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Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
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Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
 

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
 

School Attendance

All children in Pennsylvania must attend school if they are of compulsory school age — no later than age 6 and until the age of 18 or graduation, whichever occurs first. Schools are required to enforce the compulsory attendance law.

What To Do If Your Child is Absent

You must submit a note to attendance@cityhigh.org or have your child hand in a note when they return to school. The note must have the date(s) that your child was absent and the reason for the absence. For those who prefer to handwrite a note, please include your signature. For those who prefer to email a note, it must come from the parent/guardian email address, not the student's.

Deadline to Submit an Excuse

Notes need to be received within 3 days of your child's return to school in order for the absence to be excused. If a note is not received within 3 days of your child's return to school, the absence will remain illegal and unexcused.

What is a Legal Excuse?

• Illness (doctor excuses will be required if there is an excessive amount of parent excused days)
• Family emergency
• Medical, dental, and behavioral health appointments
• Legal appointments (including court summons)
• Religious holidays
• Bereavement
• School-approved sabbaticals

What is NOT a Legal Excuse

• Oversleeping
• Missing the bus
• Not feeling like coming to school
• Vacations/out of town
• Confusion around whether or not there was school
• Parent/sibling illness
• Work or childcare

Truancy

In Pennsylvania, a child is truant when they have 3 unexcused absences within a school year. Once a child has 3 unexcused absences, we will begin the truancy process, which can ultimately result in court involvement and fines.

You can check ParentVUE regularly for your child's daily attendance.

City High Attendance Policy

Hello City High families:

As we prepare to begin the 2026-2027 school year, we want to remind students and families about specific updated policies and procedures that have been highlighted recently and are continuing for the new school year. These are outlined as follows:

BOOK BAGS: All students must enter the building with their City High approved book bag! Students will not be permitted to enter the school building with large purses or a book bag that is not your City High-issued book bag. All incoming 9th and new 10th grade students will receive an approved book bag on the first day of school. We are also encouraging students to streamline the items that you bring to school. Specifically, we are recommending that students leave the following items at home or in your locker:

• Aerosol cans of any kind, most notably spray deodorant
• Multiple perfume/cologne bottles
• Multiple phone chargers
• Gaming systems
• Excessive keyrings or pins attached to bookbag

YONDR: Students must bring their Yondr pouches to school every day and are expected to lock their phone in their Yondr pouch before walking through the metal detector. Students who knowingly conceal or refuse to pouch their phones in a Yondr will receive serious consequences, as these incidents require School Safety to conduct searches and divert attention from their primary duties during student arrival.

FOOD/BEVERAGES: Students ARE NOT permitted to bring open food or beverages into the school building. Students will be asked to throw them away prior to entering the building.

DRESS CODE: Please review the City High dress code policy. We will be monitoring dress code to ensure that all students are adhering to the policy, particularly in regards to shirts that are in dress code, keeping shirts tucked in, dress/skirt length (top of the knee and is able to stay down vs. riding mid-thigh), pant length (no capri or mid-calf pants), and dress shoes (no Birkenstock, Sperry's or Hey Dude shoes).

We are asking for support in reviewing this information so that we can all be prepared to get off to a great start to the new school year! Please reach out to your Grade-Level Principal with any questions.

Best Regards,
City High Administration
 

City High Dress Code

Students Identifying as Female

• Business casual clothing; dress blouses or shirts with a collar, sweaters, vests and blazers
• Dress pants: full cut, bootleg, straight leg, full length or ankle pants
• Dresses and skirts must be knee-length or longer. Skirts must originate at the waist
• Dress shoes with a closed toe

Students Identifying as Male

• Shirts: button-down shirts, polos, and turtlenecks. Must be tucked in and must have a collar. 
• Sweaters
• Dress pants or khaki pants
• Dress shoes with a closed toe

 Clothing NOT in City High Dress Code

• Denim, cargo pants, or any clothing that looks like denim
• Shirts and sweaters with a hood
• Any clothing with a person's image
• Halter tops or strapless tops and dresses
• T-shirts, tanktops, Henleys/long John type t-shirts
• Sperry's, Vans, Birkenstocks/sandals or boots
• Sweatshirt, fleece, or thermal material
• "Flare" pant, yoga pants, or sweater pants

Set up ParentVUE

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