Agora Cyber Charter School is responsible for enforcing the compulsory school attendance laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and for properly recording student attendance and maintaining student records. The Agora attendance policy is designed to promote maximum achievement, develop time management skills, and foster success in the online environment.

• Synchronous Student Attendance – Teachers capture period attendance in the Student Information System.
• Asynchronous Student Attendance – Student attendance captured by login to OLS.

• All students are synchronous unless designated otherwise.
• Synchronous students are expected to attend all scheduled and required virtual sessions. During this time, teachers will have daily interaction with students in a classroom environment and small group sessions, to learn about the students’ strengths and challenges to ensure that the students have obtained the skill set to be effective online learners.
• Virtual Class Attendance – To be marked present in a class, students are required to be in the virtual session from the scheduled start time until dismissed by the instructor.
• Daily Attendance – Students will only be considered present for the school day when they are counted as present for a minimum of two-thirds of all required virtual sessions. Asynchronous students are expected to log in to online coursework each school day before 11:59 PM. Asynchronous students are encouraged to attend virtual sessions daily.
• Process for Attendance Monitoring – Students are required to follow the Agora’s Academic Calendar, which includes at least 180 school days. Attendance only occurs on “school days” as listed on the school calendar. A student will need to log in to sessions each school day to be counted present. All absences are counted as unexcused until the Attendance Office receives written notice explaining the reason for the absence through your Sapphire SIS account.
• In order for an absence to be registered as excused, a parent or guardian must submit a written explanation or medical excuse to the “Attendance Office” by completing the attendance submission form through the Sapphire SIS within three (3) days of the absence.
• Complete the attendance submission form. In the event you are unable to submit your student’s excuse using the Sapphire SIS, you may fax an excuse to 484-588-0238.
  • The faxed excuse should state the student’s Name, Date of Birth, Student ID, the date of the absence, as well as the reason for the absence.
  • Students who are absent due to a power outage, home internet issue or illness:
    • Must have the legal guardian notify the Attendance Office by completing the attendance submission form through the Sapphire SIS.
    • Do not contact Technical Support as they are unable to troubleshoot or correct your issue and will not be able to provide assistance or a ticket number.
  • Students who are absent due to school-issued computer technical issues:
    • Must contact Technical Support/Customer Care at 855-412-3712 and troubleshoot the issue to receive a technical ticket number.
• Excuses will not be accepted by phone.
• The parent or legal guardian has three (3) school days from the date of absence to submit the excuse to the Attendance Office.
• If the Attendance Office does not receive an excuse within three days of the absence, the absence will be recorded as an unexcused absence.
• Students who are absent for 3 or more consecutive days due to an illness will be required to submit medical documentation (a note from a doctor’s office).
• A maximum of ten days excused absences verified by parental notification may be permitted per school year.
  • All absences beyond ten cumulative excused days require a written excuse from a physician or ticket of technical difficulties from the Help Desk.

The Department of Education has enacted a change in the Compulsory School Age requirements effective at the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Act 16 of 2019 amends the Public School Code to redefine compulsory school age as “the period of a child’s life from the time the child’s parents elect to have the child enter school and which shall be no later than 6 years of age until the child reaches 18 years of age or if they have received a certificate of graduation whichever comes first.

For more information regarding compulsory attendance and Agora’s policy regarding truancy, click HERE.

• Video: Attendance Matters

Good school attendance means…

Too many absences -excused or unexcused- can keep students from succeeding in school and in life. How many are too many? 10% of the school year -that’s 18 missed days or 2 days a month- can knock students off track.