Student Attendance policies

i) Attend the entire course

Our education programs are for students who can commit to attending classes for an entire course. Before registering for a particular course, please check over the dates for the course and be sure you can attend. 

If you can only make some of the dates, please choose another course from our schedule. We make a considerable effort to hold courses on evenings, weekdays and weekends, as well as throughout the summer, so that students with different schedules are able to participate.

Why this is important:

Attendance is important for student experience. We pack a lot into each class; each session builds on material taught in previous classes; and missing more than 6 hours (two evening classes, or a full day class) puts your graduation in jeopardy. 

Student attendance is also important to the club. There is a lot of demand for our courses, and we want to offer space to students who can participate for an entire course. In addition, for our CanSail 1&2 courses, experienced club members dedicate a lot of volunteer time to helping new students learn, and we want to respect their time by ensuring that the students they help can keep attending for the remainder of the course. 

Make-up days:

Make-up days listed on the course schedule are extra days that will be used only if previous sessions are cancelled (typically for lack of wind). They are not days that students can use to make up for missed classes.

ii) Arrive on time for class

Students must arrive at the club before class in enough time to change into sailing gear and rig boats. For an evening class that begins at 6 p.m., the latest time to arrive at the club should be 5:40 p.m. For a weekday or weekend day class that begins at 9 a.m., the latest time to arrive at the club should be 8:40 a.m. It’s better to arrive earlier if you can.

Why this is important:

Being late affects the entire class. It delays everyone from getting out on the water, and takes up our instructors' time if they have to repeat information for latecomers. Moreover, practicing rigging boats is an essential part of learning to sail. It’s important for students to fully participate in rigging before the class starts.

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