Parents’ Guide

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Holy Name
Parents’ Guide
Provided By

2017 -18

Dear Parents and Guardians,

On behalf of the Holy Name Parents Association, we want to welcome you to our family. As you and your family begin the transition from elementary school to middle school or from middle school to high school, the Parents Association would like to help keep you informed by providing you with an overview of information about daily life at Holy Name.

Our hope is that each year, with your feedback, we will continue to enhance and improve this guide. Just a few things to keep in mind while you read through this:

·  This is designed to give you a high level overview of the items listed in the guide.

·  Any title that has (Handbook) indicates there is additional information provided in the Student/Parent Handbook which is distributed to all students the first week of school. This Student/Parent Handbook can also be found online at holyname.net.

·  Nothing in this guide is meant to contradict the Student/Parent Handbook, which takes precedence over the Parents Guide.

·  If you need more information about a specific topic, feel free to contact the school or send an email to

In addition to this guide, the Parents Association will host a Q&A sessions for all families. This session will be Wednesday, August 2nd from 6:30PM until 7:30 PM in the school cafeteria. Our first Parents Association meeting will be Wednesday, September 6th at 6:30 PM in the school cafeteria. Members of the administration will also be available to help answer your questions. All future Parents Association meetings will be held the first Wednesday of every month at 6:30 PM in the Teachers’ Lounge unless advised otherwise.

We want all parents/guardians to feel welcomed and well informed. We look forward to meeting you and/or receiving your feedback throughout the year!

Best regards,

Kathy Rabbett

2017-18 President – Holy Name Parents Association

Contents

Books (Handbook) 3

Uniforms (Handbook) 3

First Day FAQs 4

School Supplies 5

Lockers 5

Student Drop Off/Pick Up 6

Daily Class Schedule (Handbook) 7

Lunch Schedule (Handbook) 7

How do I communicate with my child’s teacher? 8

Holy Name Guidance Department 8

Extracurricular activities 10

Athletics 14

Athletics FAQ’s 16

School Bookstore (Handbook) 17

Generic Calendar 18

Did You Know That 24

Parents Association Information 24

Communication Tools 25

Books (Handbook)

Holy Name utilizes etechcampus.com as their official textbook provider.

Etechcampus is a virtual bookstore provider and the link to the Holy Name site is shown below. One of the strengths of etechcampus is that they offer direct access to the internet book market. This allows all customers to conveniently locate and purchase or rent the most cost effective textbooks all from one place. Book buybacks will occur at the end of the year or via an online method with the company.

In the early part of the summer preceding the next school year, the administration will provide all parents with each student’s schedule for the upcoming school year. Using the course numbers contained on the schedule, all will utilize the link below to access the Holy Name bookstore and purchase or rent their textbooks. New or used books can be purchased or rented through etechcampus. Prior to the opening of the store in July, directions for using the site will be provided by etechcampus and sent out by the school.

·  http://holyname.etechcampus.com/

Note that some subjects may not require a book and that some subjects may require multiple books.

Holy Name also explored the use of Techbooks from Discovery Education in place of traditional texts. In 2015-2016, the seventh and eighth grade science classes had the opportunity to pilot this program. For these classes, a textbook purchase was not required. Instead, a license fee to access the techbook online was collected during the first week of classes. This fee was twenty dollars. Grades seven and eight will be using the Techbook program in science classes again for the 2017-2018 school year. The Techbooks can be accessed at school or at home by the students.

Uniforms (Handbook)

Last year, the Parents Association collected gently used uniforms and had a uniform sale at school. We will be collecting gently used uniforms again this year and we will schedule a sale end-June or mid-July provided there are enough donations received at the end of the school year. An email announcement will be sent at the end of the school year advising of the date and time. The date and time will also be posted on the Holy Name Parents Association page on the school website, www.holyname.net .Each uniform item will be sold for five dollars and will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

Families can purchase school uniforms at J.B. Pride Uniforms located at 65 Southbridge St, Auburn MA

(508) 792-2071. Families may also set up an account at www.jbprideuniforms.com and shop on-line. Specific uniform requirements can be found in the Student/Parent Handbook.

In addition to school uniforms, seventh and eighth grade students are also required to have gym uniforms which are also purchased through J.B. Pride Uniforms. Requirements for gym wear can be found in the Student/Parent Handbook.

All 7th and 8th Grade students should wear their gym uniforms to school on the days that they have gym.

Many students and their families purchase spirit wear, such as hoodie sweatshirts, PJ Pants, hats, to show their school pride at various school events and sporting activities. Spirit wear can be purchased through JB Pride Uniforms.

First Day FAQs

When is the first day of school?

This is announced a few weeks before school begins; it will be posted on the school website and emailed to all families. Typically we follow the schedule below:

·  Seventh and eighth grades ONLY attend on day one, which is typically Wednesday.

·  Ninth grade and transfer tenth and eleventh graders ONLY attend on day two, which is typically Thursday.

·  All students will attend on day three, which is typically Friday.

Where should students report the first day of school?

·  On the first day of school, students will wait outside the school and be greeted by teachers and existing student ambassadors while enjoying the Holy Name band. At 7:45, they will be called into the school for an assembly.

·  On the first day of school for each grade, students from the National Honor Society will be positioned throughout the school to help new students find their way and answer any questions students may have during the course of the day

·  Transfer students will meet with guidance on their designated start day and will receive schedules and a tour of the school

·  Students may be dropped off as early as 6:30 a.m. and should be picked up no later than 4:30 p.m. There will be teacher supervision in cafeteria from 1:50pm till 4:30pm; after 4:30pm students are unsupervised. It is recommended that students are picked up as soon as possible after classes are finished.

·  Due to the number of books required for your students’ academic schedule, it has worked out in the past to bring half of their books on the first day and the remainder on the next day.

·  On Wednesday and Thursday, lunch will be provided free of charge for all students.

What is the time frame for wearing shorts? Can shorts be worn the first day of school?

·  Shorts can be worn on day one and can be worn until it gets cold, typically mid fall.

Will students be assigned a locker; do we need to provide a lock?

·  Locks must be purchased from the Holy Name bookstore for five dollars each and may be bought on the first day of school. The bookstore will be open for a short time before school begins, but most students who need to buy locks can buy them after day one. This is also addressed in a letter welcoming students to the new school year which goes out in early August. The students are assigned lockers on the first day of school

Is there time between classes to obtain material from a locker?

·  There is three minutes passing time between classes. Students normally have time to go to their lockers in between classes to exchange materials.

Will student have the same lunch time every day?

·  Most students have lunch at the same time every day

o  Grades ten through twelve typically have first lunch from 10:47 until 11:14.

o  Grades seven through nine have second lunch which runs from 11:50 until 12:17.

o  There may be exceptions to this depending on the student’s individual schedule.

o  Actual lunch schedules may change based on enrollment and are finalized each summer.

Do teachers have designated after school help time? Should students arrange that with each individual teacher?

·  Teachers are available Monday – Thursday from 1:50 to 2:30 for extra help. No appointment is necessary, but the student can let the teacher know he/she is coming. Teachers will also stay on Friday at a student’s or parent’s request.

Does Holy Name have internet access in all classrooms?

·  Holy Name is Wi-Fi accessible throughout the building.

·  Students use tablets, chrome books, laptops, etc. It is up to what the student wants to use.

·  Use of electronic devices during class time is dependent upon each teacher.

·  Please refer to school handbook for Rules for Use of Phones.

School Supplies

What are the general supplies needed?

·  Pens/pencils, notebook or binder with paper, agenda book/planner.

·  Planners are not supplied by the school and should be provided by student. Any planner is acceptable.

How do you find out specific needs for child's classes?

·  Each teacher has their own list of supplies needed for their class(es). The teacher will hand out a list of specific supplies needed for each particular class on the first or second day of school.

Are there supplies available at the book store?

·  Yes - there are some supplies available at the bookstore (see Bookstore on page 16)

Whom can I contact with questions?

·  Contact the teacher for questions regarding class specific supplies. All teachers can be reached by e-mail using first name followed by a period and last name @holyname.net i.e.

Lockers

Each student is required to lock their belongings in their assigned school locker. Any student who puts their belongings in the athletic locker rooms must also lock their belongings in a locker or basket. Locks must be purchased from the Holy Name Bookstore. Any locks not purchased from the bookstore will be removed. The school is not responsible for any items lost due to a failure to use a bookstore lock secured with a combination only the student knows.

Student Drop Off/Pick Up

All parents/guardians dropping off should take a right turn after entering the driveway from Granite St.. They should continue up the hill (THIS SIDE IS A ONE WAY SECTION) and then enter the horseshoe by taking a left immediately before the gymnasium. Parents should then continue through the horseshoe to drop off students in front of the center doors. After drop off, parents can continue through the horseshoe and re-enter the one way traffic flow by making a LEFT TURN ONLY. See attached diagram.

NOTE: Students driving to school themselves will take a left at the entrance of the driveway from Granite St. and drive up the hill to the student parking lot; please be aware of two way traffic on this side of the driveway.

Please do not drop off students in front of the old convent building, and please do not take a left turn up the driveway to drop off by the teacher’s parking lot behind the gymnasium. Both of these scenarios present dangers to students and can cause an accident.

Student Parking

Student parking is available in the upper parking lot, next to the wind turbine. Students are required to purchase a parking tag (cost $50) from the school office. The tag can be used on any car but should be displayed when using parking lot. A new tag should be purchased each school year.

Daily Class Schedule (Handbook)

Student Schedules will be handed out on the first day of school (orientation day).

Holy Name has a seven period daily schedule that rotates over the course of seven days. Each period is approximately forty-five minutes long, with the fifth period being an hour long to accommodate lunches.

Each period is associated with the first seven letters of the alphabet A, B, C, D, E, F, and G to identify the day. Students have seven periods each day, which are also on a rotating cycle and identified with letters A through G.

For example, on A Day, the first period is A period, second period is B period, third period is C period, and so on.

On B Day, first period is B period, second period is C period, third period is D period, and so on.

Courses are scheduled by specific periods identified by letter. For example, if your student has math during B period, then he or she will have math during B period on each day of the seven day cycle.

Each day begins with students meeting in homeroom from 7:30 to 7:35 for prayer and announcements before dispersing to follow their daily class schedule.

Holy Name Daily Schedule:

·  Homeroom / 7:30 – 7:35 / ·  5th period / 10:50 – 12:17
·  1st period / 7:40 – 8:23 / ·  Lunch II / 11:50 – 12:17
·  2nd period / 8:26 – 9:11 / ·  6th period / 12:20 – 1:05
·  3rd period / 9:14 – 9:59 / ·  7th period / 1:08 - 1:50
·  4th period / 10:02 – 10:47
·  Lunch I / 10:47 – 11:14

Study Hall

There are seven periods each day. Students in grades nine through twelve usually choose to take six academic courses and have a study during the unfilled block. Some choose to take seven courses and will not have a study period.

Students in grades seven and eight have an activity period and six academic courses. The activity period will consist of team games, study and either music, theater, or computers. Please note: these selections are subject to change as the final master schedule is built.