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Attendance Policy and Procedure

NOTE: Vancouver Academy of Dramatic Arts shall heretofore be written as VADA for the purposes of this policy.

Policy

Regular attendance is expected of students in all their classes (including workshops, seminars,
etc.). Students who neglect their academic work and assignments may be excluded from final
examinations/demo reels.

Absentees are to be investigated by school personnel on a daily basis. Telephone calls and
written warnings will be given to the student and documentation of such action will be retained
in the student’s file.

Definition of Present, Late, and Absent:

Present: A student is deemed to be present when he or she physically attends his or her regularly
scheduled course on time.

Late: A student is deemed to be late any time a student is not present in his or her scheduled
course when class begins.

Absent: Any time a student misses class.

  1. An Excused Absence is defined as any time when a student has given prior notice to an absence by:
    1. verbal notice 24 hours prior to absences
    2. phone call 15 minutes before class on the day of absence/message on the answering
      machine if student calls outside of office/school hours (9-5)
    3. email or written notice 15 minutes before class on the day of absence

    Acceptable Excused Absences: Activities that promote an actors career growth.

    1. Audition/Call back
    2. Booked work and/or the actor is on set (extra work is not excusable)
    3. email or written notice before 9:45AM on the day of absence
    4. Meeting with an agent
    5. Headshot photo session
    6. Prearranged Appointments – For appointments with the court, social services or other state agencies and appointments with health care providers, official documentation must.
    7. Family death or Emergency- beyond family’s control. Must provide documentation
    8. Exceptional Circumstances – The principal may approve prearranged absences for situations in which an exemption from attendance appears to be in the best interests of the student and his/her family

    Unacceptable Excused Absences: Day to day activates that can be schedulable outside of school hours.

    1. Hair cut, extra curricular activities / lessons, etc
    2. It’s understandable that students activities/lessons, etc. b) It’s understandable that students may have jobs while training, but work should interfere, a maximum of 4 classes can be missed throughout the entire semester of six (6) months due to employment schedule.
  2. An Unexcused Absence is defined as any time when a student has not given notice and isn’t present in his or her scheduled course. The student will be called on the day of absence for an explanation.

PROCEDURE

A student may not exceed 12 absences in any class during a semester. It is expected that incidental illness and other unavoidable absences should not exceed the 12 absence limit. A student needs to attend class regularly to succeed. Missed classes will affect his/her studies.

Students are expected to be on time for class, in order to benefit from instruction and minimize disruptions to both learning and teaching. When administering the late policy, students will be accountable for all lates recorded.

    1. A phone call will be made to the student after every unexcused absent in every class by a VADA admin.
    2. When a student receives four (4) lates/absences in any given class, there will be a verbal warning given from the instructor/director/administration team.
  2. When a student receives eight (8) lates/absences in any given class, there will be a written warning from the director to inform the student about the issue of his/her attendance.
  3. After a written warning, when a student received twelve (12) lates/absences in any given class, the director will meet to formulate and establish supports that will assist the student in improving their punctuality. This meeting will also serve to set conditions which must be met for the student to remain enrolled in the class.
  4. I the student breaches the set conditions which were established in the meeting with the director, suspension will be put in place on the student for 10 days.
  5. If after the suspension, attendance doesn’t improve, the student will not be permitted to participate in one and/or all of the following:
    1. Demo Reels
    2. Casting Director / Agent Workshops
    3. Showcase Night
    4. Graduation
  6. If behaviour does not change and the student show little to no commitment to the program the student will be dismissed from the program. The appropriate refund policy will be put into place.
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