Parent and Student Handbook
To
______________________________________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS PAGE
Address
& Emergency Numbers........................................................
9
Asbestos
Letter................................................................................. 4
Attendance ...................................................................................... 7
Bikes,
Toys, Etc................................................................................ 16
Birthday
Party Invitations................................................................... 9
Calendar........................................................................................... 12
Child
Custody................................................................................... 9
Conferences...................................................................................... 11
Consequences
for Breaking Rules...................................................... 21
Counselor
Letter................................................................................ 5
Daily
Schedule.................................................................................. 13
Dress
Code....................................................................................... 15
FERPA............................................................................................. 6
Field
Trips........................................................................................ 15
Fines................................................................................................. 14
Friendly
Advice................................................................................. 10
Grade
System & Honor Roll.............................................................. 17
Harassment
Policy............................................................................. 18
Hot
Lunch & Breakfast...................................................................... 14
Immunizations................................................................................... 11
Leaving
School Grounds................................................................... 10
Lost
and Found................................................................................. 10
Medical
Authorization........................................................................ 11
Medical
Problems.............................................................................. 11
Non-discrimination............................................................................ 16
Parking,
Loading, Bus, Handicap Zones............................................. 10
Principal
Letter.................................................................................. 3
Retention/Promotion
Procedure.................................................... 16
School
Rules................................................................................
19-20
Signature
Forms................................................................................ 23
Staff................................................................................................. 2
Supervision....................................................................................... 9
Suspension....................................................................................... 22
Tardy
Policy..................................................................................... 8
Telephone......................................................................................... 9
Visitors............................................................................................. 7
Weapons.......................................................................................... 16
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
GARFIELD
Principal Laurie
Huffman Office ext
11
K Kristi
Regalado 103 ext 23
Grade 1 Pam
Holland 201 ext
31
Grade 1 Nancey
Patch 101 ext
21
Grade 2 Cindy
Schulz 202 ext
32
Grade 2 Ann
Hoff 102 ext 22
Grade 3 Kim Feil 204 ext 34
Grade 3 Colleen
Overcast 104 ext 24
Grade 4 Heather
Nelson 206 ext 36
Grade 4 Laurie
Claypool 105 ext 25
Grade 5 Bonnie
Boggs 208 ext
38
Grade 5 Alyssa
Shawver 107 ext 27
Grade 6 Jennifer
Hilderman 106 ext
26
Grade 6 Kristin
Lee 207 ext 37
Art Keely Perkins 108 ext
28
Counselor Bob
Holland Office ext 14
Counselor Tisha
Roberts Office ext 42
Librarian Betty
Berger Library ext
15
Music Chuck Sawyer 108 ext
45
Music Tim Virag 108 ext 44
P. E. Vince
Gundlach Gym ext 20
P. E. Sharon Alderman Gym ext 43
Title 1 Rita Rasmussen 203 ext 46
Title 1 Connie Taylor 203 ext 30
Developmental Reading Margaret Brown Rdg
Rm ext 19
Dev. Reading Aide Jean Doran Rdg Rm ext
48 Speech Pearl
Hamano ext 16
Special Education Brittani
Brusett 203 ext
33
Special Education Aide Sandi
Ewalt 203 ext 50
Special Education Tara Peila 205 ext 35
Special Education Aide Barb
Finneman 205 ext
51
Special Education Aide Kathy
Strub 205 ext 39
Special Ed Student Aide Susana Leidholt 101/204/206 ext 53
Special Ed Student Aide April Samuelson 105 ext 57
Special Ed Student Aide Denise DeVault 104 ext
40
Classroom Aide Dolly Ferris 102/201/202 ext
55
Classroom Aide Laura Sevier 103 ext 41
Class/Recess/Noon Aide Ellen Jebens 201/202/106/207 ext 49
Class/Recess/Noon Aide Michelle
Willson 101/102/104/104 ext 56
Class/Recess/Noon Aide Sharon Clelland 105/204/208/106 ext 47
Class/Recess/Noon Aide Deb Herzog 206/104/107 ext 52
Head Custodian Mark Nielsen ext 18
Sweepers David
Olguin, Richard Padgett ext 54
Secretary Victoria
McBride ext
10
_________________________________________________________________
After
reading through the handbook, please sign &
return
the forms on the last page to your child’s
teacher
by
1015
234-4310 (phone)
234-4311 (fax)
Dear
Welcome! We are looking forward to
another exciting and educational year and we hope that you are, too! We hope
that you had a safe and fun summer and are ready to start back into the school
year!
A special welcome to all new
This
handbook will help you become familiar with the school, the staff, and our
rules and procedures. Please take time to read through this handbook and let us
know if you have any questions. The daily schedule is printed on page 13 and
the school calendar is printed on page 12. This year, students in grades K-6
will be released at 2:00 on every
Wednesday, while students in grades 7-12 will only be released at 2:00 on
about two Wednesdays a month (usually the first and last).
Here’s
hoping you have a successful, productive, and positive school year. If we all
work for this, it will happen!
Sincerely,
Laurie
Huffman
Principal
Dear parents:
Uncontrolled asbestos
contamination in buildings can be a significant environmental and public health
problem. Both the public and private sectors have been dealing with the asbestos
issue for many years. In 1986, Congress enacted the Asbestos Hazard Emergency
Response Act (AHERA) primarily to require school districts to identify
asbestos-containing materials (ACM) in
their school buildings and take appropriate actions to control the release of
asbestos fibers. In 1987, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a
regulatory program which enforces the AHERA mandate.
In compliance with the AHERA
regulations, we’ve had our school facilities inspected by an EPA certified
building inspector. During that inspection, samples were taken of building materials
suspected of containing asbestos. The results of the inspection and laboratory
analysis of the samples have confirmed the presence of ACM in portions of the
school facilities. It is important to note that these materials are in a form
and condition that does not pose an imminent health threat to students,
faculty, or employees.
With confirmation of the
presence of ACM, an Asbestos Management Plan was developed for our school by an
EPA certified management planner. The Management Plan includes the inspection
and physical assessment reports, the training program for our custodial and
maintenance personnel, the plans and procedures to be followed to minimize
disturbance of the asbestos-containing materials, and a program for regular
surveillance of the ACM.
A copy of the Asbestos
Management Plan is available for your review in our administrative offices
during regular office hours. Nolan
Mikelson is our designated Asbestos Program Manager and all inquiries regarding
the plan should be directed to him.
We have begun implementing
the Asbestos Management Plan. It is our intent to not only comply with, but
exceed applicable regulations in dealing with the asbestos issue. We will take
whatever steps are necessary to insure that our students, teachers, and employees
have a healthy and safe environment in which to learn and work.
______________________________________________________________________________
Dear Parents,
Guidance and Counseling
services are provided in each elementary school in
We very much enjoy meeting
with parents. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate
to contact us. Bob will be at
Sincerely,
Mr. Robert Holland
Mrs. Tisha Roberts
_________________________________________________________________
FERPA
The Family Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA) affords you, the parents, certain rights with respect to your
child’s education records. These are:
1)
The right to
inspect and review your child’s education records within 45 days of the day we
receive a request for access. If you
wish to do this, you should submit to the principal a written request that
identifies the records(s) you wish to inspect.
The principal will make arrangements for access and notify you of the
time and place where the records may be inspected.
2)
The right to
request the amendment of your child’s education records that you believe are
inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of your child’s privacy
rights under FERPA. If you wish to ask
us to amend a record, you should write the principal, clearly identify the part
of the record you want changed, and specify why it should be changed. If we decide not to amend the record as
requested by you, we will inform you of the decision and advise you of your
right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing
procedures will be provided to you when notified of the right to a hearing.
3)
The right to
consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in your
child’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes
disclosure without consent. One
exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to school
officials with legitimate educational interest.
A school official is a person employed by the school as an
administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including
secretarial, counseling, health, or medical staff and law enforcement unit
personnel); a person serving on the school board; a person or company with
officials ( such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); or
a parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or
grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or
her tasks. A school official has a
legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education
record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. Upon request, the school discloses education
records without consent to officials of another school district in which your
child seeks or intends to enroll.
4)
The right to file
a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures
by the Miles City Elementary School District, to comply with the requirements
of FERPA. The name and address of the
office that administers FERPA are:
Family Policy Compliance Office
We do have the right to
disclose directory information from education records without your
consent. Directory information includes information
such as your child’s name, parents’ names, address, phone number, birth date,
email address, class schedule, height, weight, dates of attendance, honors and
awards, clubs and teams to which your child belongs, and pictures. (For
example, this allows us to give directory information to the media to help
report awards and honors.) As a
guardian, you may request that none of your child’s directory information is
ever released by sending a written request to the principal.
VISITORS
We welcome and encourage you
to visit our school. To assure a smooth running and safe school, anyone
entering the building, for any reason, must report to the office. If your child
forgets his/her lunch, please drop it off at the office with the child’s name
and teacher’s name written on it and we will make sure it is properly
delivered.
ATTENDANCE
There is little doubt that
poor school attendance hampers a student’s natural academic progress. It is
vitally important that you get your child to school everyday on time. Please
note the following attendance procedures:
·
Attendance is
taken daily in the morning and again in the afternoon after lunch. Your child’s
attendance will be recorded on the quarterly report card. More than ten absences in any semester (two quarters) of school may
jeopardize your child’s promotion to the next grade. Absences verified by
medical personnel or absences that are caused by medical appointments will not
be counted.
·
If your child is
absent from school because of illness or any other reason, please call the
school before
·
Please do not
endanger the health of others by sending your child to school when he/she is
sick. Generally, if your child is too sick to go outside for recess, then
he/she should not be sent to school.
·
If your child
needs to be dismissed from school early, please send a note or call into the
office. To assure your child’s safety, we will not release your child to other
adults without proper notification from you.
·
Perfect
attendance certificates are awarded to students who attend school everyday on
time beginning with the first day of school. The only excused absences or tardies are in cases when you arrange before
hand with the principal for a medical appointment. Such an appointment may
cause your child to be late, to leave a bit early, or miss a small portion of
the day, but still attend most of the morning and afternoon sessions.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tardy Policy
In setting up our policy
concerning tardiness, we considered the following items:
·
When your child
is late coming to class, it causes a disruption of the class.
·
When your child
is late coming to class, it takes additional teacher time to explain or get your
child caught up with the rest of the class.
·
It is your
responsibility and your child’s responsibility to ensure that your child is at
school at the proper time.
·
It is not
necessary to determine whose fault it is for being late. The fact that your
child is late and has missed classroom time is enough to justify that lost time
must be made up.
The office will determine if
a tardy is excused or unexcused. If your child is late, he/she must come to the
office for a tardy slip before going to class.
EXCUSED TARDIES
·
The tardy is
prearranged with the principal.
·
If not
prearranged, the tardy is considered unavoidable by the principal.
An excused tardy will result
in your child being marked tardy, making up the work, but not the time.
UNEXCUSED TARDIES
·
The tardy is not prearranged
with the principal.
·
The tardy is not
considered unavoidable by the principal.
An unexcused tardy will
result in your student being marked tardy, making up the work, and possibly
making up the time. If your child is asked to make up the time, it will either be
after school or during recess with the classroom teacher. This consequence will
be at the discretion of the teacher or principal.
______________________________________________________________________________
SUPERVISION
OF STUDENTS
Please do not send your child
to school before
Every effort is made to
supervise your child in a way that will promote his/her safety and well-being. We
hope that you, as parents, will help us by sending your child at the
appropriate time.
ADDRESS & EMERGENCY NUMBERS
The school should be notified
if your child’s address or phone number changes. The name of a neighbor or
relative who might be contacted if your child is ill and you cannot be reached
should be given to the school also. All information should be kept current.
CHILD CUSTODY
In most cases, when parents
are divorced, legally separated, or have never married, one parent is
designated by the court as the custodial parent. If you are the custodial parent,
the noncustodial parent has the right to access the child’s records, receive any
pertinent school information regarding the child, and have contact with the
child on school property unless there is a court order limiting these
rights. In this case, you need to give a copy of the court order to the
principal to keep filed in the office.
TELEPHONE
Please limit your phone calls
to the school. We do not interrupt class to deliver your messages, but wait to
deliver them until right before release times at
BIRTHDAY PARTY INVITATIONS
We strongly discourage having
your child hand out party invitations at school. There is no good way to
explain to a youngster why he/she didn’t receive an invitation and so feelings get
hurt very easily and needlessly. If invitations are distributed after school or
in the evenings, it is less obvious to those not receiving one.
PARKING,
BUS ZONES, HANDICAP ZONES,
Please remember to be
courteous when driving, parking, and waiting for your child after school. We
know that you want to pick up your child and be gone as soon as possible, but
please remember to be safe and watch out for other children at all times. Please do not stop in the middle of the
street to drop off your child or you may be ticketed. Pull over to a curb
and direct your child to the nearest crosswalk.
Do not
park in the bus, loading, or handicap zones. These are for bus parking, unloading
hot lunch, unloading your child, the lift bus that picks up our physically
handicapped students, or parents that pick up/drop off wheelchair students
before or after school.
Remember the speed limit in all
school zones is 15 M.P.H.
______________________________________________________________________________
LEAVING SCHOOL GROUNDS
LOST AND
FOUND ITEMS
Lost and found items are
placed in the entryway for a reasonable time so that they can be reclaimed.
PLEASE help out by checking the entryway periodically for lost items and by clearly
marking your child’s boots, coats, hats, and mittens.
FRIENDLY ADVICE
Encourage your child to come
home immediately after school is dismissed. Loitering children are likely to
get into unsafe situations. Students are required to leave the playground
within 15 minutes after they are released for the day. Remind your child to:
·
Never ask for or
accept rides from strangers.
·
Report to the
principal, teacher, parents, or police any dangerous situations or strangers
seen on the way to or from school. Students should try to remember what the
strangers looked like and how they were dressed.
·
Return
immediately to or call the school to get assistance if a problem arises on the
way home.
MEDICATION AUTHORIZATION
It is recommended that all
doses of medications be given at home by you. If your child must be given
medication at school, please contact the principal or school secretary.
Arrangements will be made for either you or your child’s teacher to dispense
the medication. If you dispense the medication, you will be required to report
to the office, and then the office will call your child to come to the office.
If your child’s teacher agrees to dispense the medication, you will be required
to send a daily dose of medication to the teacher each day. You may send the
daily dose with your child to give to the teacher or you may bring it to the
teacher yourself. In addition, you will be required to furnish the school an authorization
form, available upon request from the office, which has been signed by you and your
child’s doctor. The form will be kept on file for the school year and must be
renewed each year.
MEDICAL
PROBLEMS
Does your child suffer from
acute asthma, allergies, diabetes, or some other ailment that might affect his/her
performance in school? If so, please notify the secretary and teacher so that proper
steps can be taken to insure your child’s well-being in school.
IMMUNIZATIONS
The 1989 Legislature passed
the immunization laws for
The Board of School Trustees’
policy requires that your child be immunized. Free or minimal cost immunization
shots are given at any time by the County Health Department located in the
CONFERENCES
Parent-teacher conferences
are held after the first and third quarters of school. These conferences will be scheduled by letter and
we strongly urge you to attend. Please
don’t think that just because we have scheduled conferences twice a year, we
don’t want to see you at other times. We encourage you to visit the school any
time and would be happy to schedule a conference for you.
______________________________________________________________________________
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
sessions begin
dismissed
Grades 4-6 recess
Grades 1-3 recess
sessions
dismissed
Wednesdays
dismissed
sessions
dismissed
______________________________________________________________________________
FINES
Students are responsible for
the proper care of textbooks, library books and other school materials. Students must pay for lost or damaged
materials. The amount of the fine is determined
by the cost and/or damage of the materials affected. In cases where the damage
is so extensive as to make the material unusable, the full price will be fined
since the materials will no longer be in use.
All materials must be returned at the end of the year or when your child
leaves the school. Failure to return
materials or pay for damages by the last day of school will result in us
withholding your child’s report card.
HOT LUNCH BREAKFAST
Full price: $2.25 Full
price: $1.25
Reduced
price: $0.40 Reduced
Price: $0.30
Adult price: $3.00 Adult price: $2.00
˝ pint
milk price: $0.25 ˝
pint milk price: $0.25
Please ask for an application
for free or reduced lunch if your child does not bring one home and you feel
you would qualify. Hot lunch starts on
September 4 and will be served at
Hot Lunch/Breakfast Payment Policy
If your child eats hot
lunch or breakfast, please make sure that your child’s meal account always
has money in it. Victoria, our school secretary, will send home reminders 1-2
times a week to let you know when your child’s account is almost empty. If you
get one of these reminders, please send money (either in the mail or with your
child) immediately so that your child’s meal account will not get a negative
balance. If your child’s account becomes empty, your child will be asked to
call you to inform you of this (since sometimes reminders never reach you)!
Unfortunately, if your
child’s account ever reaches -$10.00, (which means your child has eaten $10.00
worth of meals that have not been paid for), we will no longer allow your child
to eat any meals, hot or cold, at Garfield until you send enough money to cover
the negative balance. A situation like this can be very embarrassing for your
child so please do whatever you can to prevent this from happening!
If there are extenuating
circumstances that make you unable to pay for your child’s meals on a timely
basis, please call either the secretary or the principal and we will try to
make workable payment arrangements.
Failure to have your child’s
account paid in full before the last day of school will result in the school
withholding your child’s report card until payment is made.
______________________________________________________________________________
We have tried to look at the dress code from every angle--safety, style, comfort, attitude, etc.--knowing