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Superintendant November Newsletter

From Adam L. Cheeseman

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a time to reflect upon what we are thankful for.  For me, I am thankful for those that work with me every day: Doddridge County Schools’ employees.  Each job is vital to achieve our mission of providing the best possible education for our students.  Every person in our system contributes to the success of our students as a teacher, bus driver, a specialist (technology, ELA, math, remedial, library, behavior and mental health), mechanic, finance department worker, cook, facilities clerk, coach, nurse, PRO, maintenance worker, counselor, psychologist, custodian, librarian, secretary, aide, grounds keeper, central office worker or principal. Each job requires a particular set of skills.  I am thankful I have such a dedicated team working with me.

This month I also want to highlight our new website.  We have been working on making it easier for parents and guardians to communicate with our system.  For instance, you can now submit an Absence Excuse by using a form.  Just go to our website: dcschools.us and then click on the three lines at the top left.  You will see Absence Excuse Form in the left-hand column.  Fill out the form.  You can even email a scanned copy or a picture of your doctor’s excuse.  You can still bring in your written excuse, this is just another way to make sure your child’s absence excuses make it into the system. 

We are required by state law to contact the parent or guardian of any student that has three unexcused absences.  If a student has five unexcused absences we will contact you again.  So please make sure you submit your excuses. Students have five parent notes that they can use each semester if they do not have a doctor’s excuse.  Most importantly, please communicate with your child’s school to make sure they know the circumstances of your child’s absences.

The best way to make sure your child does not miss school unnecessarily is to take an active interest in your child’s schoolwork.  Ask your child to explain some of the things he or she has been learning in school.  Make sure you know who their friends are and make sure they do not encourage your child to miss school.  And, if you send in excuses with your child, make sure they actually turned them in to the office.

Please remember that we want every child to be successful.  We want to make sure that our students do not fall behind.  Particularly in the lower grades, missing school may mean missing key concepts or new skills that will be important in later grades.

Overall, Doddridge County School students do very well with attendance issues.  As we head into the winter, it is important to remain alert for signs of absenteeism.   Making sure our students are in the classroom is a team effort among teachers, administrators, students and parents.