Saxtons River Elementary School

Arrival at School: Walkers and bicycle riders are asked to arrive at school no sooner than 7:50am and should leave the school grounds immediately after dismissal. Exceptions must be approved by the Principal. No students are allowed to ride or bring motorized vehicles of any kind to school.

Leaving School: If you wish your child to leave school by a different means than usual, please be sure that he or she has a permission slip. Pupils may not ride home with persons other than their parents unless written permission is received from their parents. Children are not to leave the school grounds during school hours. If you need to pick up your child during the school day, please be sure to check in with the office before doing so.

Please note that School Street is one-way past the school building. To prevent accidents, walkers and bikers should never leave the school against the flow of traffic on School Street. If you do want your child to walk down School Street against the traffic, please send a note into school to this effect.

School Attendance: School is your child’s work world and should be treated as the most important thing he or she does during the week. Regular attendance at school is necessary for healthy cognitive and social growth and is required by law. Students should be at school every day, well-rested and ready to learn.

excusable absences include personal illness, bereavement, family emergencies, and observation of major religious holidays. The school must follow up when we do not receive a call or note from you concerning your child’s absence. A call will be made to your home or place of work to verify absenteeism.

Tardiness: Children who arrive at school after 8:30 AM must bring a note explaining the reason for being tardy. Although unforeseen circumstances may create a situation where a child must be late on occasion, it is important that you make every effort to have your child arrive on time for the start of school each day. Chronic lateness disrupts classroom routines and deprives children of the chance to connect with their teacher and classmates. Important announcements and information may also be missed.

Extended Absences: Please try to plan family trips and vacations so that they do not conflict with the school schedule. If your child must be away from school for an extended absence, please give his/her teacher and the Principal notice of the absence as soon as possible. Teachers may suggest activities, homework assignments, and projects for your child to do while you are away, however the most important learning activities take place each day in the classroom. Simply doing the assignments that accompany classroom activities is not a substitute for attending school.

Forms for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program will be sent home with your child on the first day of school. (Your child can still receive free or reduced lunches while these forms are being processed.) If you have applied through the VT Department of PATH, you will have already received a letter confirming your participation in the program. It is not necessary to fill the free and reduced forms out again. If you have not already applied for the program, please be sure to check over the guidelines to see if yiour family qualifies. The Free and Reduced Lunch Program offers substantial savings to families. Please return these forms to school as soon as possible.

Paying for meals: Meals must be paid for in advance. They may be paid for by the day, week, or month. To protect the confidentiality of families, we do not collect payment for breakfast or lunches in the lunchroom. Please place payments in an envelope with your child’s name on it. His or her classroom teacher will collect these envelopes at the beginning of the school day and send them to the office for accounting. Payment envelopes may also be given to the food service staff at breakfast time. Food service prices:

School Closing: Should school be closed for an emergency or bad weather, it will be reported on the local radio stations, WCFR(1480), WSSA(1570), WKNE(103.7, WKBK(1290), WTSA96.7), WKVT(1490), and KIXX (100.5).

Health Information: The Rockingham School Board encourages parents to preserve and protect each student’s general health. The Rockingham School Board recommends that each child receive a physical exam before entering kindergarten or first grade. A preschool child may receive immunizations free of charge through the Vermont Health Department and the State of Vermont provides several insurance options for people with low incomes. The school nurse can provide you with information about these services.

Head Lice: Please be sure to notify the nurse if your child gets head lice or scabies so other children in the class can be checked. This is important to reduce the spread of head lice or other communicable conditions. Routine head checks at home are encouraged.

Rest, Nutrition, and Hygiene are important for your school-age child. A child should receive 8-10 hours of sleep at night. Late night outings and sleep-overs with a friend are best saved for the weekend. Breakfast is the child’s “fuel” for the morning, so help your child plan for time to eat breakfast. Please send a nutritious snack for your child

Illness: All well children are expected to be in school every day. Any child who has an elevated temperature or has nausea and vomiting should remain at home until symptoms are gone. During the flu and cold season children should be reminded to practice good hygiene. They should be reminded to wash their hands frequently, especially before meals and after going to the bathroom. Children should not carry cough drops, lozenges, cold pills or aspirin to school. These are considered medications and medication policy must be adhered to.

Annual Routine Screenings are performed by the school nurse and include vision and hearing, height and weight, nutritional assessments, blood pressure (grade 1 only), and an immunization record review. Please notify the school nurse if you have any concerns regarding the routine screening or if you would like to refer your child for an early vision or hearing screening or a recheck.

Administering Medicines to Students: It is more desirable for medication to be administered at home whenever possible. However, any student who is required to take medication during the school day must comply with the following regulations:

Emergency Phone Numbers (IMPORTANT): We must have telephone number of 3 friends or relatives and your place of employment that can be contacted in case of an emergency. Please keep these numbers updated at all times.

Field Trips: Field trips provide excellent opportunities for teachers to expand and enrich the learning experiences of their students. A blanket permission form will be sent home on the first day of school for all field trips taken within the WNESU. For out of district field trips, parents will be asked to send in special permission. Parents will be informed of field trips by their child’s teacher or by the school newsletter unless they are in the immediate vicinity of the school and come up spontaneously. No child will be allowed to go on a field trip without a signed permission slip. Student behavior during field trips is required to be up to the same standards expected at school. Inappropriate behavior, either on trips or at school, may jeopardize future trips for the child.

SRES Newsletter: The Newsletter is published just about every week and should arrive home with your child on Thursdays. It is also posted on our website: http://www.sreshome.net . The Newsletter provides information about school events, news, messages from teachers, PTO news, and lots more. On a space-available basis, we also publish information regarding events and classes at not-for-profit organizations that sponsor activities for families and children. If you have an item you would like published, please get it to the principal by Wednesday at noon. Electronic formatting is preferred over hard copy. Final decisions about materials chosen for publication are strictly up to the administration.

Homework Club: We are currently working on the staffing for the homework club for this year for students in grades 3-5. The homework club meets from 3:00-3:30 PM Monday through Thursday. There is no homework club on Fridays or on early release days. A permission slip for this activity will be sent home with students when we have finalized these plans.

Visiting and Volunteering: Visitors are always welcome and volunteers are encouraged! It is best practice to consult with your child’s teacher beforehand concerning the best times to visit the classroom or to volunteer. As a safety precaution, all visitors must sign in at the office.

SRES Parent-Teacher’s Organization: The PTO is a not-for-profit organization that meets every month and supports many projects and programs, both financially and through volunteer work. New members are always welcome! Please give the school office a call for more information. Co-presidents for the 2007-2008 school year are Karen Wallace and Carol Perley.

PTO Reading Challenge: The Parent-Teacher’s Organization runs the SRES Reading Challenge. This program encourages children to read, both at school and at home, with small prizes and rewards as each child achieves higher numbers of pages read. Any kind of reading counts, as do books that are read aloud by adults. Look for a sheet with more complete information and a new tally sheet in the SRES forms packet that comes home at the beginning of school.

Progress Reports and Parent-Teacher Conferences: The school year is divided into three reporting periods. In November, individual conferences are scheduled for each parent. Your child’s teacher will contact you to set up this conference. The children will also bring home progress reports in November, March, and June. Additional conferences, either by phone or in person, are invited or may be scheduled as necessary. Please schedule these in advance with your child’s teacher so that he or she may be well prepared to meet with you. The office will be happy to assist you with setting up a meeting time.

Review of Records: We are trustees of your child’s records. You are welcome to review your child’s test results and permanent folder. You have may additional rights accorded you. A complete policy on student records is available at the school or supervisory union office. You must call the school office in advance in order to make an appointment if you wish to review your child's educational records.

Use of Telephone: Students will not be allowed to use the office telephone except in case of an emergency. Children may not leave the class to use the phone or for any other purpose without their teacher’s permission. Please plan visits with friends and other after school. Also, please use extreme discretion in calling the school to leave messages for your child, so that interruptions to school procedures can be kept to a minimum.

Appropriate School Dress: School clothing should be functional and reflect a positive attitude on the part of the student toward his/her job-learning. Consequently, appropriate dress at school is somewhat more formal than what may be worn for play at home. Halter tops, metal chains and objects, spaghetti straps, tee shirts with baggy armpits, short shorts, and the like can be distracting to other students and should not be worn at school. For safety’s sake, we suggest that clogs and sandals without backs should not be worn to school. Long dresses or long shirts hinder activities on the playground and gym. During changeable or cold weather, children should have appropriate warm clothing. Please label your child’s clothing to avoid loss. Also, check the lost and found frequently..

For physical education, please have your child wear athletic type sneakers that have laces or velcro and comfortable clothing that is appropriate for all activities. For the safety of your child and others, neither watches nor jewelry of any kind would be worn on the days that your child has physical education.

Special Education: We have numerous programs to serve children with Individual Education Plans. Under Public Law 101-476 , all eligible children have the right to a free and appropriate education. If there is such a child in your home or neighborhood, please call the school. Should you have any questions about our Special Education Programs, please call our office or our Special Education Coordinator at 463-1612. The Windham Northeast Supervisory Union, including the school districts of Rockingham, Grafton, Westminster and Bellows Falls Union High School #27, needs to know if there are children or youth between the ages of zero (0) and twenty-one (21) years who have developmental delays, learning difficulties or who are out of school and not receiving any education at all.

Educational Support Team: Saxtons River School has an Educational Support Team that helps children who may be having a wide range of emotional, cognitive, and/or disciplinary problems in the school. The team meets regularly to suggest accomendations and interventios to help each child succeed. Teachers, parents, or other school personnel may make a referral tot he EST. If your child is referred to the EST, the school will notify you and invite you to the team meeting. Please call the office if you have any questions regarding the EST.

Title I Program: The Saxtons River Elementary School has a school-wide Title I program that serves all students. Currently two teachers are funded through this program. They work with students in all of the grades in reading and mathematics. Periodically, the school holds informational meetings and sends home surveys regarding the Title I program that are required by federal law. You will also receive a copy of the School-Parent Compact in the opening of school form packet. Please sign this form (there will be a space for your child to sign it, too) and return it to school. This paperwork is required by law in order for the district to continue to receive federal financial support. We appreciate your help in meeting these requirements and we invite your comments and suggestions regarding ways to make these programs more effective.

Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program: Our health curriculum includes objectives related to drug and alcohol abuse prevention at each grade level, as mandated by federal law. School district policy clearly prohibits the purchase, use, possession, or being under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Possession of devices specifically associated with alcohol or drug use is also prohibited. There is a support and referral system in place for those in need.

Smoking: Use of tobacco products is prohibited on school grounds at all times by state law and school board policy. Please observe this prohibition when visiting the school grounds for after school sports practices and events.

School Board Policies and State and Federal Laws: All schools within the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union recognize their responsibility to provide all students and employees with a working environment that is safe and conducive to learning for all. As a result, there are policies to ensure that this environment is created and maintained. The following list of Rockingham School District policies are contained in the Windham Northeast Supervisory Policy Manual and/or are part of state and federal laws:

A complete copy of the policies follows this handbook. Each policy contains procedures to carry out the policy, including a grievance procedure for fairly and promptly investigating and deciding complaints of violations. To request copies of policies, contact the principal or the Office of the Superintendent of Schools or check the WNESU web site.

School Rules: The Saxtons River Elementary School is a community that is made up of students, teachers, parents, and other adults who work with the school. For a community to function smoothly everyone needs to take care of each other and to treat each other with kindness and respect at all times. When people choose not to do this, they need to be held responsible for their actions. These school rules are intended to help students and parents understand what the expectations are for behavior. Teachers may have additional rules that are specific to situations in their classrooms.

-About 3 minutes before the younger students' lunch ends and about 1 minute before the older students’ lunch ends, the lights will be turned off. During this time, students should finish lunch and clean up their spaces. They may talk quietly during this time.

-Younger students will be dismissed to line up to go outside as soon as their tables are cleaned up and everyone is finished. Older students will wait at their tables until their teachers appear to pick them up for class. Talking quietly during this time is permitted.

-Discipline in the lunchroom will follow the procedures set up in the school's discipline policy. Students that receive repeated warnings for mischievous behavior may have minor consequences-- i.e., loss of a few minutes of recess, a temporary assigned seat, or a short time out. Repeated warning for mischievous behavior can result in a call home to parents. Severe behavior results in an immediate office referral.

-Everyone is welcome to play any game on the playground. Make sure you understand the rules for the game. Tell newcomers to the game what the rules are. Students who will not play by the agreed upon rules will not be allowed to participate.

-Feel free to build snowmen and other snow structures. Do not damage or break the snow creations of other students at any time. Remember that the public uses the school grounds after school. Sometimes snow structures may be damaged after the school hours. (Nothing lasts forever, you know.)

Consequences for Misbehavior: Generally speaking, there are few discipline problems at SRES. The administration and the staff at SRES implemented a new system for dealing with disciplinary matters several years ago. This system has proven to be very effective for dealing with problem behaviors. Teachers handle most problems right in the classroom and quickly contact parents when there is a problem. Very few children are ever referred to the office, but if your child is, it is a matter of concern that we hope you will work with us on to avoid repeated problems.

The discipline system divides behavior into two categories-- mischievous and severe. Mischievous behavior includes what we think of as “fooling around”, inattentiveness, and minor disputes and/or teasing and put-downs. Severe behavior includes fighting, dangerous behavior, vandalism, overt defiance, and actions that stop the classroom from functioning. Bullying, which experts define as occurring “when a student or group of students targets an individual repeatedly over time, using physical or psychological aggression to dominate the victim” (Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001), is a severe infraction, as is harassment, which is also covered by procedures in the district’s policies.

Another aspect of the system is a method for tracking students’ behavior as they move through their school day. This allows teachers to be able to report to parents promptly any problems that may arise so that a proactive approach may be used to help the child behave appropriately. Teachers keep logs in which warnings given to students can be recorded and, when a staff member feels that the child may have difficulty elsewhere in the school, a yellow “tracking form” is used to record warnings that are given during specials, at lunch and recess, etc.

Procedures for Dealing With Mischievous Behavior - Mischievous behavior (“fooling around”, inattentiveness, and minor disputes and/or teasing and put downs) is dealt with first by the classroom teachers. There is a system for teachers to use in dealing with students who require repeated warnings for mischievous behavior over the course of a day. This includes:

Students that are having repeated warnings over a period of days or weeks may start the day at a higher level of warning. For example, starting at step 3, so that they receive one warning and then a call home to parents for the second incident.

As noted above, students that repeatedly need warnings for mischievous behavior are referred to the office. Once referred, there are procedures for dealing with this situation. The procedures are consistent, but have some flexibility built into them to meet the needs of the student and the particular instance. They include:

Procedures for Dealing With Severe Behaviors- Severe behavior results in an immediate referral to the office. Procedures are consistent in terms of consequences, with some flexibility built into the system to deal with each child’s particular circumstances and the seriousness of the behavior. Examples of the procedures for the first two office referrals are below:

Behavior cards are used by the school to monitor the actions of students whom have been experiencing behavioral problems and have been referred to the office. During the day, teachers and supervising staff initial the card in the appropriate spaces and record any warnings that have been given. While on the behavior card, the child has three warnings and a different set of consequences than the ones above if there are problems. These are specified on the card. At the end of the day, the card comes home with the child so the parent can see how the day went. We request that parents sign and return the card to school the next day.

Policy development is the board's most important responsibility and is specified in 16 V.S.A.§563(1). Policies of the District will be in compliance with Vermont law and federal statutes as well as state and federal regulations. These policies will also reflect and be consistent with educational objectives, procedures, and practices that are generally accepted in the public education field.

Policies describe the direction the Board, with input from its community, has outlined for the school District. They provide a guide for action by the administration. Policies should serve, also, to inform and guide all people interested in or connected with the School District.

Policies chart a course of action. They outline what is wanted; they may include why and how much and should always indicate the person responsible for implementing the policy. Policies should be broad enough to indicate a course of action for the administration to follow in meeting most situations; narrow enough to give clear guidance.

Procedures (also referred to as rules or regulations) are the specific directions that indicate exactly how school personnel and others will carry out the policies adopted by the School Board. Procedures should be developed by school administrators and may be reviewed by the board. They may change more frequently than the underlying policy and do not require adoption by the Board.

Any person residing in or employed by the School District may suggest policies by providing a statement of need in writing to the Superintendent or Board clerk. Such suggestions will be considered by the Board and administrators to determine whether a policy is warranted to assure consistent and equitable school operations.

It is the policy of the Rockingham School District to disseminate its policies broadly to all community members, to administer them fairly and to assure that there is regular periodic review of the District’s policies.

A copy of the District policy manual will be available during the normal working day in the office and/or library of each school within the District. The student handbook will include Board policies related to student activities and conduct. The teacher handbook will include Board policies related to teachers' responsibilities.

Individual Board members will take advantage of opportunities to understand their roles; educational issues in general, school programs, State Department of Education functions and legislative activities. The Superintendent and Board Chair will be responsible for assuring that information on leadership development opportunities is available to all members. New members will participate in a district orientation session and other opportunities designed to familiarize themselves with all aspects of Board operation.

Members who take part in workshops and seminars offered by the Vermont School Boards Association and other organizations will be reimbursed for travel and other expenses related to participation in training activities provided prior approval is obtained from the Board, and funds for these purposes are available.