Westview Primary School
98 Westview Blvd.
Goose Creek, SC 29445
Phone: 843-820-4082 FAX: 843-820-4078
BCSD District website:
Westview Primary School website:
Westview Primary Facebook page: Westview Primary School Pelicans
Westview Primary PTA Facebook page: Westview Primary PTA
Welcome to Westview Primary School! Our teachers and staff have been working all summer to prepare the school for the start of another year. We invite you and your children to come and learn with us this year. Our school uses the South Carolina Math program for mathematics instruction and The Harcourt Trophies series as the basis of our Language Arts instruction. All of our teachers have completed workshops in the inquiry approach to science and have been trained to use kits that are provided by the school district as a part of a National Science Foundation Grant.
This Student Handbook and Assignment Planner is designed to help your child be organized with assignments, which should help him/her be more successful in school. It is also intended to help you stay informed. Parents are requested to review the entries and sign daily. Let this be a starting point to talk to your child about school and what he/she is learning. Also, please review the school calendar and note dates for important events.
As partners, we can provide an excellent education for all our children. Join with us in meeting their learning challenges. We do not accept failure; our students will learn at a high level. Together we will make a difference in the lives of each child.
ARRIVAL
School starts at 7:25 a.m. Students are not to arrive before 7:05 a.m.; teachers and staff are not on duty until 7:05 a.m. The school cannot be responsible for the supervision of your child before 7:05 a.m.
Children should go directly to their classroom door upon arrival, unless they are eating a school breakfast. Children eating breakfast should arrive to the cafeteria by 7:20 a.m. to ensure they are not tardy for class. Students are expected to be settled into the classroom and ready to learn at 7:25 a.m.; the beginning of the school day.
Bus Arrival
Students arriving by bus will enter the school through the doors by the bus loop into the cafeteria hall.
Car Rider Arrival
Parent drop-off is at the front of the school. To keep the flow of traffic as smooth as possible, please do not park on the loop. If you are walking your child inside, park your car in a designated lined space. If the primary school parking lot is full, please use the parking lot in front of Westview Middle School. When students are allowed inside the building they should go quietly to the cafeteria for breakfast or proceed to their classroom door. Again, we have limited parking, additional parking is available in the Middle School parking lot. DO NOT double park in the parking lot or invent parking spaces. Parking is permitted only in designated lined spaces. Do not park along the curb unless it is lined for parking. For the safety of children and drivers, PLEASE DO NOT drop your children off in the parking lot or request that they meet you in the parking lot at dismissal.
Tardies
Excessive tardiness is not acceptable. If a student arrives to school after 7:30 a.m. he/she is tardy. Students who arrive before 7:45a.m. should report directly to their classroom where the teacher will mark him/her tardy. Parents must accompany students who arrive after 7:45a.m. so they can properly be signed in. They should sign-in at the office and receive a tardy slip, which the child will give his/her teacher. Students must attend school for three and one-half (3 ½) hours in a school day to be considered present for that school day. Students are not to leave school grounds once they have arrived at school.
ATTENDANCE
Be sure that your child is in school every day possible. Each child is required to bring a written excuse for each absence upon his/her return to school. Please send these notes even if you have called the school or talked with the school nurse. Written excuses must include the following information: child’s name, teacher’s name, date excuse was written, reason and date of absence and signature of the parent or guardian. An excuse from the doctor’s office is acceptable, but please be sure that it includes the child’s name. Written excuses must be presented within three school days after a student returns to school. If this procedure is not followed, the student will be considered truant. A child ages, 6-17 meets the definition of a truant when the child has three consecutive unlawful absences or a total of five unlawful absences. If we do not receive a note/excuse the absence is considered unlawful.
CRITERIA FOR STUDENTS REMAINING HOME
DUE TO ILLNESS
There are times when a student should remain at home for his/her own welfare and for the protection of other students. Students should remain at home if they have any of the following symptoms.
- Fever, temperature of 100 degrees or higher within the past 24 hours, with or without other symptoms.
- A cold in the contagious stages, severe nasal discharge that is not clear in color
- Any communicable disease (chicken pox, measles, etc.)
- Undiagnosed rash or skin eruptions.
- Vomiting or diarrhea within the last 12 hours.
- Untreated head lice or scabies.
BICYCLES AT SCHOOL
Our bike rack is located at the end of the retention pond fence between Westview Primary School and Spring Hall Drive. There is also a bike rack on Westview Blvd. outside Westview Elementary School’s playground fence. Students must park their bikes and secure them to the bicycle rack. The school cannot be responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged bicycles. Students who choose to ride their bicycles to school should get off and walk them once they are on school grounds. Skates and skateboards are not allowed.
BEFORE/AFTER SCHOOL CARE
Dates: August 17, 2015 – May 27, 2016
Fees: Registration $25/child (non-refundable)
After school: $55.00/week (1stchild) $45.00/week for each additional child
Before school:$10.00/week per child
Program hours:6:30a.m. – 6:30p.m.
Pelican’s Pride for Early Dismissal, Teacher Workdays and Holiday Camp
If your child is enrolled in the After-School program, there is no additional fee for Early Dismissal days.
- If your child is not enrolled in the After-School program the fee for after-school care on Early Dismissal days is $20.00 per child, per day.
- If your child is enrolled in the After-School program, there is a fee of $12.00 for Teacher Workdays.
- If your child is not enrolled in the After-School program, there is a fee of $25.00 for Teacher Workdays.
- The fee for all children for Holiday Camp is $20.00 per child, per day. Holiday camp will be canceled if fewer than 15 students register.
Holiday camp will not operate on:
September 7 (Labor Day)
November 25-27 (Thanksgiving Holidays)
Dec. 21, 2015 - January 4, 2016(Winter Holidays)
January 18 (Martin Luther King Holiday)
February 15 (President’s Day)
March 28 – April 1 (Spring Break)
May 30 (Memorial Day)
CHECKS
Your Check is Welcome.
Your check is welcome at all schools and locations in the Berkeley County School District. The Berkeley County School District recognizes that occasionally a parent may inadvertently overdraw a checking account and a check may be returned by your bank. In order to recover these funds in a private and professional manner, the Berkeley County School District has contracted with Nexcheck, LLC, for collection of returned checks.
Each person writing a check to a school or the School District should write the check on a commercially printed check with your name, address, and one phone number. Counter or starter checks will not be accepted. When a person writes a check to a school or the School District, the person writing the check agrees that, if the check is returned that it may be represented electronically on the same account, and that the fee established by law, now $30, may be debited from the same account.
If the check and fee are not collected electronically, then Nexcheck will contact you by mail and by telephone in order for you to make arrangements to pay.
All payments need to be made directly through Nexcheck, P.O. Box 19688, Birmingham, AL 35219.
For a convenience fee, payments of both check and fee may be made electronically at or over the phone using a credit card, debit card or electronic check.
CONFLICT/PROBLEM RESOLUTIONS
In an effort to teach conflict resolution and to reduce referrals, a student who has a problem with another student is expected to resolve the difficulty in a peaceful way. If necessary, the student should address the problem to the teacher or guidance counselor who can help resolve the conflict.
DISCIPLINE
We believe that a strong discipline program is necessary for the instructional environment to flourish. It is also every student’s right to be able to learn in a properly disciplined school, without excessive loss of instructional time due to the teacher having to correct others. Please remind your child that he/she is in control of his/her own behavior. Classroom behavior that interferes with learning will not be tolerated.
DRESS CODE
Please dress your child comfortably and appropriately for school. Shoes must be worn at all times. Please avoid any clothing or shoes that may cause a child to trip, such as long dresses, floppy or high-heeled shoes. Your child should be able to button, zip and manage alone any clothing he/she wears to school. Shorts are allowed, but extremely short or tight shorts are not appropriate for school. Shirts/outfits should not have inappropriate language or graphics on them. Children should wear tennis shoes on the day they have P.E. Students who wear flip flops are not allowed on the playground equipment for safety reasons.
Adults who are visiting our school should dress appropriately for a public school. We want to provide a good example for the young children who attend WVP.
- No pajamas
- Pants at waist level
- Shorts, Shirts/blouses that provide appropriate coverage
- No inappropriate language or pictures on shirts or other articles of clothing
DRILLS
Fire drills are conducted once each month and tornado drills are conducted once each semester. Detailed escape plans are posted inside the classroom near the door. Each classroom has an escape route to an outside area a safe distance from the building. Each class has an assigned area in the building for tornado drills. Children are conducted to these designated areas in less than 75 seconds in a safe, quiet, orderly manner. Intruder and earthquake drills are also conducted periodically.
DISMISSAL (2:00 p.m.)
At the beginning of the year, parents should inform the teacher as to whether the student will be a car rider, bus rider, walker or attend our Pelican’s Pride after school program. Once this routine is established, the student will automatically be transported this way. Changes in a child’s regular transportation routine must be made in writing to the teacher. The note must state the change, the date of the change and the reason. If there is no note, the student will go home the regular way.
Bus Dismissal
Students riding the buses will enter and exit through the outside cafeteria doors leading to the bus loop.School buses and daycare vans only are allowed to use the Bus Loop from Hwy. 176.
Berkeley County School District operates school buses for the convenience of those students living one and one-half miles or more from their schools. For specific bus questions or bus problems please call the bus office at 820-4032.
The importance of proper conduct while waiting for, boarding, riding, and disembarking from a bus cannot be over-emphasized. Students are to remain seated at all times. Their legs should be free from the aisle, and hands and feet should be kept to themselves. Playing and fighting are not permitted and hinders the safety of all passengers. Students will show the bus driver courtesy and respect at all times. Drivers are responsible for writing discipline slips for inappropriate behaviors that occur on the bus and forwarding them to the assistant principal. Behavior slips will be given to the child to take home and are to be returned with a parent’s signature.
The general procedure for dealing with misconduct on the school bus is as follows:
First Offense – warning
Second Offense – parent contact
Third Offense – 1 day suspension of bus privileges
Fourth Offense – 3 day suspension of bus privileges
Fifth Offense – 5 days suspension of bus privileges
Sixth Offense – suspension of bus privileges for the remainder of the year
Car Rider Dismissal
Walkers and car riders will enter and exit through the front doors. For the safety of all students, please help us keep the walkways clear by waiting for your child on the grass area outside the front door. Please do not park on the drive. If you are getting out of your car, please park in the parking lot in a designated, lined spot. The drive must be kept clear to allow for the flow of traffic. If you are in our pick-up loop, your child’s teacher will give you a sign to put in the front car window. This sign will display your child’s name and his/her teacher’s name. This sign should be visible every afternoon throughout the school year. We have someone on duty who will call the names out on a walkie-talkie. Those of us at the front of the building will get the child from the line and bring him/her to you. Occasionally a class is not out when you arrive. Should this occur, we will ask you to pull forward and wait – do not get out of your car. We will bring your child to you when he/she comes out. It is very important that all cars in the front loop during take-in and dismissal have drivers in them.
EARLY SIGN-OUT PROCEDURES
Students are encouraged to remain in school for the full day. Should the need to check them out early arise, the parent/guardian will need to come to the office to sign the child out. Students will remain in their classroom until they are called to come to the office, students cannot come to the office and wait for their parent/guardian. The person signing out a student must be listed on the emergency card in the office and must show identification. If a student leaves before 11:00 a.m., he/she will be marked absent. Because we value instruction and the end of the day is just as important as the beginning, please do not sign students out after 1:20 p.m. In the past we have had parents doing this to avoid being in our parent loop at the end of the day. Children may be signed out after 1:20 p.m. only in the event of an emergency with administrative approval.
EMERGENCY CLOSING OF SCHOOLS
Announcements will be made to local media if schools are closing early or opening late. ALERTNow calls will also be used.
EMERGENCY INFORMATION
Parents must provide the school with current and accurate emergency information about each student. This should include a home telephone number, parents’ work/daytime numbers, and any friend or relative’s number who is authorized to assume care of the student. All emergency information is to be current. If changes occur, records must be updated. Since we are unable to provide sickroom care, your cooperation in responding immediately to a call concerning your child’s illness will be appreciated.
EXPULSIONS
Students are recommended for expulsion for a number of reasons (possession of a weapon, sexual misconduct, etc.). Please refer to BCSD Policies JCD and JCDA-R for further information. Students recommended for expulsion will have a hearing with the BCSD Hearing Officer who will render a decision on the expulsion status.
GUIDANCE
The guidance program is developmentally based. Our guidance counselors visit each classroom every other week to work on topics such as safety, friendship, communication, study skills, careers, and life skills. Small group and individual counseling are provided as needed. Working with parents, students, and teachers is a very important aspect of the program.
HOMEWORK POLICY
In the Berkeley County School District, teachers will ensure homework assignments are accomplished by the student and feedback is provided to students within a reasonable length of time. The general objective of homework is:
- To help students develop independent work study habits
- To reinforce learning that has taken place at school
- To bring the home and school closer together,
- And to relate the school learning to out-of-school interests.
To achieve its goal, homework must be utilized in such a manner as to complement the learning process.