Dear DHS Community,

We’re looking forward to another great year at Decatur High School.  The most important decision students and their families can make about school is the choice to show up ready to learn every day!  That said, we know that illnesses and emergencies happen and we’re here to support students when they need to miss school.  Our two goals this year at DHS are to increase attendance across the board and to improve the percentage of student absences that are excused.

Summary
Checkouts are done in person at the N. McDonough entrance.  No checkouts will be processed after 3 PM. This form can be used to schedule a checkout without a parent/guardian present but must be filled out by 9 AM on the day of the checkout.

Use this email address to excuse absences: dhsattendance@csdecatur.net

Documenting Excused Absences
Absences from school may be excused for any of the following reasons:

• Student health
• Funeral, bereavement, or family emergency
• Registering to vote
• Court order
• Religious holiday
• Hazardous conditions that render attendance impossible or dangerous

When your student is absent for one of these reasons, please email dhsattendance@csdecatur.net.

Student Check Outs
We encourage, welcome, and prefer that parents and guardians come to DHS to check their students out.  When doing so, please come to the entrance under the spaceship on N. McDonough, ring the buzzer, and present your ID when asked.  Once we confirm your identity, you’ll be invited to wait inside for your student or to hang out outside while we retrieve a student for you.  To facilitate a smooth end of the school day, we cannot accommodate checkouts after 3 PM except in emergency situations.  If you have such a situation, please contact the attendance office at 404-370-4170 x2148.

This year, we’re going to use a different structure for students to check out without a parent present.  Any parent or guardian wishing to have their student check out without being physically present must fill out this form by 9 AM on the day of the check out.  Any requests made after 9 AM on the day of the check out will not be honored without a parent or guardian physically present.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at dhsattendance@csdecatur.net.