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Saturday Intervention Days

Saturday Intervention Days (SID)

In accord with the attendance protocol established by DC Public Schools, Ellington is committed to early intervention in the lives of students who are chronically tardy or absent.  Saturday Intervention Days (SID) are an opportunity to meet with students to discuss the importance of attendance, to develop an attendance intervention plan and to allow the student to make up work that has been missed due to absences during the advisory.

All staff will be responsible for volunteering to participate in supervising at least one Saturday session per school year.  All teaching staff will also be responsible for assembling missing work for students attending SID, as one of the goals is to make up missed work during these hours under teacher supervision.

When a student has more than 3 unexcused absences in an advisory or 9 tardies (3 tardies is the equivalent of one absence) and any one class, the teacher will notify via email the Student Services Manager (SSM) and their supervising Director that the limit has been exceeded.  The Student Services Manager will use the STARS attendance records for confirmation and then add that student name to the SID list.

Prior to the SID session, letters will be given by the Student Services Manager informing the student and the parent of the required SID session that Saturday.  The list of students required to attend SID will be distributed to the staff and assignments for those students will be submitted to the supervising Director.  The Directors will share those assignments with the Student Services Manager prior to the SID session.

  • The Duke Ellington School of the Arts Saturday Intervention Day (SID), shall be held up to three Saturdays of each advisory.  The hours of the SID shall be from 9:00am to 1:00pm.  The schedule for first semester is the following: Oct 12, Nov 2, Nov 23, Dec 14 and Jan 18.
  • Attendance shall be taken at 9:00 am sharp by the SID coordinator.  All students scheduled to attend the SID session are required to be present and in their seats at 9:00am sharp.  Students arriving late may not be admitted and disciplinary actions shall follow from the Director of Student Affairs.
  • There shall be no eating or drinking in the classroom during the instruction time.
  • Students attending SIDs are required to arrive to the sessions, prepared with all necessary items, in order to perform classroom school work; i.e., notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, etc.
  • There shall be no ordering of food or drink during the entire SID session.
  • There will be a ten (10) minute break during each one (1) hour of class instruction/work time, as designated by the SID coordinator for restroom, going to lockers, etc.  Students returning late from the break may not be readmitted to the class, and disciplinary actions shall be initiated as appropriate.  Also, students failing to return after any ten minute break shall be marked as absent for the entire SID session and a letter shall be issued to the parents about pending disciplinary actions from school administration.
  • There shall be appropriate staff assigned to the SID session to assist students with their subject matter assignments.
  • At the end of the SID session, all make-up work shall be collected by the SID coordinator, who will return the make-up work to the appropriate Director for proper processing.
  • Dismissal time for the SID session shall be 1:00pm promptly.

Students missing a scheduled SID session shall trigger other consequences.  The Monday following SID, the Student Services Manager at the direction of the Director of Student Affairs will notify parents of students who did not attend SID.  These parents must attend a meeting with the Student Director and their child to be scheduled that week.  Failure to attend SID will not only result in considerable grade reductions (up to 25%) each time SID is missed, but further consequences in accord with Chapter 25 of the DCMR, including being placed on immediate attendance probation.

Credit for completed work will be given in accord with teacher and departmental guidelines.  Unless there are highly unusual circumstances, the student completing missing work will only receive credit if the work is completed during SID.  Appropriate staff will monitor student success after SID participation.

Students identified as repeat offenders who accrue 3 or more unexcused absences in successive periods requiring multiple SID sessions will be subject to increasing penalties up to, and including:

  • Additional referrals to the SST
  • Revisions to their attendance intervention plan and attendance contract
  • Home visitation by MPD and the Director of Student Affairs
  • Court Referral
  • All other legal actions with the DCPS attendance protocol