Attendance Policy
As an educational institution, Cardigan Mountain School offers a comprehensive program that best serves those boys and their families willing to participate fully in all facets of school life - academic, athletic, and residential.
Inherent to such a commitment is the logical necessity of attending and participating in all school days. The School realizes that situations arise in which students will need to miss school days for illness, family emergencies, or other pressing family commitments. The Student Life Office will excuse absences when appropriate. In order to minimize the impact of absences on a student’s progress, the School has established the following policy:
Absences
- In the case of any absence it is the responsibility of the parent to email attendance@cardigan.org and provide evidence of absence, tardiness, or early departure.
- It is the responsibility of the student to obtain (in advance) and complete any academic work missed during an absence and to notify his coaches and teachers of his absence if known in advance.
- For legitimate reasons, students are permitted to apply for an excused absence (meaning that they will miss an academic, athletic, or residential commitment). This is above and beyond absences for illness or injury and the scheduled school visit days for ninth graders. The School will determine whether or not to approve an excused absence. When approved, students are responsible for informing their teachers, coaches, and dorm parents ahead of time. If a student is absent without school approval, the absence is considered unexcused.
- Students who accrue unexcused absences will receive no credit for missed class work (e.g. assessments, projects, assignments), and all other homework will be due upon the students' return to campus. Students who receive more than three (3) unexcused absences put their enrollment or academic eligibility in jeopardy.
- All students are required to check out by calling the AOD at 603.443.6252 if they are traveling by car or taxi. Those traveling by school transportation will be automatically checked out. Upon return, students must check in with their dorm parents.
Scheduled Vacations
When departing campus for scheduled breaks, all students are required to check out by calling the AOD phone if they are traveling by car or taxi. Those traveling by school transportation will be automatically checked out. Upon return, students must check in with their dorm parents.
Throughout the course of the year, Cardigan provides for substantial vacation time. As such, the School believes that students should meet all of their community responsibilities before departing for scheduled breaks. Consequently, students are required to attend all commitments prior to vacations, including sports awards and recognition assemblies. Following vacations, students must return to Cardigan on the appointed day.
Secondary School Interviews & Revisits
The School realizes the importance of allowing ninth-grade boys and their parents opportunities to visit secondary schools during the fall and winter. At the same time, Cardigan ninth graders are engaged in rigorous courses of study, in addition to many other on-campus responsibilities for which missing time is prohibitive.
Thus, the School approves the following times for ninth-grade boys to visit secondary schools during the fall and winter terms. Students are accountable for all academic work missed during secondary school visits.
- October 9: Founders’ Day/Sandwich Fair Day
- October 22-27*: Fall Term Long Weekend (*Seniors depart after their last commitment on October 21 and they must return before their athletic commitment on October 27.)
- November 28-30: Final opportunity for secondary school visits by request only. All visits during this time must be approved by the School.
Dates and times for interviews should be shared with the director of secondary school counseling in advance. Students will be expected to communicate with their teachers in advance of any missed academic commitments during these visits.
Regarding spring revisits, ninth-grade students may miss a maximum of two school days to attend events at schools where they have been admitted if a revisit is necessary for the boy’s decision process.
*Note: Students must secure permission from the director of student life if they wish to depart campus for any reason (other than those directly associated with Cardigan programming) during the academic year. If a 9th grade student wishes to depart campus for a secondary school visit, they must contact BOTH the director of student life and the director of secondary school counseling.