Due to the unconventional school years during the Covid pandemic, Mena High School found it necessary to temporarily amend some of our standing policies for the safety and welfare of our students and staff. Thankfully, our district is in a position to begin a return to normalcy by opening our campus again. After Christmas break, Mena High School will be returning to our standing policy on student checkouts as it is stated in the Student Handbook. The policy states:
A student may check out only if a parent/guardian comes to the office and signs the student out. (A Check-Out Signature Card is provided at the beginning of each year to verify who has permission to check out the student. An MHS student–no matter his or her age–cannot be listed on a check-out card.) *Please note that signature cards were completed in Powerschool online with student registration at the beginning of the year.
One exception is if a student has a doctor or dental appointment, the parent can call to allow the student to check out. Then the student can sign out in the school office for the medical appointment, however, upon return to school, the student must bring to the school office a written verification from the medical office stating the date and time of the appointment.
Excused reasons for checking out include illness, funerals, or family emergency. Reasons that are not excusable for checking out of school include going out to eat lunch, going shopping, or running errands.
Students who leave the campus without checking out will be considered truant and will be dealt with as truants.
Also with the return to normalcy, I wanted to inform you of the upcoming finals schedule for Mena High School and what to expect on those dates. There are no exemptions for fall final exams, so all students will be participating in these finals. The finals schedule will be as follows:
Tuesday, December 14th 7th Period
Wednesday, December 15th 2nd, 4th, and 6th Periods
Thursday, December 16th 1st, 3rd, and 5th Periods
Friday, December 17th Make-up Testing
Please be advised that students will not be allowed to check out during a testing period. However, once a student has finished his/her tests for a given day, he/she may check out WITH A PARENT NOTE containing a working phone number for verification. Notes will be taken during finals week only.
I am looking forward to finishing out this school year on a steady path back to normal, as I’m sure we all are!
Thank you,
David Maxwell
Principal
Mena High School