Policies and Procedures

You have to be here to be a success. “80% of success is showing up” ~ Woody Allen.
• We need you in school; don’t compromise your future.
• It only takes two absences a month to reach 18 days or 10% of the school year.
• High Absenteeism = A GPA below 2.0 which places a student in danger of not graduating.
• Don’t be a statistic.
Written notices will be sent to parents of students who have five unexcused absences. Students with more than seven unexcused absences will be reported to the Dean’s Office and the Social Worker. After 15 unexcused absences, the student will be reported to the Department of Children and Family Services as a habitual truant and the student also loses the ability to acquire or maintain a driver’s license. The student will be reported to the DMV.
In some cases, a student may be asked to make up the time missed; this pertains to unexcused absences. Students with excessive absences and are age 16 or over are subject to withdrawal from school with or without parental approval.

We believe as a school community that our attitude about what we do or how we feel about ourselves is often influenced by what we wear. We are proud of our efforts to serve a diverse population of students. The uniform expectation is one method we use to level the playing field for all students who attend Lake Wales High School. Adhering to a common uniform expectation can also serve to develop a strong sense of community and school pride. This is also a safety issue; if someone is on campus without a uniform, we know they are not officially part of this school. Use the rule of good judgement.

At the high school level, make-up work is pro- vided by each individual teacher. If a student misses a day or two, it is the student’s respon- sibility to collect that work from the teachers they had for that day. Assignments can also be viewed through the student’s Schoology account (online).
For prearranged absences, or absences of a week or longer, work can be picked up at the front desk.

LWHS takes social media harassment and threats extremely seriously; it is important for you and your parents to under- stand this. Postings are NEVER—NEVER private and it is ALWAYS—ALWAYS public.

Threats to harm yourself or others will be acted upon with the help of a psychologist and/or psychiatrist. After so many young people killed their lives at Majorie-Stoneman Douglas, there is a zero tolerance for anyone making remarks about harming others. If a student, makes a statement in any form, we will responds as if it is real. You must understand this; there should be no surprises about our response.

If needed, the Lake Wales Police Officers and/or the Polk County Sheriff’s Dept. will be intricately involved is sorting through any threat.

The best way to keep this campus safe is for everyone to simply be kind to each other. 
In addition, we can have a chance at a safe campus, if students will be committed to saying something to an adult if you hear or see anything that is troubling or threatening.

In addition, if someone is talking about harming themselves, please let us help. You can talk to any adult on this campus, but the school has a full time Social Worker, Mrs. Meghan Balliett and Mrs. Carol Floyd. This staff cares about you; know that and make sure you take care of each other.