in important skills needed beyond high school as well as target specific academic areas. Missed classroom activities can never fully be replicated for these important impacts. The major responsibility for acceptable attendance lies with the individual student and his/her parent(s). Teachers, administrators, and counselors have the responsibility to assist the parent and student in meeting the goal of acceptable attendance.

Acceptable Reasons for Excused Absences

  • College visits (provide documentation)
  • Religious holiday/celebration
  • Medical/Dental/Mental Health Appointment (provide documentation)
  • Bereavement
  • Quarantine
  • Illness (documentation, if possible)

*Families are encouraged to plan vacations during scheduled school breaks.

Procedure for Reporting a Student Absence

It is important that student absences are due to one of the acceptable reasons to the left.

  • Student should email their teacher(s) to inquire about missed instruction and makeup work opportunities.
  • Parent/Guardian must call the attendance office directly or the attendance hotline and follow the prompts.
  • Only parent/guardian may excuse an absence (students who call themselves in to excuse an absence may be subject to disciplinary action).
  • Pre-arranged absences should be communicated to the school the day prior or before 7:00 a.m. the morning of dismissal.

Other Important Attendance Information

  • Walled Lake Western seeks to preserve the academic environment. The attendance office will not call classrooms to excuse a student from class unless it is a true emergency.
  • Walled Lake Western is a closed campus. Students are not allowed to be called out of school by a parent/guardian to eat lunch off campus and then return to school, nor are they to order food to be delivered to the school.
    • If a student is returning to Walled Lake Western the same day as the dismissal due to a healthcare appointment, it is expected that the student will provide a note on a health provider's letterhead verifying the date and time the student was seen by the provider.
  • Students who are late to first hour are marked tardy. While we appreciate a phone call from a parent, the student is still tardy.
  • If a student is symptomatic (ill) at school, a parent or emergency contact is kindly expected to promptly come to school to pick up the student within 30 minutes of notification.

  • No students are allowed to check out of school during assemblies. Any absence must be pre-arranged with the attendance office 24 hours prior to the event.

  • Student-athletes are required to attend school all day in order to play or practice with their respective team. In cases of medical appointments, please provide a doctor’s note to the office or coach.

  • Students who are excused for the school day should not be on school grounds during the hours of 7 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. Students may not interrupt class to speak with a teacher or obtain homework during school hours.

**Students that are absent are normally (it depends on the assignment type; project, test, classwork, science labs, presentations) provided the same number of days they were out to complete the assignment. Please feel free to reach out directly to the teacher if you have any specific questions.

Tardy Policy

It is extremely important to be on time to class. By arriving late, you are interrupting learning for your fellow classmates. In circumstances when tardies accumulate in ONE particular class, you can expect the following from that teacher:

  • 5 Tardies - 90 minute after school detention.
  • 8 Tardies - Two 60 minute after school detentions.
  • 12 Tardies - One day of out of school suspension.

Any student with a parking pass may lose his or her parking privileges for up to 45 days after the 5th tardy.

*Note: This process resets at the end of each marking period. Our goal is to have students on time and in class every period, every day.