SUNSET TABLE OF CONTENTS
Accessing the Building ...... ……...... 3
Address & Web Site ...... 2
Address Verification ...... 6
Arrival/Dismissal ...... 3
Attendance ...... 5
Cafeteria ...... 8
Classroom Placement Change ...... 9
Colors/Mascot ...... 2
Communication ...... 6
Healthy Foods Guidelines ...... 12
Hours ...... 3
Instruction ...... 9
Adjusting & Modifying Curriculum
Assessment
Curriculum
P.A.S.S.
Reading Sufficiency Act
Student Retention
Media Center ...... 7
Mission Statement...... 2
Motto ...... 2
Parent/Teacher Organization...... 6
Parties (School and Personal)...... 6
Philosophy...... 5
Phone System...... 4
EPS Policies…………………………………………………………………………13-33
Special Services...... 10
Teacher Request/Parent Input Sheets...... 9
Tidbits...... 12
Title I Parent Involvement Plan...... 11
Transportation...... 3-4
Walkers
Bike Riders
Bus Riders
Car Riders
Day Care
Vision...... 2
Welcome...... 2
Please see additional information in the District Section.
GENERAL Information about Arrival, Dismissal, Accessing Our Main Building and
Phone Information
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Arrival
Students that are eating breakfast may arrive at 7:55. They are to enter through the outside doors on the east side of the cafeteria. The doors will not be open prior to 7:55. Kindergarten & 1stgrade students will sit by the stage area. 2nd- 5thgrade will sit in the gym.
Before School Entrance Guidelines
Car drop-off will remain at the front doors. Daycare drop off will be at the middle doors off of 9th street. Bus drop-off will be at the middle doors off of 9th street. ALL OTHERS WILL ENTER THROUGH THE FRONT ENTRANCE. THIS INCLUDES ALL VISITORS, PARENTS, and WALKERS.
Accessing our Buildings - Both of our buildings will be locked to general access without going through the office once the bell rings at 8:20. Please sign in and out when you come. Please bring ID if you are checking out a student before dismissal time.
Bike Riders
Students may ride bicycles to school. Bikes should be walked on sidewalks and across crosswalks and parked in the bike racks located on the south side of the school. Students should not be around the bike area except to put away or pick up their bikes.
The school will make every effort to safeguard bicycles, but cannot assume responsibility for them.
It is strongly recommended that locks be used to secure bikes. Locks are not provided by the school.
Day Care
Our commercial day care vans and cars may pick-up and drop-off students off 9th street. This is not for private/home daycare or after-school babysitting.
Dismissal
Dismissal is at 3:15. All students should be picked up by 3:30. Middle and high school students should wait outside to meet younger siblings.
Special arrangements with friends for after school should be made ahead of time so parents are well informed. Students will be unable to use the phone after school for such arrangements.
Bus Riders
Elementary students are eligible for transportation services if they live one mile or more from the school by commonly traveled roads. Students may ride only their regularly assigned bus and get off at their regularly assigned stop unless emergency arrangements have been made through the Director of Transportation. Food, gum, and soft drinks are prohibited on the bus. Damage to seats and other equipment must be paid for by the offender. Students are permitted to ride the bus as long as they abide by the bus rules they receive at the beginning of the year. Students should always get off at their bus stop and report home before going to a friend’s house to play. Students with three bus offenses will be unable to ride the bus.
Buses will pick-up and drop-off students on 9th Street. City “No Parking” signs exist to keep these areas open.
The Transportation department can be reached at 340-2962.
Walkers
Students walking are expected to leave the school at dismissal time and go directly to their after-school location (home or sitter’s house). Students should not stop at a friend’s house to play without prior parental arrangements.
Car Riders
A plan designed to insure greater student safety and facilitate a smoother traffic flow routes specific traffic to different loading sites around Sunset’s building.
Parents who wish to drop off or pick up their children by car should use the parking area at the front of the building off of Eighth Street. The lane adjacent to the curb is designated as a LOADING AND DROP OFF ZONE only. Those who need to wait for extended periods of time or need to leave their vehicles should pull into one of the designated diagonal parking spaces or should park along Eighth Street. The center lane serves as a THROUGH LANE ONLY. It is imperative that drivers not stop in this lane since doing so blocks it and makes it impossible to exit from the curb or parking area. Students crossing the parking lot unaccompanied by adults are instructed to use the crosswalk.
The 9th Street side of the building is restricted to bus loading and day care only. PLEASE DO NOT PICK UP CAR RIDERS IN BACK OF OUR SCHOOL OR OFF OTHER CITY STREETS! This interferes with our bus loading and daycare traffic, and can be dangerous to your child and others.
The children for the Sunset Early Childhood Center are to be dropped off in front of the Early Childhood building.
Parking
Hopefully with our additional parking you will be able to find space to park in a space or on the city street area. Please be aware of handicap signs, fire lanes, and staff parking. We have a few spaces marked staff/office. Please do not use these spaces.
Our neighborhood church should not be used. We have caused damage to their lawn. Please be RESPECTFUL of the handicap spaces.
Students being picked up by car will be in the gated area and released to cars. Parents are asked to NOT WALK UP to this area and block the loading process - Make arrangements to meet your children or check them out in the office. Also, parents in cars are asked to not cut in front of other cars waiting in line.
Parents are asked to not have their children run between cars to meet them on the neighborhood streets. Our pick up line is for the safety of all. You are welcome to park your car and walk with your child to your car. Our duty teachers will supervise the pick-up lines in our loop.
Phone System
Our office is open from 8 - 4 each school day and personnel will answer the phone. School VOICEMAIL will pick up after office hours and messages checked each morning. Each classroom has a phone for safety and convenience. Your teacher will give you the classroom number. Our office number is 340-2990.
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Philosophy
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As an educational facility, our school must strive to help each student to gain a better understanding of his/her relationship to the world in which he/she lives, and can best do so by providing an opportunity for each student to attain the basic learning tools, including an open mind, the ability to question and evaluate, and the desire to improve upon that which is presently accepted.
With this in mind, our school will work to provide a balanced program of general education based upon the characteristics, needs, and future plans of the students being served. Our school will also follow the curriculum guidelines (P.A.S.S.) set by the Oklahoma State Department of Education and by our district’s additional expectations and specific curriculum document.
Students at Sunset will be exposed daily to the life principles of GREAT EXPECTATIONS. This character building will place emphasis on the following tenets. Approximately 90% of our teaching staff has been trained in this positive program.
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Citizenship – behaving in a responsible manner as a citizen
of a community
Commitment – the keeping of a promise or pledge
Common Sense – thinking before acting, using good
judgment
Compassion – ability to share another’s feelings or ideas
Cooperation – working together
Courage – strength to act even when afraid or uncertain
Curiosity – the desire to learn, to explore, to investigate
Effort – doing your best in an endeavor
Flexibility – the ability to make adjustments or alter plans
Friendship – caring for and trusting one another
Honesty – truthfulness
Humanitarianism – helping other humans
Initiative – taking action, originating new ideas
Integrity – acting according to a sense of right and wrong
Justice – being fair, right, and upholding what is right
Loyalty – faithfulness to another
Patience – the ability to wait calmly
Perseverance – the ability to persist or continue striving to
the end
Problem Solving – creating solutions, find answers
Respect – feeling honor
Responsibility – making the choice to be reliable and
dependable
Self Discipline – the ability to choose and control one’s own
actions
Service – giving of one’s time and energies to help others
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Always do your best. Always do the right thing. Always treat others the way you want to be treated.
Please stress to your child that any form of violence (fighting, hurting, bullying, harassing, etc.) will not be tolerated at Sunset. Please help encourage your child to find other means to deal with conflicts or anger. Revenge or getting even are not acceptable means to solve problems. “Doing the right thing” will be our motto in the classroom, on the bus, on the playground, and in our cafeteria. Our goal is to have all students safe at Sunset.
Attendance is an important factor in learning. Be sure your child is at school unless emergency or illness is an issue. Keep doctor slips for verification. Our district requires you to receive notification at 7, 14, and 20 days of absences. At 20 days, students may be considered for retention and contact with the District Attorney’s office will be reviewed. See District section for more information (pg. 13).
Communication
It is very important for the school and parents to have an excellent means of communication. Teachers are encouraged to contact the parents when they feel there is a need, whether it is academic, discipline, or other important information. Teachers also send samples of student work home for them to see. Students will bring home classroom and office information on THURSDAYS in our take-home folders. Please watch for these important messages.
Parent/teacher conferences will be held on October 13th and 18th in the evening. Please feel free to contact the school for an appointment if you feel there is a need for a conference between the teacher, parent, counselor, and/or principal. This will guarantee their availability. All parents will have access to their child’s attendance and grades through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Please get your access code from a secretary in the office.
Parent-Teacher Organization
Sunset PTO is an organized group of parents who work together with teachers and administrators to support educational activities at the school. The collaborative partnership between family and school provides a valuable resource of volunteers who augment the work of educators by assuming responsibilities that range from clerical work to tasks involving direct assistance with student learning. Underlying this program is the basic assumption that student performance, attitudes, and behaviors, are influenced positively by parental involvement. PTO parental involvement will determine if fundraising activities will take place.
Address Verification
Parents whose children will be attending Edmond Public Schools during the next school year will be asked to update existing enrollment information and to provide a current utility bill as part of our continuing effort to verify student addresses. This process will assist your school district in many ways. First, it will assist in projecting our future enrollment. The verification of student addresses will also help us insure that your tax dollars are being used for the education of children whose parents are legal residents of our district. For new patrons, two proofs of residence will be required. Verification of residence will be shown on Information Day.
Parties/Snacks
School: Our district policy allows a maximum of three parties per year. Sunset will host the following parties:
1) Winter party (in December, just before holiday break),
2) Valentine’s party, and 3) End of Year party. Homeroom parents will coordinate the party efforts. All treats will be donated by parent volunteers. Our parents must now include a healthy snack choice as a party option - eg. cheese, apple slices, veggies, etc (see district section about healthy snacks). Please do not send gum, suckers/lollipops, or balloons as treats. We also ask that party favors be limited to edible items and not items such as water pistols, whistles, yo-yo’s, etc.
AT SUNSET WE DO NOT COLLECT MONEY AT SCHOOL FOR OUR PARTIES OR FOR ANY GIFT ITEMS.
Personal: We do not host personal birthday parties. However, if you would like to send a healthy class treat, you can make arrangements with the classroom teacher for the last 10 minutes of class. We cannot pass out unhealthy treats such as cupcakes. At Sunset we do not distribute party invitations at school, unless they include ALL students in the class.
Costumes: We do not wear costumes on Halloween. We will use announced spirit days for various dress – eg. crazy socks.
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MEDIA CENTER
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Our media center is a vital part of our school. It holds approximately 12,000 volumes, as well as computers, technology equipment, and curriculum materials. In order that all students may have access to media center materials and share in the responsibility for those materials, the following guidelines will be followed:
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Kindergarten – Students will be allowed to visit the media center with their class once a week, starting the third or fourth week of school. They may check out one book at a time. Books are checked out for one week.
Grades 1-5– First grade students may check out one book at a time. Other students may check out two books at a time. Before another book is checked out, at least one book must be returned. Books are checked out for two weeks.
Overdue Books– If your child has an overdue book, he/she will receive a notice from the media center. A student who has an overdue book will not be able to check out materials until the book(s) is returned.
Lost/Damaged Books– Books belonging to the school that are lost or damaged shall be paid for by the pupil responsible. Replacement price is based on what the media center paid for the book. If a book is damaged, please do not attempt to mend the pages with tape or glue. The media center has special tapes and glues for mending books if the damage is not too extensive. If a book is damaged beyond repair, the pupil will be asked to replace the book or pay for it. The student will have the option of keeping the damaged book after it has been replaced or paid for.
Reserve Library Books– Students are allowed to request for books to be placed on hold. The requested book will be held for 3 days after the student is notified that it is in the media center.
Media Center Hours - The library opens at 8:25 A.M. and closes at 3:15 P.M. A full-time media specialist and a full-time media assistant are on duty. Students are welcome in the media center any time the teacher will allow them to leave the classroom. Teachers also schedule time with their classes in the media center.
Parent Volunteers – Parent volunteers play a vital role in the operation of the media center. The hours our volunteers work are 9:00-11:30 A.M. or 12:30-3:00 P.M., usually one day per week. Parents are needed to assist with checking books in and out to students, bulletin board displays, and with the annual Book Fair(s). Please contact the media specialist for further information.
Book Fair – This event is held annually. During the Book Fair, new books are available for purchase by students and patrons. Proceeds are used for additional volumes of books for the media center and to help defray the cost of special activities with students.
Checking Out Videos– Parents are always welcome to preview any of the videos in our library. We do ask that videos not be checked out for personal and family entertainment.
Phone – The media center may be called directly at 726-3815.
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CAFETERIA
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Breakfast
Sunset participates in the National School Breakfast Program. A balanced breakfast is provided from 7:55 – 8:20 A.M. each day. Students may purchase breakfast for $1.60(subject to change). Students eligible for free or reduced lunch will qualify for the same at breakfast (reduced breakfasts are 30 cents and lunches are 40 cents per day). Students may not charge breakfast, nor may they bring breakfast from outside (home, fast food, etc.) to eat at school. Menus for both meals will be sent home monthly.