- 0 - DONALD E. SCHICK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HANDBOOK The purpose of the student handbook is to provide an understanding of the general rules and guidelines of our school to students and their parents/guardians. Table of Contents Important Dates ……………………………………………………… 2 School Arrival/Dismissal/Early Dismissal…………………………… 2 Traffic Pattern………………………………………………………… 2 Attendance……………………………………………………………… 3 Planned Family Vacations………………………………………………. 5 Tardiness………………………………………………………………… 5 Completion of Work…………………………………………………….. 6 School-Wide Positive Behavior Support………………………………… 6 Rules and Regulations (Electronics, Weapons, Dress code, Internet) … 7-9 Anti-Bullying Policy…………………………………………………….. 9 Conduct in Cafeteria…………………………………………………… 9 Conduct on School Buses (Boarding, Riding, Departing, Disciplinary) ……… 9 Elementary School Counseling………………………………………… 12 Intervention Services …………………………………………………… 13 After-School Program…………………………………………………... 13 Health Services ………………………………………………………… 13 Food Services ………………………………………………………….. 16 Lost and Found………………………………………………………… 17 Physical Education……………………………………………………... 17 Responsibility for Library Books and Textbooks………………………. 17 P.T.O.…………………………………………………………………… 17 Visiting the School……………………………………………………… 18 Deliveries……………………………………………………………….. 18 Report Cards…………………………………………………………….. 19 P.S.S.A. Testing Schedule……………………………………………… 19 School Records………………………………………………………… 19 Custody Concerns……………………………………………………… 20 Withdrawal from School……………………………………………… 20 Special Services………………………………………………………… 20 Title I …………………………………………………………………… 20 Emergency School Closings and Delays……………………………… 21 Forms ………………………………………………………………… 22 SCHICK ELEMENTARY: IMPORTANT DATES - 1 - Dates can be found on our website www.loyalsocklancers.org SCHOOL ARRIVAL TIMES Students may be dropped off at the rear doors starting at 7:45 a.m. Adult supervision cannot be provided before 7:45 a.m. and doors will be locked until 7:45 a.m. Students entering the building at 7:45 a.m. shall report to the multi- purpose room. They will be released to their homerooms at 7:50 a.m. Breakfast is served in the cafeteria from 7:45 to 8:10 a.m. DISMISSAL Car riders, walkers, and YMCA after-school daycare students will be dismissed at 2:55 p.m. Car riders are picked up at the rear exit. Gates to the back parking lot will open at 2:40 p.m. Please gauge your arrival to school accordingly. Bus riders are dismissed from the front entrance beginning at 2:55 p.m. The buses pick up the elementary students before the middle and high school students. Bus riders must ride the bus to which they are assigned to avoid overcrowding on the buses, to maintain accountability for their whereabouts, and to ensure their safety. For the protection of all students, a parent/guardian should send a note any time a child is to ride a different bus or be picked up by an adult, other than the parent (including relatives). If your transportation plans change, please notify the school office by 2:00 p.m. on that day so we have time to process that transportation change. If it is a permanent change, please notify Christine Prohidney @ the District Service Center. Please provide the school with a current copy of any court order which lists special arrangements the school is expected to follow. EARLY DISMISSALS A student may be dismissed early if he/she has an appropriate legal excuse. The parent must sign the child/children out in the main office before leaving. When a child returns to school following an appointment, he/she needs to bring the note (i.e. doctor’s note) to the office upon arrival and sign in before returning to class. TRAFFIC PATTERN The traffic pattern remains the same. Please note there is a “crossover” in the pattern as you drive to the rear parking lot. This gives us more space for cars to wait in line for curbside drop off and pick up. “Stay Left” signs are posted along the outside perimeter of the parking lot for your guidance. If you wish to walk your child into the building you must park in the side parking lot next - 2 - to the track. We ask that you do not use your cell phones while driving on school property. ATTENDANCE There is a direct correlation between students attending school regularly and academic success. PA School Code and LTSD Board Policy require attendance. The Pennsylvania Department of Education and the schools of the Commonwealth are obligated to comply with state and federal requirements for student attendance and truancy. These requirements apply to any student from Kindergarten to twelfth grade that is enrolled in a public school. According to the Truancy Prevention Protocol Agreement (Loyalsock Township School District, Montoursville School District, District Judge, Lycoming/Clinton Joinder Board) children in elementary school who are illegally absent for three (3) days, should be immediately reported to Lycoming County Children and Youth. The Department recommends that schools develop a Truancy Elimination Plan (TEP) as a means to address truancy. After a student accumulates three (3) unlawful absences, a parent or guardian must attend a TEP meeting with the principal or designee and guidance counselor. Each student shall be in attendance daily except for the following reasons: • Personal illness • Death in the immediate family • A domestic/farm service emergency permit • Quarantine of the home or individual • A planned family vacation with the parent/guardian(s). Prior approval by the principal must be obtained or the absences will be considered unexcused. • Religious holidays • Exceptional, urgent reasons pertaining to the individual student • Suspension from school • Required court appearance • In the case of a special needs student where absence is caused by or directly related to the student’s exceptionality. REPORTING ABSENCES As part of our effort to maintain accountability and keep your child safe, we ask that you call the school before 9:00 a.m. on days your child will be absent. Please call the main number: 570-326-3554, and press option #2 for the absence line. Please include your child’s first and last name, teacher’s name, and indicate if you would like his or her work available for pickup at - 3 - the end of the school day. PARENTS MUST ALSO SEND IN A WRITTEN EXCUSE. A PHONE CALL TO THE ABSENCE LINE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AS AN EXCUSED ABSENCE. Student absentee excuse forms are available on the school website under Schick/”FORMS”/”Student Forms.” NEW IN 2015-16: Parents may submit an electronic excuse in lieu of a written excuse. A link will be available on the Schick home page. ATTENDANCE AND DISCIPLINE POLICIES FOR ABSENCES All students enrolled at the Donald E. Schick Elementary School must follow, and will be subject to, the district policy and the PA School Code of 1949. The following definitions and guidelines pertain to absences. • Excused Absence Definition – an excuse verified by phone or in writing by a parent/guardian (not to exceed 10 days in a school year), or a written excuse from a medical or proper legal authority submitted to the school in a timely manner. • Unexcused Absence Definition – any date of absence not verified by a written or verbal excuse from a parent/guardian or a medical or legal authority. Once a parent uses all 10 days in a year in which he/she may write a note for the student, parent excuses will no longer be acceptable. A written excuse from a medical or other legal authority is required. • Excuse Note Due Dates –A written excuse from a parent/guardian must be turned in within three (3) school days after the date of absence(s). Failure to do so within three school days will result in the absence(s) becoming unlawful. Please note: After three unlawful absences, the parent or guardian will be required to attend a Truancy Elimination Planning meeting with a principal or designee and a counselor. • Compulsory Attendance Law Process – As indicated above, parents may write an excuse for illness up to 10 days per year for students. After accumulating 10 days, students are responsible for producing a medical professional’s or other legal authority’s written excuse attesting to the date(s) of absence. Please note: Any medical excuse submitted at any time shall not count against the allotted total of 10 days. • Any written excuse obtained from a medical or other legal authority must include the office’s letterhead and an official signature. The principal or his/her designee may exercise judgment in granting extensions or exceptions to the above guidelines when, in his/her opinion, extenuating circumstances apply. PLANNED FAMILY VACATIONS - 4 - Subject to any regulations which may be established by the Superintendent, principals may approve occasional absences from school for the purpose of planned family vacations, provided each family vacation is planned and conducted in accordance with the following: • Each family vacation or excursion which requires the absence of children from school shall be conducted only under the direct supervision of and in the company of the head of household, the parent or guardian, or a person designated by the parent or guardian as one standing in loco-parentis to the child. • Family vacations or excursions which are to take place on days when school is in session shall be preceded by a written request (forms are available from the office or on the school website) at least two (2) weeks in advance. Parents/guardians must provide a description of the educational value of the planned family vacation. Also a brief log of the educational sites to be seen or learning activities to be completed must be listed. • Each request for excusal of absences from school for such planned vacations will be evaluated on its own merits and educational benefits to the student. Absences without permission are unexcused. Emergency requests will be granted. • Requests for planned family vacations during Standardized Testing will not be granted and will be considered unexcused absences. • Students may accrue a total of not more than ten (10) “personal” days per academic year. Personal days include planned family vacations, college visitations, job shadowing, and all other events not specifically exempted by the Pennsylvania School Code or school district administration.