What Can You Expect from Urban Peak S E & E Department?

GED – Participation Agreement

Student name: Date:

E&E staff reviewing with student:

What can you expect from Urban Peak’s E & E Department?

_____ Respect: You will be treated with respect and have grievance procedures available to you if you feel you have been treated unfairly.

_____ Safety: We strive to maintain a safe, healthy learning environment. If you ever feel unsafe or attacked by anyone physically or emotionally, we will take prompt steps to address the situation.

_____ Educational Opportunities: You will be assigned a Case Manager within the first week of registering. This person will set up an initial meeting with you and will be your main contact for exploring post-secondary opportunities and plans after you earn your GED. We would like to hear about your future goals and let you know about opportunities such as college field trips, museum field trips, and Job Readiness Training.

_____ Other Urban Peak services: Urban Peak offers more than just education and employment services. In addition to our overnight shelter, Urban Peak’s Drop-In Center offer breakfast, showers, laundry, life skills classes, and more. The Outreach team can help with obtaining IDs and other vital documents, as well as help you with housing options. If you would like more information about any of these services, your Case Manager will be more than happy to help!

What do we expect of you?

_____ Work quality and attentiveness: This means that you show your commitment by attending consistently and working to the best of your ability. We are here to help you, but your education is your responsibility.

_____ Respect: We ask that you treat your peers, staff, and this space with respect. Any comments that attack or discriminate against an individual or group are unacceptable.

_____ Attitude: We ask that you maintain a positive attitude and communicate any issues or disagreements with staff in a professional manner.

_____ Communication: Communicate with staff if you are struggling in any area, have a disability, or have others ideas to help you be successful.

Classroom expectations

_____ Phones: During GED, your cell phone needs to be turned off or set to silent/vibrate. In the occasion that you need to make/receive a phone call, please do so outside of the classroom. You may use your phone for music, as long you are wearing headphones. If your music can be heard by others, staff will ask you to kindly turn the volume down.

_____ Signing In/Out: Upon arrival to the classroom each day, we ask that you sign in with your name, date, and time on the sign-in clipboard. When you leave, we ask that you write your time out on the appropriate line.

_____ Breaks: You do not need to ask to take breaks (smoke breaks, phone calls, etc.) but taking long/frequent breaks. Breaks may be between 10-15 minutes, and if you are planning on leaving for a longer period of time, please sign out and then sign back in upon your return. _____ Bus Tickets: If you are here and really studying for two or more hours, we can give you a bus ticket to get to where you are staying and a bus ticket to get back to the classroom. If you are staying at our shelter, we will give you one to get back to the shelter and your case manager will give you the ticket to come back here. NOTE: you are allotted one 10-15 minute break in this time period. Should you leave for a longer amount of time or are not as productive as you could be within your two hours of studying, you may be asked to make up the time before getting bus tickets.

_____ Dress Code: We ask that clothing have appropriate coverage and be free of gang and drug references and inappropriate language. Appropriate coverage means that your shirt covers your chest, stomach, back, and shoulders, and that your shorts are at least fingertip length. Should you fail to dress appropriately, we will provide you with material to cover yourself (it is very unflattering, so do yourself a favor and just follow this rule).

_____ Appearance: If you appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs or have a distinct odor of alcohol or drugs, you will be asked to leave the classroom for the day.

_____ Language: This is an educational and professional environment. Please keep your language clean and appropriate.

_____ Computers: We use computers only for GED-related activities, such as registration and study programs.

What happens if you fail to meet the rules/expectations?

_____ Safety: We take everyone’s safety very seriously. Violence and/or threats can not be tolerated.

We may take a variety of steps to protect students and staff, including asking you to leave the property, alerting other Urban Peak programs, and/or calling the police if necessary. Please do not make threats (including threats to harm yourself) as jokes.

_____ Behavior: We realize that sometimes expectations and behavior clash, and we will take steps address the situation if your actions are disrupting the learning environment. These steps may include (but are not limited to):

1. Redirecting you to stay focused and not be disruptive

2. Asking you to come up with solutions to ongoing issues with your participation

3. Asking you to move to a different desk or room to prevent distractions

4. Asking you to remove yourself from GED for the remainder of that day

5. Asking that you take a certain number of days off from GED to reevaluate your participation

6. Requiring that you have a teaming with certain E&E staff members until you are able to return to study

The GED expectations have been explained to me, and I know who I can talk to if I have any questions about these policies and expectations. I also understand that sometimes policies need to change as program needs change. I understand that GED is a voluntary program, and by attending I agree to participate in a program that is guided by these expectations.

Student name: ______Signature: ______Date: ______

I have reviewed the above policies and expectations with the student.

Staff name: ______Signature: ______Date: ______