Custer Hill

Parent Handbook

2013-2014

Custer Hill Elementary School

6344 Hampton Place

Fort Riley, KS 66442

785-717-4320

MISSIONSTATEMENT

The mission of Custer Hill Elementary School is to provide a quality education for all learners: teaching academic and social skills, self-discipline, and responsible citizenship in a safe environment.

BACKGROUND

This mission statement was revised and adopted during the 1993-94 school year. This was accomplished by gathering input from the School Improvement Team and Site Council until both parties agreed on the above statement. It has driven the development of our QPA School Improvement Plan and the selection of our goals. In addition, as we have reviewed and selected discipline and instructional programs, we have evaluated them on their appropriateness as related to our mission statement.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GOALS

Table of Contents

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES (pgs. 5-11)

  • Attendance
  • Change of Residence or Telephone Number
  • Moving or Leaving Prior to the End of the School Year
  • Recess Expectations
  • School Books and Personal School Supplies
  • School Hours
  • Student Dress
  • Student’s Legal Name
  • Team Leaders
  • Title I
  • Visitors to the Building

PARENT AND FAMILY INVOLVEMENT (pgs. 14-15)

  • Communication with Parents
  • Compact
  • Parent-Teacher Conferences
  • Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)
  • Site Council
  • Student Council
  • Volunteers

POSITIVE BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION SYSTEM (pgs.16-17)

  • Classroom
  • Getting Along Together Curriculum
  • Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
  • SOAR
  • Stop and Think Curriculum
  • Student Support Monitor

ACADEMICS (pgs. 18-22)

  • Celebration of Learning
  • Common Core Standards
  • Homework
  • Principal Programs
  • Qualities of Effective Schools
  • Success for All

SCHOOL PERSONNEL (pg. 23)

APPENDIXES (pg. 24-42)

A.Recess Expectations

B.Parents Right to Know

C.Parent Involvement Policy

D.Parent Resources

E.Homework Policy

F.Parent/Teacher/Student Compact

G.Behavior Expectation Rubric

Policies & Procedures

ATTENDANCE

Custer Hill Elementary staff believe that a direct correlation exists between regular school attendance and academic achievement. We believe that students must begin early to develop habits of regular and punctual attendance at school. Parents of elementary children share with the responsibility for guiding students so they will develop a good attendance record.

We ask that parents/guardians cooperate with the school in the following manner:

  • Please make every effort to see that your child arrives on time.
  • When possible, medical and dental appointments should be made outside ofschool hours.
  • The school must be notified if child is absent either by phone call or note stating the reason for the child’s absence.
  • If your child is absent over 5 days due to illness, the school will need a note from the doctor.
  • If your child is gone for an extended period of time, please notify the office and classroom teacher in adequate time to prepare assignments.

It is the building principal's responsibility to report chronic absenteeism/tardiesreferred to as truancy,according to the state attendance statute K.S.A. 72-1111. Truancy is defined as per the amended statute 72-1113, an inexcusable absence from school for a significant part of a day or either three consecutive days or five or more days in any semester.

Students are tardy if they are not in the classroom by 8:25 a.m. The district defines a tardy as anytime a student is not in attendance for less than 3 hours. Therefore if you pick up your child from school even 10 minutes early, it is considered a tardy.

All tardies will be excused except for the following:

  • No Parental Contact (phone call or note)
  • Non-Medical/Dental Appointments
  • Oversleeping/Running Late

Parents are required to come to the office to sign their child in when he/she is late for school. Parentsalso need to come to the office to pick up their child if they are requesting to leave before the end of the school day. A child will be released only to the parents; unless the school has been notified and parent hasgranted permission for someone else to pick up their child.

Excused Absences:

  • Illness
  • The school may request verification from medical authorities in situations of excessive absences
  • Medical appointments
  • Death in the immediate family
  • Military block leave
  • School must receive leave form
  • Personal family reasons when cleared in advance by the building principal.

Inexcusable Absences:

  • Any absence that has not been cleared within 24 hours by a phone call or note from the parents
  • Any absence without the knowledge and consent of the parents
  • Shopping
  • Vacations
  • Babysitting

*The above list is not intended to be a complete list, but merely reflects examples of various types of absences/tardies.

CHANGE OF RESIDENCE OR TELEPHONE NUMBER

Please inform the office and teacher whenever there are changes in your home,work or cellular numbers, childcare provider name and number, and emergency contact information. The office needs this updated information on a regular basis in case your child gets sick or is in need of emergency care.

SNACK MILK

Snack Milk isseen as a privilege and not a necessity. Therefore, meal accounts with a zero or negative balance will be denied snack milk until funds are provided. Snack milk is $.50 per day. During enrollment, forms pertaining to snack milk will need to be filled out and signed.

MOVING/LEAVING PRIOR TO THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

When you know you will be leaving the area, please notifythe office two weeks in advanceof the child’s last day of school.This will allow adequate time for the processing of school records otherwise your child’s records may not be ready and will have to be requested by the new school. When parents/guardians withdraw their child prior to the last ten days of school, an "Early Out Letter" is issued rather than a completed report card. Please speak to the principal if this situation arises.

RECESS EXPECTATIONS

See Policy under Appendix B

SCHOOL BOOKS AND PERSONAL SCHOOL SUPPLIES

USD 475 has a book rental system. Fees are paid at the time of enrollment or through a payment agreement. If the payment agreement is not followed, reminder letters will be sent. If a student receives free lunch, he/she will also receive free books.

Personal school supplies are purchased by parents. A supply list is provided on the website or may be requested at the office. If you are unable to provide these supplies, please visit with the office personnel for assistance.

SCHOOL HOURS

School begins at 8:20and unless eating breakfast students should not arrive before 8:10. Upon arrival, students will enter through the south doors and wait in the gym until teacher picks up the students at 8:20. If arriving after 8:20 students should enter through the front door to sign in.

School is dismissed at 3:35

Following are the procedures for dismissal:

  • Kindergarten students are dismissed at the back doors shortly before 3:35 to avoid congestion.
  • 1st – 5th grade students are dismissed to the bike racks.

Teachers leave the building at 3:50 and the office closes at 4:00.

STUDENT DRESS

At Custer Hill we encourage modesty and expect students to dress in an appropriate fashion.

The following items are not permitted:

  • Sunglasses inside the building
  • Hats, hoods or any headgear inside the building
  • Clothing/accessories with illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol ads or inappropriate language
  • Oversized, transparent, strapless or spaghetti strap shirts

STUDENT’S LEGAL NAME

A student's legal name will be used in official school records, transcripts and in any communications, programs or ceremonies. This includes, but is not limited to grade cards, printed programs, certificates or awards, and news media reports.

TEAM LEADERS

When the principal is out of the building, a Team Leader, Allison Rothwellwill handle situations that arise and make decisions based on school procedures and the principal’s instructions. A principal from another building may be consulted involving suspensions.

TITLE 1

Custer Hill Elementary is a Title 1 School. Title 1 is a federally funded Educational Program designed to remediate the skill areas of Reading and Math. All students in need of remediation in math and/or reading will receive services through direct instruction and/or the use of computer software. We have one instructional coachand a tutor to assist these students. All teachers at Custer Hill Elementary are Highly Qualified under the “No Child Left Behind” Requirements. Parents may receive information regarding teacher qualifications. Please see Parents Right-To-Know in Appendix Bfor additional information.

Parent & Family Involvement

COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS

We will communicate with you in several different ways.

  • Porch Visits – August
  • Orientation – August
  • Parent-Teacher Conferences – Fall and Spring
  • Conferences may also be made at the request of the parent or teacher anytime throughout the year
  • Schools in Review – April or May
  • Site Council – First meeting is September 24 at 3:35
  • Parent-Teacher Organization –First meeting is September 5 at 3:35
  • Announcements and Calendar at – Updated weekly
  • Homework Folder – Sent home daily
  • Fourth & Fifth Graders Agendas – Sent home daily
  • Information about special events can be found on the school website, Facebook and on reminder flyers

COMPACT

Every parent, student, and teacher is required to sign a compact agreeing to take an active part in the student's education. The compact is a requirement of the federally funded Title I program.(See Title I for additional information.) These will be discussed at Orientation. A copy of this form is in the Appendix.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY

The Parent Involvement Policy is located in Appendix E.

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held the weeks of October 21stand March9th. Information concerning conferences will be sent home several weeks prior to the conference. Custer Hill has a 100% participation policy. Commanders are willing to work with the principal to find a time all soldiers can attend. We feel it is imperative that parents, students, and teachers work together to ensure the children the best education possible.Sharing student progress is the teacher’s way to help you stay informed of your child’s learning.

PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION (PTO)

The Parent Teacher Organization provides many activities for your children inside and outside the classroom and is a great way to get involved at Custer Hill. There is no fee to join and all parents and staff are members. Our current co-presidents are Jennifer Maxwell and Tanya Thurn.

REsources

A link to parent resources is listed in Appendix F.

SITE COUNCIL

Site Council is a group of parents, teachers, a community representative, and a central office representative who meet approximately 5-6 times a year. The council discusses curriculum, testing, programs, and policies. All parents are welcome and encouraged to get involved. Please notify the principal if you are interested in being a member of Site Council.The meetings are held in the school library. The first meeting will be September 24that 3:30pm.

STUDENT COUNCIL

Student Council is comprised of 3rd – 5th grade students. Students meet twice a month to create activities and programs to improve our school and community.

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers are very important to the success of Custer Hill. Each classroom handles volunteering differently so please see your child’s teacher for times and tasks. When arriving to volunteer in your child’s classroom, please sign in at the office and pick up a volunteer badge.

Positive Behavior Intervention System

The Custer Hill Faculty/Staff have high expectations for all students. Every effort will be made to teach and model acceptable school behavior and to develop appropriate self-discipline in all students at Custer Hill. Our school discipline plan is a combination of the following:

  • Classroom

Each classroom teacher has developed procedures for handling student behavior in the classroom. It involves teaching students the social and behavioral skills they need to be successful. The teacher will share these rules and procedures at orientation the week before school begins.

  • Getting Along Together Curriculum

Throughout the year, teachers will teach from the Getting AlongTogether Curriculum which includes the following components.

  • Learn About It: Key problem-solving skills are embedded within reading lessons.
  • Think It Through: An individual problem-solving model that teaches students to “self-talk” their way through interpersonal problems.
  • Talk It Out: The Peace Path (an interactive problem-solving model), Roundtable, and Class Councils give students frequent practice using their skills to solve interpersonal problems.
  • Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

Olweus Bullying Prevention Program will be an intervention for the reduction and prevention of bully/victim problems. Geary County Schools including Custer Hill Elementary have adopted the following rules to prevent bullying in our school.

  • We will not bully others.
  • We will help students who are bullied.
  • We will make it a point to include students who are easily left out.
  • When we know somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.

Classroom meetings are held weekly to discuss any issues of concern.

  • SOAR

The Positive Behavioral Support and Intervention team has created the following building guidelines for all students to follow.

Show your Personal Best

Organized and Prepared

Active Listening

Respectful and Responsible

Students will participate in an orientation at the beginning of the year that will teach procedures of the school in the following areas: lunchroom, hallway, playground, cafeteria, library and classroom.

This program is designed to recognize students who follow the SOAR procedures at Custer Hill. Please see our Behavior Expectation Rubric in Appendix H.

  • Stop and Think Curriculum

The Stop and Think Curriculum will be implemented to teach students the social skills needed to be successful. It will assist students in making good social and behavioral choices even when confronted with difficult situations. It is organized around the following 10 core social skills: Listening, Following Directions, Asking for Help, Ignoring Distractions, Dealing with Teasing, Contributing to Discussions, How to Interrupt, Dealing with Losing, Apologizing, and Accepting Consequences.

  • Student Support Monitor

The student support monitor will be used to support children in the classroom. She will be involved with teaching students the social skills they need in order to be successful. However if a child disrupts the learning of others, they will be removed from the classroom and returned after their problem has been discussed with the student support monitor and understand what they need to do to be successful. The Peace Path and Think it Through sheets will be utilized to work through their problem.

Academics

CELEBRATION OF LEARNING

Celebrations will be held each quarter throughout the year. The celebration may give parents the opportunity to participate in classroom activities/lessons and observe students sharing what they have learned. All students in K-2nd grade classrooms will be recognized. Students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades will receive Honor Roll and Attendance awards if earned.

COMMON CORE STANDARDS

What are the Common Core State Standards?

Kansas has adopted the Common Core State Standards. The CCSS provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.

45 + states have adopted the Common Core State Standards (including KANSAS)! USD 475 is in the process of transitioning from the previous Kansas State Standards to the national standards in a very proactive way. Our district understands how important it is to support teachers and students as we learn new terminology and adjust to the changes. Currently our kindergarten and first grade teachers have fully implemented the CCSS. Second grade teachers will begin implementing this year with full implementation with intermediate teachers the following academic school year. Because students in the intermediate grades are still expected to take state assessments based on the previous standards, teachers are still expected to teach the previous standards. USD 475 has been providing all teachers constant professional development in order to have as smooth of a transition as possible. We are all extremely excited about the change and feel especially happy about the idea of national standards due to the high mobility of the military population! You, as parents, will see fewer gaps as your children move from school to school and state to state!

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What will change in math for my child?

One way to view the new Common Core State Standards is that there are fewer concepts to teach, but the level of understanding goes extremely deep. There is a huge emphasis on understanding number and place value within the CCSS, resulting in students having better number sense as they transition from grade to grade. The concepts are taught with the goal of mastery so that other concepts can build upon previous ones. There is also a huge emphasis on math fact fluency and problem solving, with the goal of increasing students’ abilities to reason and communicate their thinking. As you learn about the standards, you will notice some skills seem to be missing from younger grades (ex: money is not emphasized much until second grade now) and other skills seem to be taught earlier than they used to be (ex: students will be doing two step problem solving in first grade).

What is number sense? A student who has number sense can visualize numbers. They automatically see numbers as composed of smaller numbers and can picture what those numbers look like in different ways. This student also has an in depth understanding of how numbers relate to each other and relate to the benchmarks of 10, 100, 1000, ½, etc. Students with number sense are quick at mental math and understand when their answers “just don’t make sense.”