Parent & Family Communication

Family Communication – Attendance

  • Need to submit an absence note? For your convenience you can now fill out this Absence Note Google Form.
  • When a student is absent from school, click here to complete the google form, or you may send an email to miccohen@philasd.org, or you may send a handwritten note to school.
  • Note: Text/Dojo messages to the teacher are no longer accepted as excuse notes.
  • Please submit the absence form at the end of your child’s absence period (i.e. if your child is absent from school Monday and Tuesday, fill out the form on Tuesday for both days).
  • Absences will be treated as unexcused until the school receives a written excuse explaining the absence, to be submitted within three (3) days of the absence.
  • When a student is absent for 3 or more consecutive school days due to illness, a doctor’s note must be submitted in order for the absences to be marked as excused. Doctor’s notes can be uploaded to the google form.
  • Notes do NOT guarantee an excusal. The reason given for the absence must match an accepted reason code within the district’s attendance policy. (For example, family trips are not an accepted reason for missing school).
  • Parent/Guardian notes are only acceptable for 8 sickness occurrences in one school year (i.e. if your child is absent Monday and Tuesday consecutively it equals one occurrence
  • Subsequent absences of any length for sickness will only be marked excused with a doctor’s note.
  • If a student arrives at school after 11:00am, it will be marked as a half-day absence. This will only be excused with a note.
  • If a student is picked up from school before 1:39pm, it will be marked as a half-day absence. If they are picked up before 11:00am it will be marked as a full day’s absence. This can only be excused with a note.
  • If a student is picked up between 1:40pm and 3:15pm, it will be marked as an early dismissal. Early dismissals are only excused with a note.
  • If the nurse calls you to pick up your child due to illness, a doctor’s note is not required for the excusal or early dismissal of that school day. However, the nurse may request a doctor’s note for the student to return to school.
  • When a student reaches 3 unexcused absences, an auto-generated letter is sent home as a notice. Dates of absences are listed on the letter.
  • When a student reaches 5-8 unexcused absences, the school attendance team will contact the family in order to set up a conference and create a Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP).
  • Students who reach 10 or more unexcused absences in a school year will be referred to truancy court.

Family Communication – FERPA Annual Information

Attention families: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that a school with certain exceptions obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, a school may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised the school to the contrary in accordance with school district procedures.

Parents who wish to opt their students out of directory information releases must complete an Opt-Out Form for each of their students, and must return each form to the school at which each student is enrolled by December 13, 2024.

Find more information, including the forms you need HERE

Family Communication – Title I

Dobson Parent and Family Engagement Policy

Dobson Parent Compact 

Right to Know Letter

Family Communication – Parent Portal

Click here to Access Parent and Family Portal:
You will be able to:
View Student Grades
Track Test Scores
See Student Attendance
View Immunization Records
Set Communication Preferences
Access Report Cards