Order 2436104: Student Code of Conduct

Northridge School Rules

Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Courteous

School Mission Statement: "We Soar as Learners"

Accidents

Whenever a serious accident or illness occurs, the school will contact the parents or call for assistance at the emergency number listed on the health information sheet. It is extremely important that parents return the health information sheet to the school. Please keep the school office informed of any address or telephone number changes so that updates can also be made in Skyward to ensure that the most current emergency contact information is always available. In extreme emergencies, the school will assume the responsibility to contact the paramedics as well as the parents or emergency contacts listed. For health and safety reasons, sick children will not be sent home until parents come to school and check them out.

Addressing Concerns at School

Occasionally questions or concerns may surface regarding your child’s educational experience. We ask that parents follow the following procedures to answer or solve those concerns.

1. First, make contact with your child’s teacher in a timely manner. Listen to both sides of an issue before drawing conclusions.

2. If after visiting with the teacher the problem cannot be resolved, please contact the office. They will help you arrange a time to meet with the administration for help in resolving the problem.

Arrival & Dismissal Times

Students should arrive at school NO EARLIER THAN 10 MINUTES before school begins and should not stay after school dismisses without permission longer than 10 minutes. Upon arrival in the morning, students should proceed directly to the playground to wait for the start bell. If they are eating breakfast they can access the cafeteria on their way to the playground.

Attendance

Regular attendance is critical for the educational success of children. It is extremely important for your child to be at school every day, except in cases of illness. Please do not keep your child out of school to babysit, shop, etc. Parents should notify the school by a phone call or note the same day of the absence. Parentlink will call home every day your child is absent. A child with excessive absences will be referred to the District Social Worker for appropriate action. If your child has a serious illness that prevents him/her from attending for an extended period of time, please contact the teacher immediately so accommodations can be made to continue the education process.

Bikes, Scooters, Skateboards, & Roller Blades

Children may ride bicycles/scooters to school. Bikes & scooters must be placed in the racks. The school cannot be responsible for bike security. We suggest that students lock their bikes and scooters to prevent theft. Scooters are considered the same as bicycles and must not be brought in the building. Bikes and scooters should not be ridden on school grounds before, during, or after school. Roller shoes must be retracted at all times. Skateboards and roller blades are discouraged because they cannot be easily stored at school.

Book Orders

When sending money to school for book orders, checks must be made out to the book company. These checks will not be cashed by Northridge Elementary. Teachers cannot accept cash or personal checks for book orders.

Breakfast & Lunch Program

Our school lunches are nutritionally balanced meals. We are proud of the quality of the meals our workers provide. If your child has unique dietary needs, please contact the school lunch manager, Lynne Glassford. Free and reduced lunch applications are available in the office. Standard lunch prices are:

· Elementary student breakfast $01.00 (Reduced $0.30)

· Elementary student lunch $01.75 (Reduced $0.40)

· Adult breakfast $01.65

· Adult lunch $03.85

· Extra milk $00.30

School breakfast is served from 7:30-8:00 and 8:45-9:15. Students may use their regular lunch accounts to purchase breakfast. Contact the office or visit the lunch manager for information about lunch accounts and online access to payments and balances.

Check-out of Students

For safety and legal concerns, parents MUST come into the school to pick up their children if they need to check them out during school hours. Please do not ask over the telephone for your child to be sent home or for your child to meet you outside. *include who may check them out?

Classroom Visits

Parents are welcome to visit the school. For the security and safety of our students, we ask that when visiting or volunteering in the school, that you check in with the office and get a visitor’s pass. Occasionally out-of-town cousins or friends come to visit during the school year. These guests are not to accompany students to school. Child guests are often a distraction to classmates and create extra work for the teacher.

Discipline

Our philosophy of discipline focuses on mutual respect for students, teachers, and staff. We believe that the family, faculty, staff, and students must work cooperatively to promote personal responsibility and good citizenship. It reaches beyond dealing with inappropriate student conduct and includes the development of self-discipline, order, and a healthy sense of wellbeing. The faculty and staff believe students and teachers have the right and responsibility to learn and teach in a non-disruptive atmosphere. All members of our school community are expected to be good citizens, take pride in their school, and treat other people as they would like to be treated.

Conduct Standards

Students are expected to follow these basic school and classroom rules:

· quickly follow the directions of any school adult

· be in the proper place at the proper time

· use appropriate language; no swearing

· respect the rights and property of others, including school property

· keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself

· use inside conversation voice, no yelling

· walk at all times inside the hallways, no running

· use playground equipment correctly

· no throwing or kicking of snow and ice

· scooters, bikes, etc. should be walked on school grounds

Consequences

When an infraction occurs, situations are viewed individually. Depending on the severity and frequency of the misbehavior, teachers may:

· deduct points, tokens, etc. from the classroom management plan

· conference with the student

· give the student “think time” in a separate location to reflect on the behavior

· suspend the student’s recess privileges or restrict access to other activities

· request a conference with the parents

· send the student to the office

If a student is referred to the office, the principal may:

· speak with the student about his/her choice of actions, the consequences surrounding the choice made, and possible solutions to the problem created by his/her initial choice. Attempts will be made to listen to all involved.

· contact parents with regard to the situation. Parental support and participation in the problem-solving process with their child can be very beneficial for all involved. At this time, a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) may be initiated to assist the student with appropriate school behavior.

· enforce an in-school suspension for a specified number of days. The students are permitted to come to school, but their instruction and completion of assignments happen in a location away from classmates. Recess and other privileges may also be suspended during the suspension.

· enforce and out-of-school suspension. The students are not permitted to return to school for a specified number of days and will only be welcome back following a conference with parents about the potential for future expulsion or criminal charges depending upon the situation.

· the school reserves the right to immediately contact police should students engage in severe anti-social or criminal behavior.

Donations

State Board Policy Regarding Donations: Basic donations may be made to the school or classroom by parents. No student will be excluded from general education activities if they are unable to make a donation. Other donations for materials for special gifts or projects may be requested by teachers, but we will keep these requests to a minimum. Please contribute, as circumstances allow.

Dress Code

Children should arrive at school appropriately dressed for the weather of the day. All children are expected to go outside for recess and after eating lunch except when weather conditions are extreme. Here are the basic dress guidelines:

· Clothing and hair should be neat, clean, and not distracting.

· Underclothing should never be visible.

· Hats, caps, bandannas should be removed when entering the building (beanies can be worn outside and/or inside during the winter months).

· Footwear must be worn both inside and outside of the building and be appropriate for school activities. Gym shoes should be worn for P.E. activities. When students wear snow boots to school, we encourage you to send shoes in their backpack to be worn in the building. Flip-flops or sandals that do not have a strap to hold them securely to the foot are not sufficient.

· Here are some specific details and, if necessary, parents will be asked to bring appropriate clothes to school should a child wear the following prohibited items:

· short shorts and skirts (length should come to the fingertips when arms are extended downward).

· halter, tank, bare midriff, or sleeveless tops.

· clothes with holes, fraying, or see-through fabrics that show body parts or underclothing that should be covered.

· Clothing that contains vulgar words, profane or obscene slogans, subtle/overt sexual references, drug references, etc.

Drug Policy

Alpine School District policy prohibits any use, distribution, and/or selling of drugs or imitation drugs on any school campus. Doing so may result in the expulsion of any student involved and the appropriate law officials will be notified. State law prohibits any smoking by students or patrons on school grounds.

Emergencies

Our school has an emergency plan in place to ensure the safety of our students. Emergency drills are practiced with our teachers and students throughout the school year. In the event of an emergency, such as a fire or major earthquake, students will be kept at school unless it is deemed unsafe. In the event that students need to be evacuated away from the school, they will be moved, following a pre-designated plan, to a safe location. In any emergency situation, the students will remain under the care of our faculty and staff until they are safely released to their family or to people whose names are listed on their emergency contact sheet. Our office will make every effort to update parents throughout any emergency situation to ensure parents are aware of updates regarding the situation.

Homework

Homework is an extension of learning activities done at school. Students are accountable for the completion of assigned homework as part of the class requirements. Communication between parents and teachers is essential in determining the appropriate amount of homework for your children. Homework requirements may vary from teacher to teacher and from student to student. We realize that children have other responsibilities and activities. If you have concerns about the amount of homework your child may have, please contact the teacher directly.

Inclusion & Mainstreaming

We are delighted to serve a variety of special needs students at Northridge Elementary. As much as possible, we believe that special needs students should be educated alongside their peers. Inclusion is the word used to describe the participation of our special needs students in the regular education classroom for part or all of the day. Placement of special needs students within the regular education program is determined individually to assure successful learning for the student.

Insurance

Each year, we have children who are injured during the school day. If your child is already covered under an insurance plan, please sign the waiver on the bottom of the Emergency and Health Information Sheet. The only financial help available is the insurance you provide for your child. Therefore, if you do not currently have insurance for your child, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Utah’s Premium Partnership offer medical insurance for uninsured children who do not fit into a Medicaid program. It will assist families who need medical, dental, or preventive health care for their children. Call 1-888-222-2542 to find out more.

Lost & Found

To simplify the return of lost items, we ask that all caps, jackets, mittens, boots, etc. be labeled with your child’s name. Lost items will be placed in the cafeteria on hangers or in the accompanying bins. Valuable or tiny articles are to be turned into the office. We encourage students to be responsible for their own personal items. Lost items not claimed will be donated to a charitable organization several times a year. However, we will put the items out on tables for easy parent perusal and announce this upcoming donation beforehand.

Newsletter

Northridge Elementary PTA and school personnel jointly prepare a monthly newsletter that is usually emailed home on the last Wednesday of the month. The newsletter contains schedules, menus, dates of upcoming events, and other important information. It will be sent by email, but copies are always available in the office.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Conferences will be held twice during the school year. They will be held at the beginning of October and February.

PTA

The PTA gives parents an additional opportunity to be involved in their child’s education. The PTA provides a link between the school and the parents and regularly provides assistance to help school activities run smoother. Northridge Elementary PTA also sponsors a number of its own programs to help increase the quality of education at the school. Without our fabulous PTA, many programs that benefit our students simply would not exist because they are almost exclusively organized, funded, and staffed by our PTA volunteers. An open invitation is extended to all the parents to attend the monthly PTA Board Meeting held in the library (dates are published in the newsletter). If you would like to be involved in any of these programs or have questions about PTA, call the school and ask for contact information for our PTA President. Some of the major PTA-sponsored programs are listed below:

· Box Tops: General Mills offers a program through which schools can receive money in exchange for box tops found on their products. PTA volunteers organize the collections and help oversee the use of the funds.

· Faculty and Staff Dinners: The PTA prepares dinner for the teachers and staff during Student/Teacher Conferences in appreciation for the long hours they spend at school on those days.

· Fundraisers: The PTA may choose to hold a formal fundraiser. The PTA does, however, engage in other less formal activities to gain revenue—like collecting Box Tops. All of the money collected through these fundraising efforts directly benefits the students and staff.

· Home Readers: Kindergarten through 3rd grade students take books home to read and return the next day. This is a great service to families that may not have a sufficient home library to keep reading challenging and enjoyable. The PTA helps purchase the books and makes sure the books are rotated.

· Maturation Program: The PTA works with the school nurse and other guest speakers to provide a discussion about adolescent maturation for the 5th and 6th graders. Parents are invited to attend. Occasionally, some parents opt to not have their child attend.

· Red Ribbon Week: The PTA supports the state sponsored Red Ribbon Week that teaches awareness of violence and drugs. PTA volunteers plan events for Red Ribbon Week that are motivating, instructional, and fun for the students

· Reflections: Reflections is an event sponsored by the National PTA. Our PTA encourages students to create a work of art to be a part of the Reflections contest.

· Room Mother’s Tea: The PTA recruits room mothers for each class. A Room Mother’s Tea is held in August/September to orient room mothers to the expectations and calendar of events.

· Staff Appreciation: Throughout the school year, the PTA recognizes the dedicated efforts of our staff members by giving us occasional goodies and small gifts.

Parent Volunteers

Volunteers are needed and very appreciated at Northridge Elementary. Please check with your child’s teacher, the PTA, or the office if you want to donate time and assist at school. Volunteering is a wonderful way to observe and be a part of your child’s learning experience while contributing to the needs of all students. Parents volunteering to attend a field trip as a chaperone will typically need to have a background check (there are a few exceptions). Please contact the office for more details about this process. Recognize that it may take several weeks to complete a background check, so please don’t delay contacting the office.

Recess

Students usually have the opportunity to go to recess twice a day. It is important that children come dressed properly to go outside. If your child has health issues that might prevent him or her from going outside, please inform the teacher. When weather conditions prevent students from going outside (below 20° F or with the excessive wind, rain, or snow), teachers attempt to provide a time for games and play inside the school building.

Safety

It is the policy of Alpine School District to maintain safe schools that are conducive to learning. It is the district’s intent to maintain a safe and positive atmosphere by prohibiting acts of violence, aggressive behavior, intimidation, possession of weapons, criminal behavior, or gang activity on school property. The school has a detailed emergency plan and regularly holds emergency drills to prepare for emergencies.

Alcohol, Drug Use, & Weapons: Any employee of Alpine School District having reasonable cause to believe a student is involved in the illegal use of alcohol, drugs (illegal or prescription), or drug paraphernalia, or carrying a weapon (real or imitation) shall notify the school administration.

Sexual Harassment & Bullying: Northridge Elementary is committed to the maintenance of a learning environment that is free of any form of sexual harassment or bullying. All adults and students must refrain from speech, gestures, and contact that are threatening, intimidating, or sexual in nature. All victims of sexual harassment or bullying should report the incidents immediately.

These suggestions serve as reminders as you prepare for the school year:

· Be certain that your child knows the way to and from school.

· Review the importance of safety as your child goes to and from school.

· Please remind your child to walk on the sidewalk and to use the crosswalks.

· Impress upon your child not to talk to or accept rides from anyone without your prior approval.

· Do not place your child’s name on the outside of his/her clothing and backpacks as it allows strangers to call by name and gives the child a false sense of familiarity.

School Community Council

The School Community Council will meet on a monthly basis (or as needed). The meetings are open to all patrons and teachers. You do not have to be a member of the School Community Council to attend. All meetings will be advertised in the school newsletter and on the school webpage at northridge.alpineschools.org. Patrons may contact the office for more information.

School Pictures

School pictures (and retakes) are taken each fall. More information about dates, package costs, etc. will be sent home a couple of weeks ahead of time.

Skyward

Parents may access their child’s grades on Skyward. Go to our school website and select the Skyward Link from the main page. If you need a user ID and password, please contact the office or click the forgot login button.

Student Insurance

The Board of Education offers parents the opportunity to purchase school insurance if students are not covered by a parent’s insurance plan. Information on this insurance will be sent home and is also available in the office.

Student Medication

The school will not dispense medication to students without an “Authorization of Student Medication” form signed by the parent and a physician stating that it is necessary for the medication to be given at school. In such cases, medication will be dispensed only from the office and not by individual classroom teachers. Parents will be responsible to refill student medication boxes. Students are not allowed to bring prescription drugs to school for self-medication. If you need the school to dispense medication, please come to the office to make the necessary arrangements.

Students with Special Health Needs

If your child has any special health needs, such as asthma or diabetes, please make an appointment to meet with our school nurse, Mrs. Robin Shepherd, to write a student health plan. Each student health plan will be kept in the office and distributed to any teacher who will be responsible for that child during the school day.

Telephone Calls & Cell Phones

Students may use school phones for emergencies, such as illness and missing the bus. Please ensure that all other arrangements, such as playing at a friend’s house after school, are made before your child comes to school. This will keep our lines open for those who have a serious need. If your child has a cell phone (or another mobile communication device) they should NOT be used during school hours because they invite distractions, disrupt the learning process, and can violate the privacy rights of other students and staff. Cell phones (and similar mobile devices) may be confiscated if students repeatedly ignore this policy.

Toys & Pets at School

Please do not allow children to bring toys of any kind to school (including radios, pocket knives, squirt guns, dolls, playing cards, etc.). Such items found at school will be taken and returned only to the parent. These things distract the children and do not enhance the educational process. Please do not allow your children to bring their pets with them to school (unless they are for a specific classroom activity). In that case, parents should come with them so that the pet may be taken home immediately thereafter.

Track/Teacher Requests

Track requests are accepted and will be granted as often as possible. However, undesired track assignment changes may be necessary to balance class loads. Teacher requests are not encouraged, but input can be mailed to the principal for consideration. The final decision for student placement rests with the principal and will be made to balance the needs of all students (family “schedules and needs” will be considered carefully, but they do not override school “schedules and needs”).

Transfer of Students

Should it become necessary to transfer your children to another school mid-year, we ask that you alert the school one week ahead so that all necessary forms can be completed and waiting for you. Utah State Law requires schools to have immunization records and a withdrawal slip from the previous school before they will admit your children.

Vision & Hearing Screening

The hearing screening will be held during the first few weeks of school for students in K,1,3,5. You will be notified shortly thereafter if we discover that your child may have a vision, speech or hearing problem that will need attention.

Website and Contact Info

Our school maintains a website where important information about our school as well as upcoming events and activities may be found.

http://www.northridge.alpineschools.org

The Northridge Facebook page may be accessed via the school website home page. Parents may contact teachers via school email or phone if they have questions or concerns. The teacher's email address may be found on our school website. You may also reach a teacher by calling the school. If it is during classroom instruction time, you will likely be transferred to their voicemail.