DOES Parent Student Handbook 14-15

Welcome to Dayton Oaks ElementarySchool Contents Message to Students Mission Statement Arrival and Dismissal Procedures Attendance Banking Birthdays Bus Safety Cafeteria Information Cale

Dayton Oaks Elementary

School

Parent/Student

Handbook

4691 Ten Oaks Road Dayton, Maryland 21036

Main Office: 410-313-1571

FAX: 410-313-1572

http://www2.hcpss.org/does/

Principal: Mrs Carol DeBord

Assistant Principal: Ms Heather Tracy

Welcome to Dayton Oaks Elementary

School

Contents

Message to Students Mission Statement Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

Attendance Banking Birthdays Bus Safety Cafeteria Information

Calendar Communication Counselor Dolphin Dive Expectations Drugs, Tobacco, Alcohol, Weapons

E-mail Guidelines Emergency Cards Health Suite Information

Hours Lost and Found Media/Technology Information

Middle School Information PTA Executive Board Members

Policy 9270-PR Reporting Acts of Bullying, Harassment of

Intimidation School Improvement Team

Supply Lists Toys Visitors/Parking/Sign-in Procedures

Volunteers

Message to Students

Dear Students,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to a new school year at Dayton Oaks Elementary Our theme is “Islands of

Imagination.” Your teachers have many exciting things

planned for you this year and with the support of your

parents and teachers you will be a huge success Don’t

forget to work hard and follow the Dayton Oak’s

Expectations Many of you will use your Agenda Books to record your assignments and assist you in staying organized Often, your agenda book and take home folder will have important information that you will need to share with your parents as well We hope you have a wonderful year at

DOES We look forward to greeting all of you in August

Mrs DeBord and Ms Tracy

Mission Statement The Dayton Oaks School Community will provide a safe, nurturing environment that fosters individual potential through academic excellence, appreciation

of diversity, commitment to college and career

readiness, and life-long learning.

Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

Students should be in their homeroom class and ready for morning announcements by 9:00 AM Classes will begin at 9:10 Students should arrive no earlier than 8:50, unless it is for a scheduled activity supervised by an adult Students that are dropped off at the school should remain in their car with an adult, until the 8:50 bell rings All car-riders must be

dropped off in the carpool loop For safety reasons, parents parking in the lot must escort their children across the

crosswalk When using the carpool loop, students should be ready to depart as cars pull to the curb and must exit

curbside Please maintain a single line of traffic as passing is extremely unsafe and is not allowed

Dismissal

Car riders are dismissed to the carpool loop at 3:20 They are walked to the loop with an instructional assistant

Bus Riders are dismissed from 3:22-3:30 Students may not ride an unassigned bus for a play date Any changes in

dismissal procedures must be submitted in writing We

cannot take the word of a child to change their dismissal routine In cases where there is no note from the parent requesting a change, a child will be sent home following his/ her normal dismissal routine

Additionally, we will require a written, parental consent if your child is to be picked up by someone other than a parent

or guardian A legal document will be required if a child is NOT to be released to a parent due to custody issues

Students attending the after-care program at DOES will be dismissed to the cafeteria at 3:20 Before and After-care can

be arranged by contacting the Howard County Department

of Parks and Recreation If there is an unscheduled closing, the aftercare programs will NOT be held You will need to make arrangements for your child(ren)

Students are expected to attend school daily On the first day back to school after an absence, please send a note with the reason for the absence, the date, and the student’s full name to your child’s teacher Include any activities in which students should not participate due to recuperation time Parents of students with excessive absences or tardiness will receive a phone call and/or a written notice from the school Good attendance is directly related to school success and academic achievement

Banking

Dayton Oaks is pleased to announce its partnership with Sandy Springs Bank Your children are given the opportunity

to open a savings account and deposit money right here at the school Information is presented at the beginning of the school year for those students who have established

accounts or are interested in starting a savings club account

Birthdays

Birthdays are celebrated in various ways by individual

teams (Information will be sent home from each team) Due

to the school system’s Food and Nutrition policy, homemade foods are not permitted during these monthly celebrations Birthday and other party invitations may not be distributed

at school Because we value equity, it is important that

feelings are not hurt because some children receive

invitations while others do not All private party

arrangements must be made outside of school School

cannot release private information regarding names, phone numbers or addresses of students Our PTA publishes a

Student Directory that is distributed to all families This is a great resource for contacting classmates

Bus Safety

Specific student behavioral expectations are established for the safe and efficient operation of the school district

transportation system School bus drivers may present a bus referral to the Assistant Principal for further investigation if bus expectations are not being met

1 All students must remain seated while the bus is in motion

2 Follow directions from the driver the first time they are given

3 Keep all body parts inside the bus and out of the aisle

4 Keep hands, feel, legs, arms, and personal property to themselves

5 Keep voice level to a minimum

6 Please keep all toys, ipods, and GAMEBOYS at home

Cafeteria/Lunch/Recess Information

The Board of Education approved the following prices for School Meals and Milk for the Elementary level 2008/09 school year

Milk $0.50

Adult Regular Lunch: $4.50

Reduced Lunch $0.40

Menus are sent home monthly and can also be accessed on the school system’s website at www.hcpss.org Some ala carte items are also available and include: milk, juice,

snacks, and ice cream Our cafeteria manager is Mrs Carol Isenstadt

Calendar

Each August, students receive a copy of the Howard County Public School System’s Calendar and Handbook The

Calendar and Handbook contain many useful and important facts about the school system’s policies and procedures,

programs, services and supports, student’s rights and

responsibilities It should be used as a reference if questions arise during the school year

Please visit the Howard County Public School System website for a complete showing of all calendar dates: www.hcpss.org

Communication

We encourage open, honest, and respectful communication and appreciate your input and ideas If you have a concern,

we encourage you to first discuss it with your child’s teacher The administrative team is also available as an additional resource We have an open door policy and welcome your comments and suggestions

The Weekly Wave is our newsletter that highlights school and community activities These newsletters are sent via HCPSS news and can be accessed on our school’s website (http://does.hcpss.org ) A hard copy is sent home if requested

Classroom work and school-wide information will be sent home in the student’s THURSDAY folder All class-work will

be saved until Thursday except for Kindergarteners They will bring their class-work home daily

HCPSSNews emails will be sent throughout the year as

information becomes available and needs to be presented to the community (We will send an alert if a bus is running late

as soon as we receive any information)

Our school’s website address is http://does.hcpss.org

Counselor

The school counselor is available to support children at

school to be successful in their daily routines Our counselor, Mrs Jodi Enzman, provides a variety of services and

activities working with individual students, small groups,

parents, teachers, and lunch bunches She presents lessons throughout the school year that reinforce our school-wide expectations and good citizenship Mrs Enzman also serves

as a resource for and provides referral assistance to other programs and services in our community She can be

reached at 410-313-1571 or (jodi_enzman@hcpss.org)

Dolphin Dive Expectations

Dayton Oaks Elementary follows the DIVE expectations for school-wide behavior

D- Be Dependable

I- Be Involved and Organized

V- Be Very Respectful

E- Everyone Succeeds

School Psychologist

The school psychologist is also available to support children

at school and to help develop their social and academic skills Our school psychologist is Ms Jill Schindler Ms

Schindler leads our Instructional Intervention Team and is an integral part of our Special Education Team as well Ms

Schindler serves as a resource for the students that may need emotional and academic support throughout the school year You may reach her by calling the school’s office or emailing her at jill_schindler@hcpss.org

Drugs, Tobacco, Alcohol, Weapons

According to state law, schools are drug-free zones and the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco is prohibited on school property Firearms or any kind of weapon, including pin

knives, are strictly prohibited Look a-like weapons, such as toy guns or knives are also prohibited Please review this policy with your child(ren.)

E-mail Guidelines

The Howard County Public School System believes that

communication between home and school is an important component to student success The HCPSSS Collaborative Learning Community or CLC is an email system that school system employees can access and it is often a preferred, form of communication The school system has provided staff members the following guidelines (This is just a partial listing)

Some General E-Mail guidelines

 Staff members should respond to e-mails in a timely fashion, just as they would to a phone call or

handwritten message, but the response does not have

to be by e-mail One may choose to respond in other ways (e.g., e-mail, telephone call, note, conference)

 E-mail should not be used to discuss contentious,

emotional or highly confidential issues These issues should be dealt with face-to-face of by phone E-mails should be brief and must be civil

 When appropriate, include the sender’s original

message for clarity of content

Acceptable Staff/Parent E-Mail

 Informing parents about their child’s academic

performance (e.g., grades, improved performance and/

or class participation, missing assignments)

 Informing parents about class activities (e.g.,

curriculum, homework, special events, assignments, and important dates)

 Disseminating class/school announcements to a parent e-mail group maintained at the school level

 Arranging a meeting/telephone call regarding a student issue including a general description of the issue (e.g.,

“I would like to arrange a meeting to discuss your son’s attendance.”)

 Following up on a non-sensitive issue that has

previously been discussed via e-mail (e.g., status of homework)

Unacceptable Staff/Parent E-Mail

 Any discussion of or information related to other

students

 Any sensitive student information that would normally

be discussed face-to face or by phone

 Any negative discussion related to other staff, parents

or community members

 Any information not related to school system business

Emergency Cards

Each child is required to have an emergency card on file in the front office and health room This information is used in case parents need to be contacted at any time Please make sure all telephone numbers and addresses are accurate and clearly written Remember to put the name of a person who can be contacted in case you cannot be reached Please notify the school throughout the year if there are any phone number or address changes All information on the

emergency card must be filled in to assure that we can

reach a responsible party in case of an emergency Current and accurate information is essential if an emergency arises and the school must locate the parent due to injury,

sickness, or emergency event A copy of custody

agreements must be filed with the school if there are any special custodial arrangements

Health Suite Information

Mrs Kim Watts, Health Assistant, works under the direction

of a cluster nurse,

Ms Donna Lyman Health Assistants will help students in case of an accident or illness Students leaving early due to

an illness must be signed out by their parent or guardian in the main office

The school hours are 9:00 through 3:30 daily Children are not permitted in the building, unsupervised, until the 8:50 bell rings Children must remain with an adult until school begins In the afternoon, dismissal begins at 3:20 It is

extremely important to notify the office of any transportation changes before 2:50 in the afternoon This alleviates any confusion for your child and the child’s teacher

Lost and Found

If you lose something, you may find it in the “Lost and Found” container located in the cafetorium closet Please put your child’s name on all clothing, jackets, hats, lunch boxes, etc that are brought to school Unclaimed items will be

donated to charity

Media/Technology Information The Media Center is open daily from 8:50am to 3:20 each school day The media center provides many

services/activities for the parents, staff, and students When visiting the media center Mrs Jane Slattery Mrs Jean Huber, and Mrs Kathy Boeckl may greet you:

Ms Lori Jones and Ms Rachel Gelinas our the Technology Resource Teachers The Technology Resource Teachers will address six main goals throughout the year: To develop foundations in the understanding and uses of technology

systems; to demonstrate an understanding of the history of technology and its impact on society, and practice ethical, legal, and responsible uses of technology to assure safety; to use a variety of technologies for learning and collaboration;

to use technology to communicate information and express ideas using various media formats; to use technology to locate, evaluate, gather, and organize information and data; and, to demonstrate the ability to use technology and

develop strategies to solve problems and make informed decisions All students, grades K-5, will receive direct

instruction to meet these goals through

curriculum-integrated lessons on a weekly basis

Middle School Information

Dayton Oaks feeds into the following middle schools:

Middle School:

Scaggsville Road

20759

PTA Executive Board Members President

Name: Kristi DeIuliis

e-mail: president @daytonoakspta.org

1 st Vice President

Name: Angie Norris

e-mail: firstvicepresident@daytonoakspta.org

2 nd Vice President

Name: Kathi Estes