WELCOME
TO
WASHINGTON SCHOOL
A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS/GUARDIANS
Our Expectations...
Of Students
We expect you, our students, to come to school every day, on time, and ready to work hard at your job--learning. We expect you to be respectful of yourselves, others and property. We expect you, to the best of your ability, to complete assigned lessons on time, including work missed because of absence. We expect you to follow school and classroom rules so that everyone has the opportunity to learn in a safe, friendly environment. We expect you to accept the leadership and direction of teachers, aides, and others in the school who have been assigned leadership responsibilities. We expect you to represent our school in a positive manner when you are on your way to and from school and at school-sponsored events. We expect good citizenship. We expect you to dress appropriately, meet standards of health and cleanliness, be honest and courteous, use only acceptable language, and refrain entirely from profanity and obscenity. We will not tolerate violent behaviors at our school. We expect you to make mistakes along the way and we will work with you to learn from those mistakes.
Of Parents/Guardians
We expect you, our parents/guardians, to be partners with us in the educational process. We can only achieve our educational purposes when there is your continuous involvement and participation in the work of the school. We expect you to send your children to school daily, on time, clean, well-rested, well-nourished, enthusiastic, and ready to learn. We expect you to promote learning and the school experience as a valuable, important aspect of growing up. We expect you to attend orientations and conferences that are set up to discuss your children’s educational experiences and progress. We expect you to communicate with your children and your children’s teachers. We expect you to ask questions and share concerns you may have about your children’s educational experiences. We expect you will make mistakes along the way and we will offer our support when that happens.
Of Teachers and School Officials
As a school staff, we will treat you and your children with respect and will work diligently to help your children reach their educational potentials. We will communicate with parents/guardians and students regularly. We will model lifelong learning as well as the joy found in learning for our students. We expect our staff to continuously improve in their art of teaching, using a variety of instructional and assessment methods to give your children the opportunities to develop in many ways. We will watch over your children’s progress carefully and adjust educational experiences to meet individual learning needs. We expect our staff to help make our school a safe, inviting, enjoyable place for teaching and learning. We expect that we (the principal included!!!) will make mistakes along the way and we will work hard to learn from our mistakes as well.
Of Our Community
We expect our community to partner with us, as well, to promote the educational welfare of our children. We expect our community to encourage our children in their efforts to learn and reach their potentials. We expect our community to work to provide safe, supportive neighborhoods for our children. We expect our community to welcome our children realizing that they are the “living messages we send to a time we will not see.”
School Schedules...
Arrival Time
Students who walk to school or who are dropped off by parents should arrive between 7:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. Students in grades K-5 who are eating school breakfast or having morning milk/juice break at school must arrive between 7:30 and 7:45 to ensure they have ample time to have breakfast before school starts at 8:00 a.m. For your child's safety, do not drop them off early as we are not able to provide playground supervision before 7:30 a.m.
Primary Daily Schedule-(Grades K-2)
Grades K-2 Morning Classes: 8:00-11:00 a.m.
K-2 Recess: 9:45-10:00 a.m.
Grades K-2 Lunch/Recess: 11:00-11:50 a.m.
Grades K-2 Afternoon Classes: 11:50 a.m.-2:55 p.m.
Recess: 1:30-1:45 p.m.
Intermediate Daily Schedule-(Grades 3-5)
Grade 3-5 Morning Classes: 8:00-11:30 a.m.
Grades 3-5 Lunch/Recess: 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
Grades 3-5 Afternoon Classes: 12:20-2:55 p.m.
Grade 4 & 5 Recess: 1:45-2:00 p.m.
Office Hours
While school is in session, our office is staffed from 7:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Departure Time
Our crossing guards are on duty from 2:55 p.m. -3:05 p.m. to assist students who walk home. Adult supervision is provided for students who must wait to ride the bus. For safety reasons, your child must leave the building and school grounds PROMPTLY at 3:00 p.m. unless he/she is involved in a supervised after school activity. Parents, please be sure that your children have a safe environment to go to when school is dismissed for the day. Students wishing to return to the school playground to play should wait until after 4:00 p.m.
Attendance
For your child to get the most from the learning opportunities presented at school, he/she needs to be diligent in attending school and arriving to school on time. Please work hard to limit the number of times your child must be absent or late due to illness, appointments, and/or family vacations as such absences from classroom instruction negatively impact student learning. On those rare occasions when your child might be tardy, he/she should report to the office before going to class. On those rare occasions when your child must be absent from school, parents or guardians MUST notify the school office of the REASON for the absence by phone before 9:00 a.m. (715-536-2373). For your child’s safety, we must know from you before 9:00 a.m. if your child is absent with excuse on any given day. Thanks for your cooperation!.
.When illness occurs, contact your child’s teacher to make sure that the educational program is not interrupted any more than is necessary (i.e. finding out what work was missed and needs to be caught up, etc.). For prolonged stays at home or in the hospital, special homebound instruction can be arranged.
Transportation To and From School...
By Parents
Our Merrill Police Department has requested that parents wishing to transport their children to or from school do so on the east side of Kyes Street. This is the safest place for your children to be dropped off and/or picked up. Please note that this area is the “drop -off/pick-up zone” and drivers must remain in their vehicles. Unattended vehicles will be ticketed by the police department. Parents who need to leave their vehicles to come in to school must park on the east side of Sales Street, Hope Street, or a designated spot. For safety reasons, your child MUST cross the street at the marked crosswalks or intersections. The parking lot north of the school building is reserved for school busses, staff parking, and handicapped parking only. The police are diligent in enforcing our parking policies; you can avoid being ticketed by following these guidelines.
By Bus
To ensure the safety of students on busses, a list of expectations will be given to each student who rides a bus. Parents, please go over these expectations with your children. Students who choose not to follow these expectations will receive a bus conduct report and appropriate disciplinary steps will result which may include loss of bus riding privileges. Parents will be notified if such happens. If it is necessary for your children to get off the bus at a place other than their own home, they need to bring a signed, dated note from a parent or guardian to the school office. The note will be authorized by the office and given to the appropriate bus driver. Parents, it is your responsibility to notify the bus company directly when your child will not be riding the bus.
By Bicycle
Only students in grades 3, 4, and 5 may ride their bikes to school. Students bringing bikes to school are to walk their bikes across the crosswalks and while on school grounds. Bikes are to be parked in the area provided and students are to practice good safety habits at all times. The school is not responsible for damage or theft of bikes. Skateboards and rollerblades are not allowed at school and should be left at home.
School Lunch Program
A nutritious breakfast and lunch is served daily at school. Students in grades K-5 who wish to have a school breakfast will report to the gym between 7:30 and 7:45 to eat. Menus are sent home with students each month and are posted in the school and on the MPS website. Merrill Area Public Schools (MAPS) uses a computerized program to manage lunch accounts. Each family has one account and regardless of which schools your children attend, their lunch/breakfast purchases are deducted from the one family account. This means that you only need to send one check per family with any one of your children when money needs to be credited to your family account. When you do send money to school, please place it in an envelope with the following information: your child’s name, teacher’s name, amount of money, and date. Please pay by check instead of sending cash whenever possible. For ease in processing, we ask that you please send money to be credited to your family account on Mondays as much as possible. Prepaying into your family account on a regular basis (biweekly, monthly, or quarterly, etc.) is strongly recommended. Lunches are $2.50 per day. Breakfasts are $1.20 per day. You will be informed periodically of the balance in your family account. Your family account will stay active until every family member has graduated from high school or until your family leaves the district. t that time any balance remaining in your family account will be refunded.
Students not participating in the school lunch program, but bringing bag lunches may purchase milk for $0.40 per carton. This will also be deducted from your family account.
Some families will qualify for free or reduced rate lunches. Reduced rate lunches are $0.40 per meal. Reduced breakfasts are $0.40 per day. If you believe your family is eligible, please make application immediately on the appropriate form. If you need assistance in determining whether or not you are qualified to receive the free or reduced rates, please contact our food service director, Laura Krause, at 715-536-4594, ext. 18010. She will be happy to assist you. Please note that if you are receiving free/reduced lunch and your child takes only milk for breakfast or lunch, the milk still must be paid at the full rate ($0.40 per carton).
We would like to invite you to come once during the school year to have lunch with your child. To do so, please notify the school office at least 48 hours in advance of the day you would like to eat. Visitor lunches are $3.90 and may also be deducted from your family account.
Children’s Health...
Illnesses
School is a wonderful place for healthy children to learn! Children who are experiencing an illness need the appropriate time at home to rest and recuperate from that illness. Illnesses spread very quickly in school settings and sending sick children to school is not beneficial to your child or to your child’s classmates. Therefore, children who have sore throats, inflammation of the eyes, fevers, lice, suspicious rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, and other illnesses, may not attend school until the condition has cleared. Children should be “fever free” for at least 24 hours before returning to school. If your child becomes ill during the school day, parents (or designated emergency care persons) will be contacted to take the child home. Once your child does return to school, he/she will be expected to participate in all aspects of the school day (outdoor recesses, physical education classes, etc.) unless a doctor’s excuse would indicate otherwise.
Health Services
The Lincoln County Health Department provides a school nurse for limited hours during the school week to assist in screening for vision and hearing defects and to assist in the control of communicable diseases through immunization, health education, illness reporting, and follow-up. Jennifer Johnson is our school nurse. She is at school for a few hours each week and can be contacted at the Health Department, 715-536-0307.
Medications at School
We encourage parents to give their children the appropriate medications at home as much as possible (i.e. breakfast, after school, and bedtime, etc). If students are required to take medication during the school day, they will be assisted by designated school personnel. Prescription medication requires a written statement from the physician and the parents/guardian of the student. Non-prescription medication requires a written statement from the parent/guardian. Our school must follow specific school board policies regarding prescription and nonprescription medications. They are located in the back of this handbook. Please read through these policies very carefully. Extra medication forms are available in the school office. Remember the forms for prescription medication must be signed by both the physician and the parent. Medication must be in the original container labeled with the original label giving your child’s name, drug name, dosage, directions for administering, date, and physician’s name. For safety reasons, all medication must be turned in to the teacher or school office. No medication (prescription or otherwise) should remain in the students’ possession.
Immunizations
All students in grades K-5 attending Wisconsin public, private, and parochial schools must meet the following minimum immunization requirements: 2MMR, 4 DPT/DTaP/DT/Td, 4 polio, 3 Hepatitis B immunizations, and 2 varicella immunizations. Please check to make sure your child’s immunizations are up to date. Students may be excluded from school if they are not fully immunized.
Overdue Library Materials (Books, Audio, Magazines)
A student with overdue materials will not be able to check out another book until the overdue material is returned. If materials are damaged beyond repair or lost, a letter will go home for the amount of the material. For library materials that are less than 5 years old the cost will be full price for replacement. Library materials that are over 5 years old the cost will be half of the replacement cost. If library material is found after payment has been made, money will be refunded up to a year from the date of payment.
Please return any damaged items to the library as sometimes we can fix them without having to throw them away. Fines will not be assessed unless the damage to the item costs more than half the replacement value to repair.
School Closing or Early Dismissal
The decision to close schools because of inclement weather and road conditions will be made by the Superintendent of Schools and the Assistant Superintendent. When this becomes necessary, the following will occur:
If the storm occurs during the night, school closings shall be announced over the radio stations WJMT/Z-104 (Merrill); WSAU, WIFC, WRIG, WOFM, WDEZ, WOFM, (Wausau); WLSL, (Rhinelander); WJJQ, (Tomahawk); and WRLO, (Antigo). It will also be announced over the television stations WAOW-9, WSAW-7, (Wausau); and WJFW-12, (Rhinelander) and on their web sites.
If it becomes necessary to close school during the school day, it shall also be announced over the stations listed above. When the possibility of an early dismissal exists, PLEASE LISTEN FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT ON YOUR RADIO/TV rather than telephoning the school office. Thanks!
For your child’s safety, it is critical that you have a plan your child can follow in case of an early dismissal. It is very important to review this plan with your child BEFORE winter weather threatens. This will reduce confusion and anxiety on the part of students and staff during inclement weather as students will know exactly what they are to do in the event that school closes early.
Other Helpful Information...
Visiting School
Parents and grandparents are welcome at our school. If you plan on visiting your child’s classroom, please notify your child’s teacher ahead of time to arrange a time when your visit will be most beneficial (i.e. avoiding testing times, etc.) Please enter the building through door #1 on 6th Street and sign in at the office prior to visiting your child’s classroom.
Volunteering at School
To serve as a volunteer, an individual will be required to complete a VOLUNTEER APPLICATION. Please go to http://www.maps.k12.wi.us click on “Human Resources” and then click on “Volunteer Registration Form.” Applications are good for three years. Renewal is encouraged, but must include an updated Volunteer Application.
The safety and well being of the students, staff and volunteers of the district is paramount. Therefore, the District will conduct criminal background checks on all volunteers who will be working directly with and/or who have access to students. Background checks will be conducted prior to the first time the individual volunteer works with students and the district reserves the right to conduct additional background checks periodically thereafter.
School Newsletters
The principal will send out school newsletters with important updates pertaining to school activities, etc. on a regular basis. Watch for these approximately every other week on the last day of that given week. News letters are sent via skyward email.
Telephone Messages
So that learning activities in the classroom are interrupted as little as possible, the school will only deliver telephone messages during the day to students in emergency situations. Requests such as having a student wait for a parent after school rather than riding a bus home, etc. should be written directly to the classroom teacher and sent with the student in the morning.
Surprises for Students
Please be advised that if you arrange to send balloons or some other surprise for your child to recognize a special event such as a birthday, we will hold those in the office until the very end of the school day so that their arrival and presence does not interrupt classroom instruction. Better yet, have those surprises delivered to your home so they are waiting for the child when he/she arrives home from school.
Lost and Found
Labeling personal items can help lost valuables to be returned. If items are missing, please first check with your child’s teacher. If the missing article is not found in the classroom, the teacher will have the student check the lost and found cabinet near the library. Found items will be kept for approximately 30 days and then will be disposed of in order to avoid undue accumulations.
Gym Classes
Students are required to wear tennis shoes during physical education classes. A separate pair of tennis shoes should be kept at school for this purpose.
School Pictures
School pictures will be taken of all students in early Fall. Parents will have the option of purchasing picture packages if they so desire. At times during the year, your child’s teacher or a news media staff member may take photographs of school events to share with you and/or our community. If you would prefer that your child NOT be photographed at classroom and school events, please contact me at school at the beginning of each school year.
Homework
Homework may be assigned by your child’s teacher to supplement, complement, and/or reinforce classroom teaching and learning. Please provide a quiet place for your child to complete homework without distractions and provide assistance and encouragement as appropriate. Encourage good study habits and prompt return of assigned work.
Animals
Due to BOE policy no animals are to be brought to school.
Library
Your child will have the opportunity to use the school library on a regular basis. There, he/she will find a wide variety of reference books, nonfiction books about people, places, and things, fictional storybooks, and magazines. Please encourage your child to use our school library and to take good care of materials checked out, returning them when they are due. We also encourage your family to regularly use the T. B. Scott Library as well.
Guidance and Psychological Services
Guidance and psychological services are provided by qualified school district personnel whose area of expertise is working with parents and teachers to help plan the best educational program possible for children. If you are concerned with your child’s progress, please discuss that with your child’s teacher or the principal to see if special services should be considered.
Special Education Programs for Special Needs
MAPS provides special education programs for students with diagnosed special learning needs. Speech and language services are also available. If students are unable to attend school due to a health problem diagnosed by a licensed physician, a homebound teacher may be provided.
Reporting System
Report cards are sent home with students at the end of each quarter. Progress reports are also sent home about halfway through each quarter. Scheduled parent/teacher conferences are held in the fall and spring and will also be held during school hours at the request of a parent or teacher. If you ever have any questions or concerns about your child's progress, please do not hesitate to contact his/her teacher.
Educational Studies Away from School
Field trips are used to enhance the study of many concepts or units. Due to budget cuts in the district you may be asked to supplement the cost of these trips. Whenever your child is going on a trip, teachers will send a notice home to you. Your child will be permitted to attend if the parent/guardian has signed the field trip consent form granting permission for the child to participate in the field trip. Students who do not have permission to go on a field trip will remain at school and participate in alternate learning activities. Students who do not demonstrate appropriate behavior at school may not be allowed to participate in certain field trips. In this event, those students will also remain at school participating in alternate learning activities.
Personal Items from Home
The school cannot assume any responsibility for damage or loss of personal items that students bring to school such as toys, radios, jewelry, sports equipment, etc. Students are therefore discouraged from bringing such items to school.
Dressing Appropriately for School
The Board of Education expects parents and guardians of all Merrill Area Public School students to see that their students are dressed properly for school attendance. Students shall be neat, clean, and attired in such a manner so as to promote and encourage the educational process and not interfere with the health and safety of the individual dress of students. The administration will determine appropriate conduct and dress of students in order to maintain a good decorum and a favorable academic atmosphere, pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes 120.13. (Policy #5132)
Administrative procedures regarding appropriate conduct and dress of students are as follows
1.Students shall not wear hats, buttons, tee shirts or other clothing which relates to alcohol consumption, sex, tobacco use, suggestive language, or drugs.
2. Students will be required to wear shoes or sandals in the school building. Exceptions can be made for special student activities. Shoe laces must be secured.
3. Students who wear tank tops, halters, or half shirts must wear them with a blouse, shirt, sweater, or dress.
4. Students may wear reasonable length shorts or cutoffs, crop pants or culottes are allowed. Students are expected to wear dresses, skirts, sweat pants, or trousers that are appropriate and in current style.
5. Students are not to wear outdoor clothing in the classroom, study hall, or cafeteria.
Conditions in these procedures may be amended by the principal for specific days due to unusual events such as dress up days, down days, weather conditions, special student activities, individual age groups, etc. Final judgment on student dress will be left to the principal’s discretion.
During winter outdoor activity, we do stress the importance of students wearing warm clothing, including coats, snow pants, mittens, hats, and boots. We expect all students to take part in scheduled outdoor activity periods which vary from 15 minutes at recess to 30 minutes at noon, depending on weather conditions. Exceptions will be made if the child has a medical excuse from the family physician. During extremely cold or inclement weather, the decision as to whether students will go outdoors and/or the length of the outdoor recess period is determined by classroom teachers and the principal.
Board Policies
A complete book of school board policies is located on the district’s website---www.maps.k12.wi.us. A couple of them are included in this guide for your convenience. In light of recent, tragic occurrences in some schools around the country, please take special time to review with your children the policy on weapons in school (Policy #1320). Discuss with your children the seriousness of bomb threats and bringing to school items such as knives, firecrackers, ammunition (i. e. 22 shells, etc.), guns, or look-alike guns.
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