Attendance, Conduct, Courses & Grading - Every Day Counts
The Waterford School District is dedicated to creating and maintaining a positive learning environment for all students. The school community (students, staff, parents, school board and community members) must assume a responsible role for promoting behavior that enhances academic and social success. Respectful and responsible behavior fosters a positive climate for the learning community.
Schools must be free of disruptions that interfere with teaching and learning at school and during school-related activities and events. Therefore, school officials have the authority to regulate student conduct at school, school-related settings, and where the conduct creates a substantial risk of disruption to the educational process or to an orderly school environment.
Discipline procedures are necessary in order to protect the rights of each member of the school community. Therefore, effective student discipline can only be achieved through cooperation and a shared commitment among the school community. The Student Code of Conduct has been designed to establish student responsibilities and expectations.
Every Day Counts!
Attendance Guidelines
School attendance has a significant impact on a student’s academic success starting in kindergarten and continuing through high school. Each school day is important to ensure students acquire the knowledge and skills they need to be prepared for the next grade level. If a student misses 3 days a month throughout the school year, it equates to 5 weeks of missed instruction. Capitalizing on each and every moment is important. Absences—excused or unexcused— can add up to too much time lost in the classroom and leave students falling behind. This is as true for kindergartners as it is for high school students.
DEFINITIONS
Attendance cap: Total number of absences allowed. A student should miss no more than 10 excused or unexcused days per year.
Unexcused Absence: An absence when the parent/guardian does not call to excuse the absence and, as a result, receives an automated alert.
Excused Absence: An absence when the parent/guardian calls the school within 48 hours of the absence to inform the school that the student will not be in attendance. These absences still count towards the attendance cap.
Exempt Absence: An absence that is reported but does not count toward the attendance cap. To obtain an exemption the student/parent must provide one of the following to the building administrator:
- Documentation from a physician, dentist, orthodontist, or therapist stating the student had an appointment that required being absent for a portion of the school day.
- Documentation from a physician stating the student was ill and needed to be absent from school for a specified period of time.
- Documentation of a religious holiday, funeral of a close family member, legal requirements, or out of school suspensions.
Tardy: Failure to be present at the start of class.
District Protocol
At 5 absences: The school will make personal contact with the student and parent/guardian.
At 7 absences: The school will mail a letter home to the parent and place a copy in the student’s educational record.
At 10 absences: For students in grades K-5, the school will complete a referral to the Waterford Success Program and place a copy in the student’s educational record. The Program Director will meet with the family to explore barriers to attendance and develop an Attendance Intervention Plan. For students in grades 6 – 12, school personnel will arrange a meeting with the parent and student to develop an Attendance Intervention Plan. A copy of the plan will be placed in the student’s educational record.
At 20 absences: The student/family will be referred to the Oakland County Truancy Program to begin the court process.
The State of Michigan Compulsory School Attendance law requires that every parent, guardian, or other person in this state having control and charge of a child shall send that child to a public school during the entire school year from the time the child turns the age of 6. The child’s attendance shall be continuous and consecutive. A violation of this law occurs if a child is repeatedly absent from school without valid excuse. These cases are handled in District court.
Code of Conduct
Course Catalogs
2026-2027 Academic Year
High School Course Catalog
Middle School Course Catalog
2025-2026 Academic Year
Middle & High School Grading Procedures
Grading for Learning
Procedures for Grading:
The purpose of grading is to fairly and accurately communicate the academic achievement of each student. Grades will reflect a student’s level of mastery towards standards and skills and serve as a method of providing feedback towards growth and achievement. Waterford teachers will adhere to consistent procedures for grading.
Categories will distinguish between Achievement/Assessment factors and Practice factors.
Parents and students must be aware of which category assignments fall into (i.e. marked in MiSTAR)
Achievement/Assessment Factors should be clearly identified in the gradebook by adding an ! before the title of the assignment for long and short names in MiSTAR.
Coursework may be weighted differently within a category, but will be the same for anyone teaching the same course.
Achievement/Assessment - Example: Tests may be weighted differently than quizzes.
Practice - Example: Daily assignments may be weighted differently than class discussion.
Late work:
Practice: Late work, at a minimum, will be accepted for full credit through the end of the unit. Teachers’ policies should be clearly communicated to students and parents in the course syllabus. Missing Practice assignments: Assignments not received will be marked as missing, which will be coded in MiStar gradebooks to count as zero in grade calculations. Missing assignments not turned in by deadline will be changed to a zero.
Achievement/Assessment: Missing work from the Achievement/Assessment category will be accepted for full credit until two weeks after the end of the unit.
Frequency of Assessments: At a minimum, each course should have at least 4 “Achievement/Assessment” grades each semester.
Remediation and retake for Achievement/Assessment Factors:
Students will be allowed to complete Remediation and Assessment retakes up to two weeks after receiving their assessment grade/results.
The remediation and retake policy will be established for each department and will be clearly stated in the course syllabus. Each department may require test corrections, completion of missing work, or other forms of remediation prior to retake.
All students will be given the opportunity for remediation and retake regardless of their previous score and given the opportunity to earn full credit on the assessment.
When a student retakes an assessment, the original score and the fact it was a retake will be noted in MiStar comments.
If a student completes remediation and then receives a retake score below 50%, they will receive at least a 50%. Teacher comment will be included in MiStar with the actual score earned.
Achievement/Assessment Factor grading:
No Attempt-Refusal to Attempt: Scored as Missing in MiSTAR (which calculates as 0%). Teachers must include comments in MiStar.
Extra credit: The district will not offer extra credit in classes, as students will have the opportunities for remediation and to retake assessments to improve their grades and demonstrate their learning.
Earning a grade in classes for move-ins or late class entries: Course grade will be determined by the teacher considering any previous available body of work and their performance in the Waterford course.
Items in the grade book related to the course but that do not reflect an opportunity for learning (i.e. signed syllabus, attending a field trip, etc.) can be included but will be left ungraded.
Grades/Progress will be updated weekly in MiStar and/or through parent communication. Students and parents will be notified if a student fails an Assessment in order to communicate the two week opportunity for remediation and retake.
Final Exams will count for 10% of the overall semester grade.
The table below describes how “Practice” and “Achievement/Assessment” grading factors might be categorized when weighing grades, and includes weights and grading scales. The Course Syllabus will identify practice and achievement/assessment factors for each class.
