1. COMMUNICATION:

WEEKLY FOLDERS: A student folder containing some of the work performed during the prior week will be sent home each week on Monday. Parents should review the weekly progress of the child and when necessary make arrangements for conference with the teacher. (Please make requests for appointments with your child’s teacher in writing.) Weekly assessment levels will be included in the folder. The work folder should be signed by a parent and returned on Tuesday in order that the teacher may know that the parent is aware of his/her child’s progress. Parents should keep the materials in the folder and return the empty folder to the school. PTA information and announcements will be sent through folders. Homeroom teachers will send curriculum newsletters on a weekly basis. We encourage parents to contact teachers with any concerns. Be on the lookout for these important communications.

A.  OPEN LINE: Open Line is a monthly parent newsletter written by the administration and is sent home through the weekly folder. It contains information of the month’s events. Your feedback on this newsletter is valued. An effort is made to include special events and share philosophy and plans for the school.

B.  CLEAR COMMUNICATION: Appropriate communication between the school and home is essential for the success of all of our children. Teachers will schedule a minimum of two conferences per year. Parents may request a phone conference if attendance is inconvenient. Attending conferences is essential for communication and opportunities to discuses in detail your child's progress. We believe that parents and teachers need this time of communication in order to best serve students. Our staff is committed to providing time for the conference. Home visits are an option for conferences in cases of hardships. Please contact any staff member as you see the need.

C. PTA NEWSLETTER: The PTA sponsors a monthly newsletter, which is sent home with the children through the weekly folder. This newsletter includes highlights from various committees, children’s work and classroom news. We encourage all parents and staff to become members of Yates Mill PTA.

PURPOSE: It is the philosophy of the staff of Yates Mill Elementary that homework is an important part of our educational program for students. Homework assignments are designed to be purposeful continuations and extensions of the instructional program. It will be appropriate to student’s developmental and academic achievement and provide opportunities for the reinforcement and application of what is learned at school.

Homework assignments will cover concepts or skills that have been introduced in class. Students will have had guided practice time in the classroom and are expected to complete a homework assignment independently.

Homework will not be a continuation of UNFINISHED class work unless extenuating circumstances exist, such as illness.

Homework assignments will be completed by students outside of school hours.

Homework assignments will be specific. Students will know what is expected of them and the task will be within the student’s abilities. Prior to leaving school, questions pertaining to the completion of homework will be answered and clarified to ensure students understand the assignment.

Homework assignments should not require the use of books or materials, which are not readily available in the home or accessible to the students at school.

All students will be provided with an assignment sheet or instructions for homework. Parents will be notified if their child is having difficulties keeping up with homework assignments. Parent support is very important if homework is to be helpful and meaningful to the child. Please contact the teacher if your child is spending excessive time on homework or finding it to challenging.

Projects are appropriate for homework. Our goal for assigning projects is to give opportunities for applying knowledge and creativity. Students will develop planning and time management skills through assigned projects.

B.  EVALUATION OF HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS:

Class discussions

Individual conferences

Quizzes

Grading (not necessarily a letter grade)

Oral and written reports

Rubrics – scoring guides

When projects are assigned, students will receive a rubric scoring guide ahead of the due date for grading purposes. A rubric is a grading guide for a project or creative assignment. It will help define what is expected and what exceeds expectations. 

Elementary students in Wake County must meet grade level standards to be promoted to the next grade. These standards are based on the North Carolina Student Accountability Standards. 

A student is promoted when all grade level standards are met. However, students may be promoted with required intervention when not all of the standards are met.

Key Points:

All medication must be housed in the office. No student is allowed to have prescription or over-the-counter medications (i.e. aspirin, cough drops) in their possession.  A medical form signed by a doctor and a prescription bottle must accompany all medications that need to be dispensed at school. For a student taking a short course of antibiotics the prescription bottle will be required, but no doctor’s form is needed for the office staff to dispense the medication. A note from the parent is required.  All medications will be dispensed based on the prescription written. There are no exceptions to this policy. For long-term medications we must have a new medical form each school year prior to administering the medications. Doctors have the medical forms in their office. Please contact the school if you have any questions.

Wake County School Board Policy #6410 states: "One of the basic educational objectives is the development of self discipline in students." Toward this end all students are expected to demonstrate acceptable behavior patterns.

Students at Yates Mill Elementary are expected to conduct themselves in a manner, which allows learning to take place and protects the physical safety of everyone. Teachers work closely with students to ensure that everyone is familiar with class and school rules. Special attention is given to acts of politeness, courtesy, respect, responsibility and other appropriate behaviors.

Learning to be a self-disciplined, responsible citizen is an important goal for our students. We endorse the beliefs behind the Glaser Theory, which focuses on getting children to control themselves. Our job is to help them learn how to become managers of their own behavior. Sometimes it is necessary for us to make decisions for children when their choices are unacceptable or can cause bodily harm to others. We believe children should fix their own problems and do restitution when possible. Children taking control of their decisions and responsibility for their actions is the overall primary goal.

Students who have continual difficulty in conducting themselves appropriately may be referred to the office for further action. Parent contacts will be made regarding the incidents. Sometimes, the contact is by way of a discipline form. This form must be signed and returned the next day that child returns to school.

It is also possible even at an elementary level, for some behaviors to result in going home or result in an official suspension. These behaviors and possible actions are outlined in the "Code of Student Conduct" which is located in the Wake County Parent Handbook. Parents and students should familiarize themselves with this document.

A. FIGHTING OR ASSAULT: Fighting and assault on students and other people are prohibited. A fight is considered hitting, shoving, scratching, biting, blocking the passage of another person, or throwing an object at another person. No student shall take any action or make comments or written messages, which might reasonably be expected to result in a fight. Student violating this policy will be suspended from school for up to ten days.

B. ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY: The Wake County Public Schools has adopted a zero tolerance position when it pertains to communications of "threats of violence." Please remind your children that communicating threats is a serious offense and will result in serious consequences.

C. ROCKS: Children will not pick up rocks or throw rocks on campus. This is dangerous and will result in serious consequences.

D. TOYS AND PERSONAL ITEMS: No student shall possess, handle, or transmit any weapon or other object that can reasonably be considered or used as a weapon of dangerous instrument. Students will be suspended for violating Wake County School Policy. Others toys and personal items are not to brought to school except when specified by the teacher (i.e., Show & Tell.) Unauthorized items will be confiscated until a parent can pick them up. This includes toy guns, electronic toys, beanie babies, yo yo’s, lasers, and chewing gum, game cards, magic cards, hats, etc. No cellular phones are permitted.  If a student has a cellular phone or pager it needs to be in their back pack and not be turned on.  It is disruptive to have these items visible. 

E. APPROPRIATE DRESS: A general rule concerning dress is that one should always dress in a manner that does not distract from the educational process. Appropriate dress reflects pride in school and helps to establish a positive tone for learning. Following are some guidelines:

        All parents are requested to remind children of appropriate bus             
         behavior and reasons for the rules. The following are behaviors that will 
        result in a discipline report being forwarded to the principal or assistant 
        principal for action:

The school day for students is 9:15 a.m. until 3:45 p.m. Students riding buses stay in the classroom until bus arrives on campus. Car riders are dismissed at 3:40.

Consistent attendance in school is necessary for student success. The WCPSS policy on attendance is listed in Wake County School Parent Handbook. Please comply with the policy. Absences for vacations are unexcused. Attendance is one of our School Improvement Goals. We plan to have a daily rate of 96.5%. Your support is needed. Poor attendance is one of the best predictors of dropping out of school later. Excessive or consistent tardiness will be addressed on an individual basis. If you are a transfer student, it may mean a return to your base school. Help us get your child off to a good start.

All visitors to the school must "check in" at the office before going into other parts of the building. We welcome visitors but wish to know who is here and their location. We will give you a badge for identification. Please return it and sign out on your departure. Staff members are directed to stop anyone who is not wearing a badge and will contact the office immediately. This is a major safety policy and we appreciate your help.

If you are planning to "observe" a classroom, plan to contact the administration for approval. Parents are encouraged to come and have lunch with their children during their specific lunch period. Parents are also encouraged to work in classrooms to support the teaching and learning process. Classroom volunteers are scheduled through the classroom teacher. The PTA will be organizing tutoring support at the request of the classroom teachers based on specific needs.

The staff members are required to be in their rooms at 8:30 a.m.; therefore, students should arrive no earlier than 8:45 a.m. Do not drop off your child before 8:45 a.m. without specific permission in advance by the administration. When students arrive, they should go directly to their classrooms entering the front door. Parents bringing children should remain in their cars moving around the circle in front of the school. Students may exit car doors toward the sidewalk only. Double car drop is unsafe and may result in an accident as the child moves between the cars. It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure safe departure to the sidewalk. Cooperation is a must if we are to have a safe arrival system. We are offering the Early Arrival Program that begins at 7:00 a.m. and an After-school Program that begins at 4:00 p.m.. Both programs have a monthly fee. Please contact the office if you are interested.

A. LATE ARRIVAL:

Any student arriving on campus after 9:15 am is late. A parent or guardian must come to the office with the student to sign in. Please do not send your child to the office unaccompanied. We keep track of children who are tardy and notify parents when they reach an unacceptable level. Each minute of the school day is important to the learning process.

School is dismissed at 3:45. If you plan to pick-up your children after school, plan to be at school by 3:55. If we cannot locate a parent or designee, when the child is left at school, a call to the appropriate authorities will be in order. We appreciate your cooperation with these procedures. We have many day care businesses that pick up at Yates Mill Elementary. Yates Mill also has buses that deliver to day cares in the Garner area.

B. LEAVING SCHOOL DURING THE DAY:

If you need to take your child out of school during the school day, you must come by the office for an early release form and sign your child out of school. We cannot permit students to leave school during the day unless they are accompanied by a parent or parent’s official designee. If you plan to have someone else pick up your child plan to send a note. We will be checking identification for parents checking out children.

C. CHANGE IN TRANSPORTATION:

If your child is to go home in a different way than he/she normally does (go by car, with a friend or walk), please send a note to the teacher stating the change; without written permission, we must insist that the child go home in the normal way. All buses are full. PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST THAT YOUR CHILD RIDE ANOTHER BUS. Call Dr. Williams or Mrs. Swann if an emergency exists to get permission for another bus. Please do not call the front office to change your child’s way home after 2:00. This is a tremendous intrusion to the office and classroom. Please make afternoon arrangements in the morning and send notes when it is not an emergency. We can not be responsible for notifying children of changes in transportation home via calls to the office. Please be sure to plan ahead and put in writing any change. We appreciate your assistance with this policy.

It is very important for us to have correct emergency telephone numbers at all times. If your telephone number changes, please send the office and classroom teacher a note to that effect. We keep locator cards in the main office and we will need to update these regularly. An emergency contact number is important if your child gets sick at school.

Students are responsible for their breakfast and lunch money each day. However, they may purchase prepaid lunches for 5, 10 or 20 days. Prepaid meals should by purchased on Mondays. The child brings checks to the cafeteria before 9:15. Plan to write your child’s name and home base on your lunch check. You are welcomed to join your child for lunch as your schedule permits.

Fruits and vegetables are encouraged for children who bring their lunch from home. Sweets are discouraged. No canned soda drinks permitted in the cafeteria or for snacks. We ask for your support in our effort to teach and to stress courtesy to all adults and students.

A Lost and Found cabinet is located in the main building. Lost books will be returned to the teacher. Do not allow students to bring large sums of money or valuable items to school. The school is not responsible for items that are misplaced or missing. Unauthorized toys will be confiscated until parents can pick them up. Students should not leave money or valuables in the classroom at any time. Clothing items and personal items should have identification tags or names on the inside of the clothing. Unclaimed items will be donated to a local charity twice a year. Check the Lost and Found for items you are missing. Contact the office staff for lost money or eyeglasses.

Wake County Policy states: "All school employees shall discourage and decline the giving of parties by anyone during school hours for students". There are many exciting and fun learning experiences, which can be planned instead of parties grade levels plan for special activities throughout the school year.

An alternative for birthday parties is our "Celebration Books" plan to increase our Media Center Collection. A favorite book may be donated in your child’s name during his/her birthday month. We must carefully utilize every minute of every day for effective instruction.