Eleanor S. Rice
Elementary School
Student Handbook
2012 – 2013
1802 East Durst Avenue
Greenwood, South Carolina29649
Telephone – (864) 941-5660
DISTRICT CALENDAR
2012-2013
August 20, 2012 / Students Return to SchoolsSeptember 3, 2012 / Labor Day (Schools and Offices Closed)
October 22, 2012 / End Quarter 1 (45th Day)
October 26, 2012 / Inservice Day (No School for Students)
November 6, 2012 / Election Day (Schools and Offices Closed)
November 21-23, 2012 / Thanksgiving Holidays (Schools and Offices Closed)
Dec. 19, 2012-Jan. 1, 2013 / Winter Break (Schools and Offices Closed)
January 14, 2013 / End Quarter 2 (90th Day)
January 15-16, 2013 / Inservice Days (No School for Students)
January 21, 2013 / Martin Luther King Holiday (Schools and Offices Closed)
February 21, 2013 / Inservice Day (No School for Students)
February 22, 2013 / Non-Student Day (No School for Students/12-month staff only)
March 25, 2013 / End Quarter 3 (135th Day)
March 29, 2013-April 5, 2013 / Spring Break (Schools and Offices Closed)
May 27, 2013 / Memorial Day (Schools and Offices Closed)
June 5, 2013 / End Quarter 4 (180th Day and Last School Day)
June 6-7, 2013 / Inservice Days
June 7, 2013 / EHS, GHS Graduation Ceremonies
EHS 9:30AM, GHS 12 Noon
Welcome to
Eleanor S. Rice Elementary School
This is going to be a great year at Rice. We will be focusing on the best educational program possible for your child. This year we will continue to “Climb the Summit of Success”.
We have prepared this handbook to ensure a better understanding between our school, parents, and students. You are encouraged to read it carefully and refer to it throughout the school year. Much of this handbook should be read with your child and discussed. If you have any questions about information in this handbook, please contact me.
On behalf of the faculty and staff at Rice, I would like to extend an invitation for you to visit our school, attend your child’s programs, and become an active volunteer in our school. We are very happy to have you and your child with us at Rice Elementary. We are looking forward to supporting your child in their academic excellence. Our hope is that with clear expectations, a strong instructional program, and your collaboration, the 2012-2013 school year will be an outstanding one.
We are very proud of our students and of the talents they possess. Our desire is that each student will work hard and begin torealize their full potential and self worth as grow become the future leaders of this community, state, and even nation.
I look forward to working with each of you this year. Please stop by or call the school if you have any questions or concerns. It is our goal to make this the best year Rice Elementary has ever had! In order to reach this goal it will take a TEAM effort, and that includes you!
Julian Gale
Principal
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of RiceElementary School is to educate all students to be respectful, responsible, and productive citizens.
ADMISSIONS
To register a student the following items are needed: a legal birth certificate, the child’s Social Security card, an updated South Carolina Immunization form, and proof of residence. Proof of residence may be a rent receipt, telephone bill, power bill, or cable bill with the parent’s name and address.
Kindergarten students must be 5 years old on or before September 1 of the school year in which they are enrolling. First grade students must be 6 years old on or before September 1. A physical examination is strongly urged when a student enters school for the first time.
ARRIVAL AND DISMISAL
Our school day begins promptly at 7:50 a.m. Students should be in their classrooms and ready to begin work at that time. Punctuality is a quality of good citizenship. Help your child to be on time.
Car riders should not be dropped off before 7:20. For safety reasons students should be dropped off at the front door. They should not be dropped off in the parking lots or bus circle. They should not exit the car on the driver’s side.
Car riders wishing to eat breakfast must arrive before 7:35 a.m. each morning. The breakfast count will be taken at 7:35 each day. Students not in their seats will not be served.
If a student changes his mode of travel to or from school, he should bring from home a written explanation of the change. This helps the teacher ensure the child’s safety. Students are not permitted to ride on buses other than the one for which they are assigned. NO PHONE CALLS ARE ACCEPTED FOR CHANGING TRANSPORTATION. A written note must be sent to school.
Students who walk or ride in cars will be dismissed daily at 2:40 p.m. Parents are urged to pick up their children promptly when school is dismissed. Please remain in the car line to pick your child up at the front entrance. All children must be picked up promptly in the afternoons. Teachers have other obligations and cannot supervise children. Parents must come inside to sign their child out after 3:00 p.m. Please keep these times in mind when you are arranging transportation for your child.
ATTENDANCE
School attendance is an important factor in your child’s success! In order for your child to do his/her best schoolwork, he/she needs to be regular in attendance. Tardiness and early dismissals can also interfere with the learning process. Please make every effort to see that your child is in school unless he/she is ill or there is serious illness or death in the immediate family. Attendance will be carefully monitored, including late arriving students, and chronic problems will be reported to the attendance officer.
South Carolina state law, 59-65-10 & 20-7-490, called the Compulsory School Attendance Law include the following provisions: Parents or guardians need to be aware that it is their responsibility to see that their children are in school every day. Parents are required to “supply their children with education.” A child’s absences from school may be considered educational neglect if the school has made efforts to bring about the child’s attendance and those efforts were unsuccessful because of the parents’ refusal to cooperate. Parents or guardians who do not send their children to school regularly might be breaking the law. State law requires the court to intervene when a student is continuously absent from school without a legal excuse.
A student is considered truant if he/she has three consecutive unlawful absences or a total of five unlawful absences. An intervention plan must be developed for all students deemed truant. Our case manager will work with the district attendance officer to ensure all students are complying with the state’s compulsory attendance law.
Students arriving after 7:50 MUST come to the office for a tardy pass before going to class. When students are tardy, they interrupt class and have missed important explanations of the work to be done. Think about it this way—just five minutes a day is equal to 25 minutes a week. Please make sure that your child arrives on time. If your child is late because of an emergency, please write a note of explanation.
All children are expected to be in attendance each day unless they are ill. Immediately upon returning to school from an absence, the student must have a written excuse. The excuse should be on a full sheet of paper and should include the following:
- The date
- The date of the absence(s)
- The reason for the absence or early dismissal
- The student’s name
- The teacher’s name
- The parent’s signature.
Parents’ notes are accepted but are limited to ten per year. Thereafter, medical notes will be required. All excuses will be filed in the attendance clerk’s office. The County Attendance Officer will be notified if the student has more than three unexcused absences or tardies or more than ten excused absences. Parents will be contacted to assist in the development of an intervention plan for truant students. School District 50’s promotion/retention policy reads: “Students in grades K-12 must not have more than 10 lawful and/or unlawful days of absence if they are to be eligible for promotion (see JH, JH-R).
BIRTHDAYS
We celebrate student birthdays monthly by holding a birthday lunch for students and their parents. Participants are invited to sit at the birthday table and receive a special treat. A special birthday menu is planned for the birthday celebrations. Parents and guests may also purchase lunch here at school.
The media center has a book table available at the birthday lunches. Parents are invited to browse the book table and to purchase a birthday book in honor of their child. A special nameplate recognizing the child is placed in the book and the book is added to our media center collection.
Information and luncheon dates are sent home monthly. Our birthday celebration dates for 2012-2013are as follows:
Birthday Month / Lunch DateJuly / August 23, 2012
August / September 13, 2013
September / September 20, 2012
October / October 11, 2012
November / November 8, 2012
December / December 6, 2012
January / January 10, 2013
February / February 14, 2013
March / March 14, 2013
April / April 11, 2013
May / May 2, 2013
June / May 23, 2013
BREAKFAST
We will begin serving breakfast on the first day of school. We provide a FREE breakfast for ALL students arriving prior to 7:35 a.m. The breakfast count is taken at 7:35 and students not in their seats will not be served. If you wish to have your child eat breakfast, please have him or her at school prior to 7:35 a.m.
Parents should notify the cafeteria staff of any special dietary needs. Your child will be given information and an application for free or reduced priced meals. Please read the information and return it to your child’s teacheras soon as possible if you are interested in applying.
BUS TRANSPORTATION
Riding a bus is a privilege, not a right. Student safety is of utmost importance as students are transported to and from school. All students on the bus are under the authority of the bus driver and must obey the driver and the bus rules. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary actions, which may lead to a child not being permitted to ride the school bus. Students are to remain seated at all times. They are to keep their hands and feet to themselves. A list of bus regulations can be found in the Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook.
Students are assigned to ride a specific school bus that will pick them up and drop them off in close proximity to their homes. Bus assignments are based on the address of the student and the capacity of the bus. The state regulates distances, bus routes and the number of students allowed on a bus. Buses will not cross transportation zones. Therefore, if your child attends a nursery or babysitter, you must provide transportation.
Please help us to follow these regulations. When a student receives his bus assignment (based on the location of his residence), he is to ride the same bus every day. No child can change buses so that he can go home with a friend or to stop at the house of a relative or baby sitter.
If there is to be a change in the transporting of your child, please notify the office IN WRITING IN ADVANCE and advise your child’s teacher. We cannot accept change in transportation by phone. If notification of change is not received, your child will follow his/her regular method of getting home. These rules are made, of course, for the safety of all of our students.
If you have a problem regarding bus drivers, bus stops, routes, or late buses, please call Robert Riley, the bus supervisor, at 941-5556.
CAR PICK-UP
With the cooperation of all parents, arrival and dismissal will be a quick process. We must require that the following be strictly adhered to:
- Early dismissals will not be granted after 2:00 p.m. In order to maintain a secure building and to provide a quick and orderly dismissal, your cooperation is requested. A note should be sent to school the day of the early dismissal. The note should contain the name of student, date, time of dismissal, reason for dismissal, name of person picking up the student, and the parent’s signature. If this person is not the parent and they are not known by one of the school officials as a relative, they will be required to show some form of picture identification. Please make every effort to schedule doctor and dentist appointments after school hours.
- All children will be loaded into cars in front of the building.
- Cars need to line up in a single file in the dismissal lane. Remember to alternate merging into the dismissal lane. Pickups begin at the crosswalk in front of the building.
- Children may load only when a car is stopped in the designated loading spots directly in front of the building. Students are not allowed to cross the drive. Please do not park and come to the door of the school to get your child. This interferes with the loading process and impedes the progress of those parents who have waited in line.
- Parents and guardians should remain in the car and car line. Do not come into the building and wait for your child in the hallways. Children riding in cars will be dismissed from the cafeteria.
- All cars should move forward as far as possible before stopping for children to load and unload.
- All students are to be picked up by 3:00 p.m. each afternoon.
We hope that this dismissal procedure will limit the children’s exposure to harmful fumes and improve safety. We realize that long lines are frustrating and nobody likes to wait. However, if everyone cooperates, the line will move quickly. Our primary concern is the safety of the students, and not necessarily the convenience of the driver. Please urge your children to wait quietly so they can hear their names when they are called, and to walk quickly to their car. Thank you for your assistance and cooperation.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
It is important that the school office have your current address and phone number. Please notify the school immediately upon changing your address or home telephone number or cell number. A new proof of residence is required for each change. Please see our school secretary or attendance clerk if you need to make a change.
We reserve the right to request a new proof of residency when needed to verify addresses for our school’s attendance zone.
CHARACTER EDUCATION
Rice Elementary School has a Character Education Program that combines good character and citizenship to help students become more respectful and responsible citizens. Each month a different character trait is emphasized. Lessons for each trait are included in lesson plans developed by the teachers. Class meetings are held in each classroom. The staff at Rice feels that our Character Education Program has made a difference in the behavior of the students and the overall school atmosphere. The Core Essentials program is featured daily on WRIC.
CROSSING GUARD
To ensure your child’s safety, all walkers and bike riders are requested to cross Durst Avenue at the crosswalk in front of the school. A crossing guard is on duty each morning from 7:15 until 8:00 a.m. and each afternoon from 2:30 until 3:15 p.m. The City of Greenwood Police Department provides this service for our students.
DISCIPLINE
It is necessary that students learn to develop responsibility in order to be successful. It is very important that students show good behavior and a good attitude while at school. Rice Elementary School believes that effective discipline is a team effort between the home and the school. We ask that you discuss the importance of and the need for self-discipline with your child.
Students need to understand that acceptable standards of behavior will be expected at all times. Our school will not tolerate fighting, being disrespectful toward others, or obscene language. Should any criminal conduct occur which results or may result in injury or serious threat of injury to others, the school administration is required to contact law enforcement officials.
We will focus on positive, responsible behavior daily. Your child’s teacher will send home a list of the class and school rules and the consequences that will occur when the rules are broken. Each student will also receive a copy of the Student Responsibilities and Rights for Greenwood School District 50. Please read and review this information with your child.
Because we care, we will expect the BEST of each child.
DRESS CODE
We are committed to providing the most productive, distraction-free, safest learning environment possible for all students. Any fashion, extreme fad, make-up, or accessories that distracts from instruction taking place in the classroom or school building will not be allowed. Any student wearing clothing or accessories that disrupts the educational environment of the classroom will be required to change or go home.
Students are encouraged to dress comfortable and cleanly at all times.