The on-time, full-day attendance of students in every class is one of the most influential factors in student engagement in their academic career, leading directly to their academic performance and success.  

Loudoun County Public Schools and Woodgrove High School place an incredibly high emphasis on every student’s attendance in every class every day.  For a review of the district’s updated approach, refer to the email dated November 27, 2023 as well as the Attendance Resources provided by the LCPS Department of Student Services. 

Woodgrove HS has expanded our Attendance Team, created a robust monitoring protocol, and designed multiple attendance letters to keep families and staff informed with up-to-date data.  By supporting our beliefs with the necessary talent and time resources, we have been able to decrease our Chronic Absenteeism rate from 22.1% during the 2022-2023 academic year by nearly ten percentage points for 2024-2025.

Woodgrove High School's attendance goal for 2025-2026 is to have at least 80% of our students maintain Regular Attendance.

An absence is recorded when a student misses a full day of school.  School-related events (field trips, testing, in-school restriction, senior Capstone Experience, Teacher Cadet shadowing, Homebound instruction, etc.) are not recorded as absences.  

Absences are monitored along two paths - Total Absences and Truant Absences.

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Total Absences is the overall number of days a student has missed school.

• This includes excused, unexcused, truant, and suspended days.  

• This number is viewed with respect to the total number of days school has been in session.  

• Beginning on the 30th day of the school year, LCPS and WHS flag students who have missed 10% to 14.9% of their enrolled days with Chronic Absence.  

• WHS additionally flags students who have missed 15% or more of their enrolled days with Severe Chronic Absence. 

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Truant Absences is the number of days a student has missed school when

• the absence was reported in ParentVUE but not excused by the school, as well as

• the absence was not reported in ParentVUE, not known by the parent(s), and not excused by the school.

An attendance report is run every morning to capture the previous day's attendance. The number of Truant Absences are assessed at this time. Members of the WHS Attendance Team review this data and may contact students and/or their families when certain thresholds are met.

• An attendance letter is emailed when a student accumulates five days of truancy, starting with their first day of enrollment. This emailed letter will be followed by communication from our Student Support Advisor, and a conversation with our Activities and Engagement Coordinator to help create an Attendance Plan for future attendance success.

• If students continue to accumulate truant absences, additional communication from our Student Support Advisor may require a Multi-Disciplinary Team meeting involving a parent/guaridian, at least two members of our WHS Attendance Team, and our School Attendance Officer.

A second attendance report is run every Wednesday at noon to capture each students' current number of Days of Partially Present and the current number of Total Absences. Members of the WHS Attendance Team review this data and may contact students and/or their families Friday afternoon if/when certain thresholds are met.

• Contact is made through email to the student's LCPS account, all parent/guardian email addresses listed in ParentVUE, the student's assistant principal, and the student's school counselor.

• Families are encouraged to make sure all email addresses in ParentVUE are current and correct and to make updates as needed.  For assistance with this, please contact our School Registrar. 

• Due to the 48 hours of turn-around time, it is rare - but possible - that data pulled on Wednesday shows an absence as Truant that, for example, has been updated to Excused before Friday afternoon.

• If there are concerns that absence numbers may not be correct, parents should first view what is recorded in ParentVUE under the Attendance tab.  If what is displayed here is correct, no further action is needed.  If what is displayed here needs to be updated (with a doctor’s note, for example), please contact our school Attendance Secretary. 

Attendance Letter CA(A) is emailed when a student is flagged with Chronic Absence (10 to 14.9% absence of any kind).

Attendance Letter CA(B) is emailed when a student accumulates one additional day of absence (of any kind).

Attendance Letter CA(C) is emailed when a student is flagged with Severe Chronic Absence (15% or more absence of any kind). This notification now requires a medical note in order to have the school administration consider excusing any future absences.

Absence - When a student misses a full day of school.

Chronic Absence - Missing 10 to 14.9% or more of the academic year for any reason, including excused absences, unexcused absences, and suspensions.

Excused Absence - When the absence is reported in ParentVUE and accepted by the school.  

Severe Chronic Absence - Missing 15% or more of the academic year for any reason, including excused absences, unexcused absences, and suspensions.

Total Absences - The overall number of days a student has missed school for any reason, including excused absences, unexcused absences, truant absences, and suspensions.

Truant Absences - The number of days a student has missed school when:

• the absence was reported in ParentVUE but not excused by the school, as well as

• the absence was not reported in ParentVUE, not known by the parent(s), and not excused by the school.

Unexcused Absence - The same as a Truant Absence.

While examples may seem helpful, they often lead to more misunderstanding and confusion.  Family dynamics are fluid and an individual student’s circumstances are inherently unique.

Meaning, one instance of international travel that results in several days of missed school may be deemed educational and therefore accepted and excused by the school, while subsequent absences for continued travel may be recorded as unexcused.  Likewise, absences for athletic “travel teams” may be excused once or twice, but recurring absences for this reason may be recorded as unexcused.  

This diagram may be more useful than a list of examples:

Sarah Winchell Lenhoff and Jeremy Singer, Rethinking Chronic Absenteeism: Why Schools Can't Solve It Alone, 2025, Harvard Education Press.

Jessica Sprick and Randy Sprick, School Leader's Guide to Tackling Attendance Challenges, 2019, Ancora Publishing.