SCHOOL POLICY
Our objective as an educational establishment is to ready our students for the challenges of life beyond high school, encompassing both college and career pursuits. We understand that effectively navigating the real world requires a strong work ethic, adherence to professional and social norms, and a sense of self-discipline. Through the implementation of our school policies, we aim to provide our students with opportunities to practice and cultivate these skills, enabling them to succeed in a highly competitive environment.
Attendance Policy
West Town Academy offers a minimum of 182 5-hour days or 870 hours of instruction. WTA requires students to attend daily during the entire regular school term. Students are to be excluded from school by October 15th if requirements for health examinations and immunizations have not been met.
Excused Absence
Students must provide documentation for excused absences on the day of their return.
Documentation must be verified.
All documentation must be on official letterhead, or in the case of death, obituary must be provided.
A copy of all documentation must be attached to your daily attendance report.
If you are unsure whether an absence is excused or not, please see Administration for clarification.
Unexcused Absence
If a student returns to school from an absence without proper documentation, their absence is marked unexcused.
Forged notes will not be accepted and will carry a heavier consequence.
Phone calls from parents do not count as documentation; the student is still marked unexcused.
Hand written notes will not be accepted.
If a student does not have their note on the day of their return, they are marked as unexcused.
If the student brings the note the following day, mentors must make adjustments to all attendance records.
Attendance Protocol
If a student is absent or tardy, the Homeroom advisor is responsible for contacting the parent daily. Even if the student calls in to inform the Homeroom advisor that they will be out or late, the parent should still be contacted or notified of their absence, or tardy.
1st Unexcused absence: Phone call home.
2nd Unexcused absence: Second phone call home. Home visit required.
3rd Unexcused absence: Phone call home.
4th Unexcused absence within a quarter the student is placed on probation.
5th Absence of the Academic School Year: 5-Day letter sent home. Request for a parent conference.
10th Absence Academic School Year: 10-Day certified letter sent home. Request for a parent conference. Student fails the quarter if he/she accrues 10 unexcused absences within a quarter.
15th Absence Academic School Year: 15-Day certified letter sent home. Request for a parent conference.
18th Absence Academic School Year: Certified notification sent home. The Dean of Students begins the process to release the student.
19th Absence Academic School Year: A certified letter will be mailed home notifying the parent of the truancy process.
Attendance Meeting
Starts at 1:35 pm (Beginning of 7th Period)
All mentors attend..
Attendance Report will include: Call Log, excused absence documentation, and a Present, Absent, Tardy (P.T.A.) sheet.
Early Dismissal Process
Student informs available homeroom advisor of early dismissal.
Homeroom advisor determines if an early dismissal is appropriate.
Early Dismissal form is completed
Verify early dismissal, if necessary
All early dismissals must be signed and approved by administration
No student under the age of 18 can be released without permission from their guardian
Guardians must be notified of early dismissal even if student is 18 years or older
Excused and Unexcused Absences - Truancy
As soon as it becomes evident that a student will not be able to attend school, the student or a responsible adult must call the homeroom teacher and state the cause of the absence. Upon returning to school, the student must present written verification of the cause of the absence (note from a doctor, caseworker, probation officer, judge, etc.) If there is no acceptable documentation for the cause of absence, the absence will be deemed unexcused, and the student will be held accountable for a truancy violation.
Parents and guardians will be notified.
Download PDF version (Last Policy Updated 5/22/2023)
Bullying/Cyber Bullying Policy
West Town Academy strictly prohibits bullying of any form in accordance with Illinois State Law and ISBE policies. Please read the definition of Bullying as described by ISBE:
The Policy is based on the engagement of a range of school stakeholders, including students, parents and or guardians.
"Bullying" includes "cyber-bullying" and means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or electronically, directed toward a student or students that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:
Placing the student or students in reasonable fear of harm to the student's or students' person or property;
Causing a substantially detrimental effect on the student's or students' physical or mental health;
Substantially interfering with the student's or students' academic performance; or
Substantially interfering with the student's or students' ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
Bullying is contrary to State law and the policy of West Town Academy is consistent with subsection 9a-5) of this Section ( free exercise of religion). Nothing in this Section is intended to infringe upon any right to exercise free expression or the free exercise of religion or religiously based views protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or under Section 3 of Article 1 of the Illinois Constitution.
Bullying may take various forms, including without limitation one or more of the following: harassment, threats, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence, theft, public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or alleging an act of bullying. This list is meant to be illustrative and non-exhaustive.
Cyber-bullying means bullying through the use of technology or any electronic communication (including without limitation any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature) transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic system, photoelectric system, or photo-optical system (including without limitation electronic mail, Internet communications, instant messages, or facsimile communications).
Cyber-bullying includes the creation of a webpage or weblog in which the creator assumes the identity of another person or the knowing impersonation of another person as the author of posted content or messages if the creation or impersonation creates any of the effects enumerated in the definition of bullying in this Section. Cyber-bullying also includes the distribution by electronic means of a communication to more than one person or the posting of material on an electronic medium that may be accessed by one or more persons if the distribution or posting creates any of the effects enumerated in the definition of bullying in this Section."
Incidents of bullying in any form should be reported to school staff immediately. West Town Academy prohibits the reprisal or retaliation against any person who reports an act of bullying and will enforce necessary consequences and appropriate remedial actions for a person who engages in reprisal or retaliation.
Upon receiving a report of bullying West Town Academy will:
Make all reasonable efforts to complete the investigation within 10 school days after the date the report of the incident of bullying was received and taking into consideration additional relevant information received during the course of the investigation about the reported incident of bullying.
Involve appropriate school support personnel and other staff persons with knowledge, experience, and training on bullying prevention, as deemed appropriate, in the investigation process.
Notify the Dean of Students ( Danitra Williams, dwilliams@gwtp.edu ) of the report of the incident of bullying as soon as possible after the report is received.
Remain consistent with federal and State laws and rules governing student privacy rights, providing parents and guardians of the students who are parties to the investigation information about the investigation and an opportunity to meet with the principal or school administrator or his or her designee to discuss the investigation, the findings of the investigation, and the actions taken to address the reported incident of bullying.
Students that are found to be victims or victimizers of bullying will be encouraged to participate in school social work services, social-emotional skill building, counseling, school psychological services, community-based and "restorative measures" ( means a continuum of school based alternatives to exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions and expulsions, that
are adapted to the particular needs of the school and community
contribute to maintaining school safety
protect the integrity of a positive and productive learning climate
teach students the personal and interpersonal skills they will need to be successful in school and society
serve to build and restore relationships among students, families, schools and communities
reduce the likelihood of future disruption by balancing accountability with an understanding of students' behavioral health needs in order to keep students in school
increase student accountability if the incident of bullying is based on religion, race, ethnicity or any other category that is identified in the Illinois Human Rights Act
Any student found to be making false accusations of bullying as means of retaliation or as a means of bullying will be subject to consequences and appropriate remedial actions.
As part of the process of reviewing and re-evaluating the policy under subsection (d) of this section, contains a policy evaluation process to assess the outcomes and effectiveness of the policy that includes, but is not limited to, factors such as the frequency of victimization; student, staff, and family observations of safety at a school; identification of areas of a school where bullying occurs; the types of bullying utilized; and bystander intervention or participation. West Town Academy may use relevant data and information it already collects for other purposes in the policy evaluation. The information developed as a result of the policy evaluation must be made available on the Internet website of the school. If an Internet website is not available, the information must be provided to school administrators, school board members, school personnel, parents, guardians, and students.
West Town Academy bullying/ cyber bullying is consistent with the policies of the school board, charter school, or non public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary school.
Anti-Bullying Statement
Students are expected to act with consideration and respect for other students, staff, and their property. School personnel are responsible for creating a safe, civil, and respectful learning environment where students can gain the knowledge and interpersonal skills they need to succeed. Bullying creates a climate of fear and hostility, disrupts the educational process, inhibits the ability to learn, adversely affects student participation in educational programs and activities, has a negative effect on a school's social environment and leads to antisocial behavior.
Bullying behaviors may focus on an actual or perceived characteristic such as race, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity/expression (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) students), or other reasons related to a student's distinguishing characteristic. Bullying may also occur with the intent to force gang involvement. The ISBE prohibits all forms of bullying by students and will not tolerate acts of retaliation for making a report of bullying.
School staff shall identify and stop bullying behavior and refer perpetrators for appropriate discipline in accordance with the Student Discipline Policy.
Cyber-Bullying Policy
Under the new Student Code of Conduct passed by ISBE, cyber-bullying will be considered as serious an offense as burglary, aggravated assault, gang activity, drug use or more traditional forms of bullying. Students who use computers or phones to "stalk, harass, bully or otherwise intimidate others," will be suspended and could be referred for expulsion. The details will automatically be referred to Chicago Police, who could accuse students of criminal charges.
Technology, Internet, Social Media
West Town Academy has notified students and their parents/guardians in the school's disciplinary rules, policies handbooks or similar means that WTA may not request or require a student to provide a password or other related account information in order to gain access to the student's account profile on a social networking website.
West Town Academy may conduct an investigation or require a student to cooperate in an investigation if there is sufficient evidence (school is presented with physical evidence, documentation and or photos) that suggest the student's social network account violates the school's disciplinary policy. Administrators can carry out an investigation . WTA will encourage the student to share content in the course of such an investigation.
Dating Violence Statement
Any school employee who is notified by a parent, guardian, or student, or who reasonably suspects that a student has been the victim of dating violence shall immediately report that information to the principal/designee. Dating violence includes violent and controlling behavior such as threats, name calling, threats of suicide, physical or sexual abuse and stalking. School staff shall promptly and reasonably investigate allegations of dating violence and issue appropriate discipline based on their findings. The principal shall ensure that the student victim of dating violence receives appropriate support services in accordance with the ISBE's Policy on Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Court Orders of Protection, Restraint or No Contact.
Consistent with federal and State laws and rules governing student privacy rights, includes procedures for promptly informing parents or guardians of all students involved in the alleged incident of bullying within 24 hours after the school's administration is made aware of the students' involvement in the incident and discussing, as appropriate, the availability of social work services, counseling, school psychological services, other interventions, and restorative measures. The school shall make diligent efforts to notify a parent or legal guardian, utilizing all contact information the school has available or that can be reasonably obtained by the school within the 24-hour period.
"Restorative measures" means a continuum of school-based alternatives to exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions and expulsions, that
(i) are adapted to the particular needs of the school and community,
(ii) contribute to maintaining school safety,
(iii) protect the integrity of a positive and productive learning climate,
(iv) teach students the personal and interpersonal skills they will need to be successful in school and society,
(v) serve to build and restore relationships among students, families, schools, and communities, and
(vi) reduce the likelihood of future disruption by balancing accountability with an understanding of students' behavioral health needs in order to keep students in school.
(vii) increase student accountability if the incident of bullying is based on religion, race, ethnicity, or any other category that is identified in the Illinois Human Rights Act.
Download PDF version (Last Policy Updated 2/12/2026)
