Absences & Make-Ups
HPSD offers a number a number of ways to purchase classes for yourself or your student so make-up policies differ by your type of enrollment - full year (Sept.-May), the Studio Company program, short series and drop-in classes, or a performance workshop or summer intensive program. Please familiarize yourself with the details of our absences and make-ups policy below. If you have any questions regarding the protocol for having an absence excused or scheduling a make-up, please contact the office!
General Absence & Make-Up Policy & Protocol
Make-up class policies differ depending on your type of enrollment, though there are also requirements that apply to all classes. Details below.
Full-Year Classes: Dancers enrolled in full-year classes from September-May may schedule and attend up to six (6) make-up classes per enrolled class before March 31. Dancers may pre-schedule and attend make-ups for future known excused absences. Dancers are not required to make-up their classes.
HPSD Studio Companies: Dancers enrolled in any full year Company programs may have up to eight (8) total excused absences across all of their classes (not including rehearsals) that they are not required to make-up. After four (4) for September-December and then four (4) for January-March, any more missed classes must be made up by March 31. If dancers have known absences after or during March, they may pre-schedule and attend makeup classes before the absence, however, those absences must be reported and recorded before the make-up occurs.
Short series and drop-ins: Dancers enrolled in short series classes are eligible to schedule and attend up to two (2) make-up classes for each short session (6-9 weeks) or one (1) make-up class per 4-wk session (summer). Dancers may pre-schedule and attend make-ups for future known excused absences. Dancers are not required to make-up their classes. Drop-ins can be rescheduled upon request.
Excused absences from performance workshop and summer specialty camps, intensives, and workshops: Requests for excused absences from requirements for participation in a performance workshop or summer camp/intensive/workshop - including rehearsals, costume fittings, and performances - should be submitted through this form and may be followed up by the Artistic Team (artisticteam@hydeparkdance.org) on a case-by-case basis. While absences from rehearsals, camps, intensives, and workshops can be excused there are no equivalent events where these absences can be made up unless otherwise noted by the Artistic Team.
If you wish to schedule make-ups for your excused absences, please be aware of these aspects of our absences & make-ups policy for the general student body:
Unexcused absences are not eligible for make-up.
To have an impending absence excused, fill out this form, email admin@hydeparkdance.org, or call the office at (773) 493-8498 (leave a voicemail if needed). In your communication, include the dancer's full name, the name of the class from which they will be absent, and the date of the impending absence. If notice is received prior to the absence in question, it will be considered excused in advance.
Make-up classes must be confirmed by the office before students may attend.
Confirmation may be given verbally in person or over the phone or via email from an HPSD administrator.
Make-ups cannot be scheduled in classes that are already at capacity.
Make-ups can be taken in any class of the same level or a lower level as the missed class.
For example, a dancer in Pre-Ballet 3 may take a make-up in Pre-Ballet 2 or Pre-Ballet 3 but not Ballet 1.
Make-ups should be taken in a class of the same type whenever possible.
Exceptions will be made if there are no available classes of the same type at the appropriate level.
Excused absences are eligible for make-up during that same session only.
Session defined as September-May (full year) or short sessions Fall 1 & 2, Winter/Spring 1 & 2, and Summer 1 & 2. Make-ups expire at the end of the enrolled session and do not transfer to another session.
Absence & Make-Up Guidelines for SPECIAL PROGRAMS Students
For dancers in our Special Programs - company dancers, scholarship students, and teacher assistants - it is essential that any absences from class be excused in advance and then made up in that same session in order to remain in good standing within your program.
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Absences from regular classes may be excused by the office. See above for the excused absence and make-up request procedures via the request form, email, or phone call.
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Absences from teacher assisting duties should be directed to your cooperating teacher. Please notify cooperating teachers by email with at least 24 hours' notice whenever possible and CC the office (admin@hydeparkdance.org). Little Dancers Program Director Jane Sawyer (jsawyer@hydeparkdance.org), who oversees the Teachers' Assistants program, should be copied on these emails.
- Requests for excused absences from company classes, rehearsals, or other requirements may be sent through the absence & make-up request form or via email to artisticteam@hydeparkdance.org. We also recommend getting in touch with Company leaders directly to provide more information about the absence. See your Company materials for level-specific Company leader emails.
All absence and make-up information should be recorded in the student's Special Programs folder for monitoring and review during the class year.