September 2007

 

Dear Parents,

We are happy to welcome you to the 2007-2008 school year at Barnard Elementary School. We look forward to working with you and your children this year. We have a dedicated staff and we pledge to provide your children with a high quality educational program with the supports they need to be successful.

 

This handbook contains important information about Barnard Elementary School. For your children to have a safe and orderly learning environment, it is extremely important to follow our school’s policies and procedures. Please read this handbook and share it with any family members, friends or day care providers who may drop off or pick up your children at school.

 

Your interest in and enthusiasm for your child’s schoolwork and school activities will help your child see school as valuable and he/she will strive to do well. Read with your child daily. Look over your child’s homework every day and give assistance when it’s needed. Show your child that education as a high priority through your daily actions and words. Preparation for high school graduation and college entrance exams begin now with the high expectations you set for your children. Please make sure your child comes to school every day and arrives on time unless he/she is ill. Attendance patterns get set early on.

 

We invite you to visit the school to become acquainted with your child’s teacher and to become involved. It is important for your child’s education that you attend parent-teacher conferences in November and again in February and Back to School Night in October. We invite you to become involved at Barnard by joining our Parent Teacher Association (PTA), English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC), School Site Council (SSC) and Governance Team. Please consider offering your time and talent by joining our parent volunteer program.

This year we will continue to improve student achievement by supporting teaching and learning in the classrooms. We want all of our students to be successful readers, writers and mathematicians. Our goal is to have all of our students reach or exceed the academic standards for their grade levels. We look forward to working with you and your children. If you have questions or you need more information, please contact us at (619)224-3306.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mary Watry

Principal

 

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Breakfast Program

The School Breakfast Program is available for all students. The cost is $.50 and free or at a free/reduced rate for those who qualify. Breakfast will be served from 7:30-7:45 a.m. Students must arrive during that time if they wish to eat breakfast at school. Student supervision begins at 7:30 a.m. each morning and children should not be dropped off before that time unless they attend the 6 to 6 program.

 

Lunch Program

School Lunch Program is provided for all students. Breakfast is $.75 and lunch with milk is $1.50 and milk alone is $.25. Students can bring a lunch from home if they do not wish to eat a school lunch. If your child purchases school lunch, please send the correct amount of money or put money on your child’s lunch account. We strongly recommend that you put money in your child’s account. Often children who bring money on a daily basis forget to bring it or lose it. When you send money, send only the amount you want credited to your child’s account, and put it in an envelope with your child’s full name and room number. When you get a slip notifying you that your child’s account is running low, please put more money in your child’s account. If your child does not have lunch money or a lunch from home, our staff will contact you to. All children must eat lunch every day except Thursdays. On Thursdays children may choose to eat at school or at home after the 12:00 p.m. dismissal.

 

Free/Reduced Meal Applications

Meals are available for a free/reduced rate for students whose families qualify. Every student is given a school meal application form at the beginning of the school year or when the child is enrolled. The school meal applications should be completely filled out and turned in as soon as possible. New applications must be completed each year even if the child qualified the last school year. Students who are new to the school district, including kindergarteners, will need to pay full price for meals until their applications for free/reduced price meals have been completed and approved. The sooner your application is returned, the sooner it will be processed and approved.

 

Attendance Policy

The State of California requires that children between the ages of 6 and 18 attend school every day and arrive on time. Children must attend school except when they are ill. School starts at 7:35 a.m. and students must arrive by that time each morning. Parents are responsible for their child’s attendance. If students have an attendance issue, parents will receive notices and the school counselor an\or administrator will contact them. For children to be successful, it is important that they attend school every day, and arrive on time so they don’t miss important instructional time. Parents may request an independent study contract for children who will be absent for five days or more due to family emergencies. Parents must arrange for this contract prior to the absence. The student must satisfactorily complete all of the assigned schoolwork and return it to the teacher for the absence to be excused.

 

Absences

Parents are required to verify all student absences. Acceptable reasons for excused absences include but are not limited to illness, quarantine, or family funeral services. If your child is absent, please call the school at (619) 224-3306 to report the absence.  When you call the office please give the following information:

School Arrival Time

School breakfast is served between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m. each day. Children who are eating school breakfast must arrive by 7:15 a.m. and go directly to the cafeteria line. Students who are not eating school breakfast may arrive at school between 7:15 and 7:35 a.m. and sit with their class on the rug in the auditorium. Student supervision begins at 7:15 a.m. and students should not be dropped off before that time. Parents are welcome to wait with their children in auditorium each morning before school begins and join in on our flag assembly at 7:35 a.m. Please understand that teachers will take their classes directly to the classrooms and begin instruction immediately after the flag assembly, and will not be able to visit with parents at that time.

 

Release of Students During the School Day

Students are expected to remain at school during school hours. If a child needs to be picked up during the school day the parent will come to the school office to complete and sign the release form. The child will be called to the office when the parent arrives. Students will only be allowed to leave school with an adult who is authorized by the parent/guardian on the student’s enrollment card. Children are never permitted to leave the school grounds alone during the school day. We discourage taking your children out of school during the school day. Always try to schedule doctor and dentist appointments, etc. after school hours or during vacations if possible to avoid disrupting your child’s learning time.

 

Student Dismissal Procedures

Parents may come on campus to meet their children at the classroom door or in a designated area when the dismissal bell rings at 2:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Thursdays. Kindergarten children must be signed out at the classroom door by a parent, a authorized adult or an older brother or sister. All children should know when they come to school each day whether they are to walk home, or get picked up. Children who are waiting for parents to pick them up must wait inside the school gates, and are not permitted to wait in the parking lot. Children who are scheduled to ride the bus will be put on the bus unless the parent calls or writes a note letting the teacher or school office know before dismissal time. Children enrolled in the 6 to 6 program will go to that program unless parents pick them up before dismissal time. All children should be picked up promptly at dismissal time each day. If a child is left at school after hours, the staff will make every attempt to contact the parents or their emergency contacts before calling authorities.

 

Parents/Visitors on Campus Policy

Your child’s safety is always our highest priority. The State Education Code requires that all visitors report to the office when they enter a school campus. We have established this policy to ensure that all visitors (all persons other than enrolled students and employees) who come on our campus are always with an employee. During the school day parents and community members are always welcome to visit, but no one is permitted to come on campus and go directly to a classroom, the playground or any other area of the school. All visitors who enter the campus must go directly to the school office, and be verbally given the OK by the office staff to visit a classroom or other school area. All visitors must sign in on the visitor sign-in book, and visibly wear the visitor badge during their visit. If you wish to visit your child’s classroom, please make arrangements with your child’s teacher prior to your visit. If you wish to visit during your child during lunchtime, you will sign in at the office and get a visitor badge and then check in with a noon assistant on lunch duty before you join your child at the lunch tables. If you wish to visit your child’s class while they are out on the playground, please make arrangements with your child’s teacher or an administrator who will accompany you. When you come in for a scheduled conference or meeting, sign in at the office before you go to the meeting room. If you need to drop something off for your child, please bring it to the office and your child will be called to the office to pick it up. These procedures help us to keep our students at all times, and allow children and teachers to have uninterrupted instructional time.

 

Volunteer Sign-in

Barnard has many wonderful parent and community volunteers. All volunteers will follow the Visitor on Campus procedures described above, with the following exceptions. When volunteers enter the campus they will sign in on the volunteer sign-in book in the office and will wear volunteer badges. They will work in the rooms/areas where they are scheduled to volunteer as prearranged with the teacher or other staff members.

 

Student Safety to and from School

To keep your children safe walking to and from, please teach your children the following safety guidelines:

School Books

Text books are given to each student and are entrusted to their care for the school year. Please help your child to value and care for his school books. If a library book or textbook is lost or damaged, parents are asked to pay for the repair or replacement cost. Each child will also receive a letter and library check-out application explaining the library use guidelines. Please help your child to follow these guidelines.

 

School Supplies

In the State of California all school supplies are provided by the public schools. We do however strongly recommend that each child has a backpack and brings it every day to carry books, homework, and other items to and from school. Please put your child’s name on it. We also recommend that you have supplies available at home for your children to use for homework assignments. These supplies should include: pencils, erasers, crayons, markers, writing paper, ruler, scissors and glue. If your child wants to bring his own school supplies from home, he/she is welcome to.

 

No Pets, Please

Although we love your furry friends, we must ask you to leave your dogs at home when you come to school to drop off or pick up your children. For the safety of our students we do no permit dogs on campus. Normally gentle pets can be alarmed or startled in a school setting and may hurt a child.

 

Emergency Phone Numbers

When your home or work numbers change, please call the office or send us a note immediately. We need current phone numbers! The State Education Code requires that we have emergency contact phone numbers. We can only release your child to persons you have authorized on your child’s enrollment card. Our school district policy requires that we call the police when we have a sick or injured child and we can not contact the parents or other authorized adults to pick them up. In a life-threatening situation we will call 911.

 

Moving?

Please call the office at least two weeks prior to your move so that we can prepare transfer papers for your child. You can take these papers to your child’s next school. This will make it easier for you to enroll your child at their new school.

 

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

We want you to become actively involved at Barnard! We need you! Here are some of the ways that you can participate and support your child and all of the children at Barnard.

 

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

We had a dedicated group of parents on our Parent Teacher Association last year. They held fundraisers and paid for great assemblies and field trips and rewards and treats for our students. But some of our officers have moved away or their child graduated, so we need some new parents to step in. We need a group of committed parents who are willing to give of their time and talents for the Barnard children. We would like to raise funds again to pay for field trips and assemblies and other special events to enrich our students’ education. If you are interested in joining or serving as an officer, please complete the attached form and return it to your child’s teacher.

 

School Site Council (SSC) and Governance Team

The School Site Council is an important committee, which is composed of equal numbers of parents/community members and school staff members. The SSC monitors school-wide student progress and the instructional program throughout the school year. The SSC makes important decisions about the Title 1 Program / No Child Left Behind Program at Barnard. It decides how Title 1 program funds are allocated to support student achievement. Parent members are elected by parents and staff members are elected by staff.

The Governance Team makes important decisions about the, educational programs and the allocation of site funds. They also serve on interview panels for hiring new staff members. On this committee parents, teachers and other staff members collaborate to improve the educational program at Barnard. If you are interested in serving as a parent representative on the combined School Site Council (SSC) and Governance Team, please come to the school office and complete a candidate form. The Governance Team meets at 3:30 p.m. and the School Site Council (SSC) meets at 4:30 p.m. on one Tuesday afternoon each month in the school library.

 

English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC)

The English Learner Advisory Committee is an important committee that gives input and makes recommendations regarding the program we provide for our students who are English Learners. They committee members monitor student progress through test data and attendance data. They make recommendations about the use of EL funds and the selection of instructional materials. Parents of

English learners are encouraged to join this committee, but all parents are welcome.

 

Parent Volunteers

Barnard has been fortunate to have many volunteers who contribute their time and effort to support the teachers and students. We can use your time and talents in many ways. If you are interested in joining our volunteer program please contact your child’s teacher or the school office. All volunteers must complete a volunteer application, have a current TB test and attend an orientation meeting before beginning to volunteer. You can pick up an application at the school office. Please contact the school nurse to schedule a TB test. She will give TB tests on Monday and read them on Wednesday.

 

Home-School Communication

Parents are always welcome and encouraged to come to visit their child’s classroom and to have conferences with their child’s teacher. Please contact your child’s teacher to make arrangements. If you have questions or concerns, always know that our teachers and other staff members are available to assist you. Please read parent newsletters and all notices that are sent home.

 

Parent-Teacher Conferences and Open House

We hold important meetings for parents throughout the year to keep you informed about Barnard’s educational programs and your child’s educational progress. We will hold Back-to-School Night on Thursday October, 12 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Parent-teacher conferences will be held December 5, 6, and 7 and March 27, 28 and 29. We will hold Open House on March 8. We encourage you to attend all of these events. Your participation and support is essential for the success of your children.