• Absence Policy for Rehearsals and Concerts

    Concerts and after-school rehearsals are considered part of the class requirement for orchestra. Good communication between teachers, students, and parents can prevent misunderstandings. Please communicate immediately with the director when there are problems and schedule conflicts.

    The orchestra calendar is on the school website, posted in the classroom, and is in the welcome packet.

    Students are expected to arrive 15 minutes early for rehearsals and concerts to unpack, warm up and get ready. They are also expected to stay for the entire rehearsal/concert. Students will receive grades for every after-school and evening rehearsal and performance. Students who are absent, tardy, or leave early for any unexcused reason may receive a low grade or a zero. Students who come to a concert performance in unacceptable attire will have their concert grade reduced, and in extreme cases will not be allowed to perform. Students who have after-school jobs are expected to communicate with their employer and request that their work schedules be arranged to accommodate all rehearsals and performances. Employers should be informed that orchestra is a class, not an extracurricular activity. After-school rehearsals and concerts are a required part of class, and school policy states that student employment is not an excused reason for missing class.

    Absences and tardies for a rehearsal or performance are only excused when they meet the following criteria and parents immediately send a written note informing the director. Verbal or written statements from parents are not excused.

    1. The student is too ill to attend school. The parent should send a written note to the director as soon as possible. In most cases, a signed doctor’s note will exempt the student from making up the grade. Students who were present at school on both the day of and the day after the event will not be excused without a signed doctor’s note.
    2. There is a death in the family or comparable family emergency. The parent should send a written note to the director as soon as possible. If the student’s family crisis is a death in the family or comparable, the student will be exempt from making up the grade. All other cases are excused at the discretion of the director; unexcused absences will receive a zero and excused absences must submit a recording as described below.
    3. The student has a prior commitment. If the student has a prior commitment that was planned before the orchestra rehearsal or concert was announced, the parent must communicate this conflict using the prior commitment form (linked in the website). If the orchestra has a schedule change, parents will have 10 days to inform the director of conflicts. Students with excused prior commitments are allowed to make up their event grade by submitting a recording before the date missed.

    Making up the grade for excused absences-Students with excused prior commitments, illnesses without a doctor’s excuse, and family emergencies that are not comparable to a death in the family must make up the grade of the missed event. To make up the grade, students must record themselves performing all of the music from the missed event. This recording will be graded and will replace the zero for the grade of the event missed. Students will lose 10% of their grade for every day the recording is late. For prior commitments, students are to submit their recordings to the director before the missed event. For illness and family emergencies, students must submit the recording within 3 days of the end of the absence.

     

    Students who miss a significant number of in-school or after-school rehearsals for excused or unexcused reasons may lose their leadership seating and, if necessary, may not be allowed to perform at the concert.

    • This affects students who miss:
    • More than 20% of the classes in the 6 weeks leading up to the concert
    • More than 40% of the classes in the last 2 weeks before a concert.
    • Unexcused absences from any required after-school rehearsals before the concert.

    Students who miss too much class to perform will be required to make a recording, as described above, and submit it before the day of the concert in lieu of their concert grade.