Dear Montclair Public Schools Parents/Guardians,
Please allow this communication to serve as an update regarding the following topics:
MHS Fall Event
The MHS Fall Event
is scheduled for Tuesday, October 16, 2018. All parents/guardians
should report to the auditorium at 6:00PM. The general session will
include an update regarding facilities, after school activities and
attendance. At the general session, a schedule regarding the
content related sessions will be shared. Parents/guardians will travel
via grade to each of the content related sessions. The content sessions
are: (a) Guidance, (b) STEM, (c) Humanities/World Language, and (d)
Physical Education/Health. A flyer was sent to all MHS families last week, and it is attached again to this communication. Classroom teachers will not be
available to answer questions related to specific classes and/or
students. Parents/guardians should email teachers if they have specific
questions. Equally as important, course expectations were emailed to
all parents/guardians previously. And, course syllabi are available on
the MHS website.
As a reminder, the 2018 MHS Back-to-School Night was
canceled. Regrettably, we cannot overturn this decision. Please
remember we are down 31 classrooms, and we did not want to ask teachers
to travel from room to room to meet parents/guardians in the areas
where the classes are held. Furthermore, there is a limited amount of
time for this event (parents/guardians would likely have difficulty
navigating the building). For your consideration, we wanted to provide
this additional information so you are aware of the “why” behind the
“what.”
Attendance
In the last week, I have received questions regarding attendance for
students. Please understand that our change in practice is not due to
anything within our control or because we wish to make new rules. Our
new practice is simply to ensure we are following the state regulations
regarding student attendance. Due to chronic absenteeism in the
district, we are under a state attendance improvement plan, and we must
adhere to the state attendance law.
For your consideration, an absence is when students are
not present and engaged in scheduled, board-sanctioned, educational
activities in the building or at an approved external site with the
teacher or teachers to which they are enrolled. Students must be in the
building or in an approved external activity for four hours to be considered present.
To read further on this attendance guidance, you may refer to the NJDOE document.
Being regulated by the state, we must adhere to the law and only report students' absences within very specific codes; namely,
- Present,
- Absent,
- Excused for Religious Observance, or
- Take your Child to Work Day.
As you see, a student’s illness or a student’s appointment with a
doctor is an absence, and it is unexcused. I hope this communication
helps with your questions, and if you would like to understand further,
please reach out to your child’s principal.
MHS Facilities Update
A facilities update will be provided at the Board Meeting tonight.
There is much inaccurate information in the field. Parents/guardians
are encouraged to refrain from entertaining any information regarding
facilities, unless it comes from the Interim Principal or the
Superintendent.
Community Conversation
Please see the flyer. All are welcome to attend.