GREENMONT
ELEMENTARY
2014-2015
STUDENT/PARENT HANDBOOK
Table of Contents
Letter from our Principal………..………..………..………..………..………… / Pg. 5
School Hours………..………..………..………..………..………..………..… / Pg. 6
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures………..………..………..…………………... / Pg. 6
Childcare………..………..………..………..………..………..………..……….. / Pg. 7
School Rules………..………..………..………..………..………..………..…… / Pg. 7
Principal’s Discipline Plan………..………..………..………..………..……….. / Pg. 7
Building and Playground Expectations………..………..………..………..……. / Pg. 8
Forms………..………..………..………..………..………..………..………….. / Pg. 8
Bikes/Rollerblades/Scooters/Skateboards/Heelies Policy………..………..…… / Pg. 8
Fire and Severe Weather Drills ………..………..………..…………………….. / Pg. 8
Education Connection………..………..………..………..………..………..…... / Pg. 9
Guidance Counselor………..………..………..………..………..………..…….. / Pg. 9
Classroom Parties/Activities………..………..………..………..………..……... / Pg. 9
Bee Stings………..………..………..………..………..………..………..……… / Pg. 9
Library Policies………..………..………..………..………..………..…………. / Pg. 9
Parent Teacher Association (PTA) ………..…...…..………..………………….. / Pg. 10
Spirit Day………..………..………..………..………..………..………..……… / Pg. 10
Staff Directory………..………..………..………..………..………..………..…. / Pg. 11
District Wide Information
Daily School Schedule………..………..………..………..………..………..….. / Pg. 12
Attendance Responsibilities and Regulations………..………..………..………. / Pg. 12
Cafeteria Information and Pricing……..………..………..…………………….. / Pg. 16
Child Abuse/Neglect Policy………..………..………..………..………..……… / Pg. 16
Dogs on School Grounds Policy………..………..………..………..………..…. / Pg. 16
Dress for Success (Dress Code) ………..………..………..………..………..…. / Pg. 16
Gifted Identification………..………..………..………..………..……………… / Pg. 17
Grading Policy………..………..………..………..………..………..………..…. / Pg. 17
Homework Information………..………..………..………..………..………..…. / Pg. 17
Inclement Weather………..………..………..………..………..………………... / Pg. 19
Leaving During the School Day………..………..………..………..………..….. / Pg. 19
Lost and Found………..………..………..………..………..………..………..… / Pg. 19
Parent/Teacher Communication………..………..………..………..………..….. / Pg. 19
Personal Property………..………..………..………..………..………..……….. / Pg. 19
Requesting Teachers………..………..………..………..………..………..…….. / Pg. 19
Returning to School After Hours………..………..………..………..………..…. / Pg. 19
Safety Patrol and Walkers………..………..………..………..………..………... / Pg. 19
Safety Rules………..………..………..………..………..………..………..……. / Pg. 20
School Fees………..………..………..………..………..………..………..…….. / Pg. 20
Student Conduct Code………..………..………..………..………..………..…... / Pg. 20
Student Health………..………..………..………..………..………..………..…. / Pg. 22
Telephone and Address Changes………..………..………..………..………..…. / Pg. 23
Test Schedule………..………..………..………..………..………..………..…... / Pg. 23
Vacations During the School Year………..………..………..………..………… / Pg. 24
Visitors & Classroom Visitations………..………..………..………..………..… / Pg. 24
Kettering School Board Policy Notices ………………………………………… / Pg. 24
Greenmont Elementary Student Handbook
VISION STATEMENT:
Our vision is to provide a safe and nurturing environment in partnership with families where all students are engaged in learning.
BELIEFS:
We believe all children can reach their learning potential in a safe and nurturing atmosphere where families and teachers share in the responsibility of encouraging students to act and do their best.
MISSION:
The mission of the Greenmont School community is to educate all students to their maximum potential in a challenging and nurturing environment.
August 2014
Dear Parents, Students and Community Members:
On behalf of the staff, welcome to Greenmont Elementary.We anticipate the 2014-15 school year to be one of great successes by providing a warm, caring environment where students can uphold The Greenmont Way- Be Safe, Show Pride, Give Respect To Self, To Peers, To Others.
It is our hope that this handbook will help provide you with important school and district information while answering any questions you may have about our procedures and policies. We believe that the school, parents and the community are active partners in education.It is important that we work together in providing the very best learning environment and opportunities for our children.
Throughout the course of the school year, there will be many opportunities for you to become involved in your child’s education through PTA activities, music performances, awards programs, academic volunteering, special events and many others. I encourage you to become an active member of our learning community. Together we can continue to do wonderful things for the children at Greenmont.
We wish each of you a fantastic and exciting school year!
Sincerely,
Lynn Cowell
Principal, Greenmont Elementary
Kettering City School Board Members
George Bayless, President
Jim Ambrose, Vice President
Julie Gilmore
Jennifer Kane
Lori Simms-Parks
SCHOOL HOURS
The Greenmont Elementary office is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Students are NOT permitted on school grounds prior to 7:55 a.m. unless they are attending morning childcare. Breakfast is served from 7:55 – 8:10. Students will eat breakfast in the classroom. The first bell rings at 8:05 for students to enter the classrooms. The tardy bell rings at 8:15 a.m. School begins promptly at 8:15 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m. Students arriving after the 8:15 a.m. bell are considered tardy and should report to the office. A parent must sign a tardy student in at the office.
*Please assist us in assuring your child’s safety by not dropping your child off at school prior to 7:55 a.m. unless they will be attending morning childcare.
ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL PROCEDURE
To ensure each student’s safety, we are continually striving to improve our arrival/dismissal procedure at Greenmont Elementary. Students arriving between 7:55 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. in cars will be dropped off in the front driveway (Loop). Parents picking up students in the afternoon at 2:30 must stay in their cars and load students in the loop. Cars picking up 3 students or more and those picking up preschoolers should loop around the playground blacktop for pick up. If you wish to get out of your car you will have to park in the lot. Please be patient and allow 10 minutes for dismissal. We encourage parents NOT to pick up on Wren Circle. In addition to being a NO PARKING area, picking up students along Wren Circle potentially jeopardizes the safety of our students. We ask that everyone abide by the aforementioned guidelines when dropping off or picking up children. It is well worth a few extra minutes to insure the safety of our studentsJ
1. Students are to be dropped off on the north (loop) side of the building.
2. Between 7:55 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., all vehicles will enter the East end of the loop and proceed slowly to the cross walk in single lane traffic. Students dropped off in the morning will proceed to the cafeteria and/or the hallway outside their classroom.
3. Vehicles will not be allowed to pass other vehicles.
4. Parents entering the building may park in the front lot. CROSS IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING WHERE THE SAFETY PATROL REGULATES TRAFFIC.
5. No student should arrive at school before 8:00 a.m. unless he/she is eating breakfast. Students participating in the breakfast program should not arrive before 7:55 a.m.
Parent Pick Up Within the Building at Dismissal Time – To ensure safety and child accountability, we ask that you NOT wait by your child’s classroom door at dismissal time. Please park in the lot and wait outside. If you need to get a message to your child at this time, come in the office and the office staff will deliver the message.
Children not picked up by 2:45 will be taken to Childcare. School is dismissed at 2:30. After 15 minutes, a Safety Patrol student or the teacher on duty will bring your child to the office. The child will then be signed in to Childcare. Parents will be charged for this service. Parents will need to go to Childcare to sign out and pick up the child. We will not leave any child outside unsupervised and often we have meetings that begin at 2:45.
CHILDCARE
Greenmont continues to provide before and after school Childcare. Please review the parent information sheet for details. Please note: students arriving earlier than or staying later than usual will be sent to our Childcare program. Parents will be billed for the time spent in Childcare.
TO AND FROM SCHOOL
The school is directly responsible for supervision of students only while they are on school property. Once students leave school property, this becomes the responsibility of the parents. The school will cooperate with parents in stressing the rules of safety to and from school and will assist with discipline problems that occur between home and school.
SCHOOL RULES
Positive behavior enables students, parents, and school staff members to work together to achieve the best possible education and most positive learning environment for all students.
At Greenmont Elementary, our goal is to develop behaviors that will be most conducive to learning. To this end, we strive to model appropriate behavior that promotes good character and citizenship. We support the aforementioned beliefs with the following 3 school-wide rules, which we refer to as ‘THE GREENMONT WAY’:
1.) Be Safe
2.) Show Pride
3.) Give Respect
Since this is a school-wide initiative, ‘The Greenmont Way’ is a broad guideline for all types of situations and it guides students to the desired behavior, rather than prohibiting negative behavior.
PRINCIPAL’S DISCIPLINE PLAN
Our classroom teachers do an excellent job of creating and maintaining a positive climate in our classrooms. If a student has been referred to the office, this usually means that he or she has had several opportunities to correct or change his/her misbehaviors. When a student is referred to the office the Principal may use any or all of the following options:
1. Conference with the student to formulate a behavior/self-improvement plan.
2. Loss of school privileges.
3. Parent contact by phone or letter sent home.
4. Parent conference.
5. In-school or out-of-school suspension
If a student continues to demonstrate poor choices and misbehavior, his/her discipline plan will be modified.
BULLY PREVENTION PROGRAM
Greenmont Elementary has instituted a bully prevention program. Listed below are the school rules we have implemented against bullying.
· We will not bully others.
· We will try to 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 at home.
BUILDING NEATNESS
Students are asked to respect the work done by the custodians by keeping the building clean and neat. Food and drink will not be allowed in the classrooms except when authorized by the teachers.
SCHOOL PROPERTY
All students should be proud of their school and should accept the responsibility of taking care of the school’s property. Students who deface, damage, or lose school property will be required to compensate for the damage or loss. Trashcans are provided on both playgrounds to help keep the school clean.
PLAYGROUND
Students may not play on the playground immediately following dismissal unless under the supervision of an adult. Dogs are not permitted on the playground during the hours of 8:05a.m. – 2:45 p.m.
*In the event that a parent notices property damage, please notify the police. If malicious behavior and other problems continue to occur, it should be handled by notifying the school with the following information: date, location of incident, time of incident, names and/or descriptions of students involved.
FORMS
At the beginning of each school year there are a number of forms that will need to be reviewed and/or completed. We appreciate your help in completing this yearly task.
CARE OF TEXTBOOKS
We know that all of our Greenmont students will treat textbooks with care and respect. In the case of an accident or a lost book, district guidelines have been set for replacement costs of textbooks.
BIKES/ROLLER BLADES/SCOOTERS/SKATEBOARDS/HEELIES
Students in 4th and 5th grades may ride bicycles, scooters or skateboards to school only if they follow proper safety precautions. Students must wear a bike helmet by law. The bike/scooter/skateboard should be walked across intersections and when on school property. We strongly suggest locking bikes for security reasons. Students must take the wheels out of “Heelies” during the school day.
FIRE AND SEVERE WEATHER DRILLS
During the school year we will have monthly fire drills. These are of the utmost importance. We take the drills very seriously and we feel children must know exactly what to do in case of a fire. Severe weather drills are also practiced during the spring of the year when our area is more likely to experience this type of weather. The time we spend doing the drills could save lives. Students choosing to misbehave during fire or severe weather drills will call their parents and will receive school discipline consequences.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announcements will be made each morning at 8:15am and on an as-needed basis in the afternoon between 2:20 and 2:25pm.
EDUCATION CONNECTION
The Education Connection is a communication system designed to allow parents and students to phone a central computer to find out information about the student’s homework assignments and to find out upcoming events at Greenmont. The phone number is 643-4444. Each teacher has a specific code number for parents and students to access. You may call the Education Connection at 499-1850 to report your child’s absence from school. This line operates 24 hours a day, so you may call if your child becomes ill during the night or early in the morning.
GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
The services of a full time Guidance Counselor are available to students and parents. The counselor is trained to deal with problems in areas such as learning, attitudes, adjustment, social relationships, etc. The counselor can be very helpful and stands ready to meet the needs of children to make their school learning and social experiences as rewarding and productive as possible. To contact the counselor, call the school office at 499-1850.
CLASSROOM PARTIES/ACTIVITIES
Classroom parties will be held for the following occasions: Halloween, Winter Break, Valentine’s Day, and the annual Greenmont Grillout at the end of year. These are coordinated with the help of the PTA. The PTA will be collecting donations to fund the parties to ensure healthy and allergen-free foods, as well as to provide equitable treats to each classroom.
In lieu of a food treat, students may bring a birthday prize for the class. We have several students with allergies and other health issues. Suggested birthday ideas include a book for the classroom with the child’s name and birthdate in the front, an indoor recess game for the classroom, pencils with a sharpener for the students, bookmarks for the students, etc. Be creative. Items may be dropped off in the office and your student may pass them out at the convenience of the classroom teacher. Any food treat that is sent in for a birthday will respectfully be sent back home. We appreciate your understanding. Student birthdays are announced daily over the loudspeaker and children 1st through 5th grade celebrate with a pizza lunch during the month of their birthday.