VCA Virtual measures attendance by the school week, not by daily seat time. Online learning is flexible and much of the work, especially in VCA Mastery Learning, is done offline. This policy reflects that reality while keeping a clear, objective attendance record and a separate, serious commitment to real learning.
Contents
1. Scope & Effective Date
This policy governs attendance, attendance documentation, and academic intervention for all scholars enrolled at Victory Christian Academy — Virtual Program, in every learning track (Great Hearts Online Classical, Great Hearts Online Non-Classical, VCA Mastery Learning, and Wisconsin Virtual School), including families enrolled through the Milwaukee, Racine, and Wisconsin Parental Choice Programs and the Special Needs Scholarship Program.
Effective: 2026–27 school year. This version replaces all earlier versions, including the weekly parent attestation framework.
2. Track 1 — Attendance
Track 1 produces the official attendance record. It is objective, identical for every family, and based on one kind of evidence.
2.1 The official record is the log-in record
VCA Virtual determines and records attendance from system log-in records. For each scholar, VCA records the unique days in each school week on which the scholar logged in to an approved learning platform: Virtue LMS, Great Hearts Online, or Wisconsin Virtual School. These records are kept by the platforms and are the documentation of attendance under this policy. Parents do not take attendance and are not responsible for recording it.
A school week runs Monday through Sunday. A scholar may log in on any day of the week, including Saturday and Sunday.
2.2 Four log-in days is a full week
| Unique log-in days (Mon–Sun) | Days present | Days absent (unexcused) |
|---|---|---|
| 4 or more | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 0 | 0 | 5 |
Four days of log-in represents a full school week. Spread across four days, the required hours of instruction amount to a normal full school day: about 7.3 hours in grades 1–6 and 7.9 hours in grades 7–12 (see §8).
2.3 Count dates
On each Choice Program count date (the 3rd Friday in September and the 2nd Friday in January), VCA records attendance for that calendar day from the scholar’s log-in record and enters it in Infinite Campus, VCA’s student information system. A scholar not in attendance on the count date is counted only if the scholar attended at least one day before and one day after the count date in the same school year and was not enrolled in another school or a home-based private educational program during the absence. Families of scholars with no log-in during a count week are contacted immediately.
3. Track 2 — Quantity & Quality of Work
Track 2 answers a different question: is real learning happening?
VCA Virtual takes its obligation as professional educators seriously. Beyond the attendance record, we review the quantity and quality of each scholar’s work to confirm the scholar is receiving the instruction the State of Wisconsin requires. This review does not change the attendance count.
Logging in and officially attending VCA Virtual is not enough, by itself, to fulfill the obligations of parents and scholars. Scholars are expected to complete their assigned lessons and work every week. Habitual low participation in assigned lessons may result in academic intervention, even for a scholar whose attendance record is complete.
We cannot micromanage every home, but we will do everything we can to help families succeed.
3.1 What Track 2 reviews
- Completion of assigned lessons and work
- Quality of submitted work, based on teacher feedback
- Participation in live classes, where the learning track includes them
- Grades and assessment results over time
- Whether log-in patterns are producing meaningful academic work
3.2 When Track 2 intervention begins
- Failing two or more courses
- Completing less than half of assigned work across four consecutive weeks
- A persistent pattern of log-ins with little or no completed work
- A documented teacher concern about the quantity or quality of work
Track 2 is never reported as an attendance matter. It runs on its own intervention ladder (§6).
4. Excused Absences
Because the school week runs Monday through Sunday and four log-in days is a full week, a missed day can usually be made up later in the same week without any absence being recorded. When a week still ends short, absent days may be reclassified as excused if the parent submits documentation within seven (7) days. Excused categories include:
- Illness (parent note for 1–2 days; doctor note for 3 or more consecutive days)
- Medical, dental, or therapy appointments
- Family emergency or bereavement
- Religious observance
- Court appearance or legal obligation
- Pre-approved family travel (advance notice to the Academic Coach)
- Weather, utility, or technology emergency affecting the household
Excused absences do not count toward the thresholds in §5. They are documented in the scholar’s file.
5. Attendance Thresholds & Family Support
Cumulative unexcused absent days from Track 1, counted per school year:
| Cumulative unexcused days | VCA action |
|---|---|
| 5 | Academic Coach or Virtual Administrator contacts the family; contact noted in the scholar’s file |
| 10 | Written notice to the parent restating the family’s attendance obligation; written attendance plan signed by the parent |
| 15 | Meeting with the Virtual Administrator and Principal; review of whether the current learning track is the right fit |
| 20 | Enrollment review; possible disenrollment |
6. Academic Intervention Ladder (Track 2)
When Track 2 criteria are met, academic intervention runs separately from attendance:
| Level | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Academic Coach outreach and an informal intervention plan |
| 2 | Parent meeting and a formal written learning plan |
| 3 | Close academic monitoring, with quarterly review by the Virtual Administrator |
| 4 | Enrollment review, including possible non-renewal for the following school year |
7. Advanced Pacing
A scholar who consistently completes a full week of work in less time is recognized, not penalized. A scholar may be designated Advanced Pacing when all of the following are documented for four or more consecutive weeks:
- At least four log-in days every week
- 95% or more of assigned weekly work complete
- 90% or higher on cumulative grades
- No teacher concerns logged
Designation is approved by the Virtual Administrator, reviewed quarterly, and documented in the scholar’s file.
8. Statutory Authority
Compulsory Attendance. Wis. Stat. § 118.15 requires the parent or guardian of a child between the ages of 6 and 18 to cause the child to attend school regularly. This policy sets out how VCA Virtual records that attendance for virtual instruction.
Habitual Truancy. Wis. Stat. § 118.16(1)(a) defines a “habitual truant” as a pupil absent without an acceptable excuse for part or all of five or more days on which school is held during a semester.
Virtual Attendance Methods. Department of Public Instruction guidance to Private School Choice Program schools on virtual instruction (August 2026) lists examples of acceptable attendance methods, including “System log-in records,” and states that the examples “are not intended to be an exhaustive list or to require the use of any single method.” The same guidance states that parents “should not and cannot be responsible for taking attendance,” and that the attendance policy should identify the documentation used as evidence of attendance. This Policy identifies log-in records as that documentation.
Choice Program Compliance. For families enrolled through the MPCP, RPCP, WPCP, or SNSP, this Policy and its attendance records are provided to the school’s auditor as part of the enrollment audits under Wis. Admin. Code chs. PI 35, PI 48, and PI 49.
9. Parent & Scholar Obligations
By enrolling a scholar in VCA Virtual, the parent or legal guardian agrees to:
- Make sure the scholar logs in to the scholar’s own account on at least four different days each week (Monday through Sunday)
- Make sure the scholar completes all assigned lessons and work each week, understanding that logging in alone does not fulfill the family’s obligations
- Notify the Academic Coach in advance, when possible, of any absence of three or more consecutive days
- Submit excused-absence documentation within seven days of the absence
- Cooperate with support if the attendance thresholds or the academic intervention ladder are reached
- Acknowledge that VCA may confirm a scholar’s engagement through conversation with the scholar, review of work, or contact with the family
Last updated: September 14, 2026. Effective: 2026–27 school year. Questions? Contact Monique Barrios, Virtual Administrator, at mbarrios@vcaschool.org.