Students should not arrive on school grounds before 8:20 a.m. unless they are eating breakfast here.  Breakfast is served beginning at 8:05.  For those students not eating breakfast, the bell rings and students come into the building at 8:25 with school beginning at 8:30.  The time before school is important to your children’s teachers as they are preparing materials and going over lessons to be taught during the day, therefore, they can not be on duty to supervise students who arrive too early for school.  If students begin arriving early we will send you a letter notifying you of the early arrival with will need to be signed and returned.  If early arrivals continue we will sent your student back home again or you may be called to come and get them.  Please help us protect your children by making sure that they do not arrive too early for school.
 

Students are dismissed at 3:30 p.m. and must continue directly off the school grounds if not riding a bus.  Once they have exited the building, we ask that they do not come back into the building without permission from an adult.  Children should go directly home and not return to play on the ground until they have checked in with their parents or it’s after 4:00 p.m.  Unless students are directly involved in an after-school activity or sport, they should not stay on school ground for their own safety as they will not be under any adult supervision.  Children who ride the busses will go directly to their designated bus or to a pre-determined place in the gym to await the arrival of their bus.  There will be an adult on duty to supervise and dismiss those students who must wait in the gym.  If a student is not at the designated area we will make one “all call” on the intercom, then dismiss the group to board their bus.  Students are responsible to be in the appropriate places for their busses.  In order for us to help your children get where you want them to be, communication is extremely important.  PLEASE notify us in writing if possible or by phone if your child is not to ride the bus on any given day.  We tell your children that unless we hear directly from you they must get on the bus.
 

Sheridan Elementary believes that a direct correlation exists between school attendance and academic achievement.

Parents Responsibility

-          - Encourage your child to attend on a regular basis.

-          - Phone the school office, 717-4670, before 8:15 a.m. to inform the school of your child’s absence.

-          - If you do not have a phone, or if it is not possible to call, we will accept a note when your child returns to school.  The note should state the reason for your child’s absence.

-          - For an illness that extends over a period of days, contact the classroom teacher to discuss the need for appropriate homework assignments for your child.

-          A student shall be counted ½ day absent if they are not in school for more than 3 hours at any time during the day.  For periods of less than 3 hours it shall be counted as a tardy.  Doctor and dentist appointments shall follow these guidelines.
 

-          - Illness (if illness is long of it there are many absences for illness you may be asked for information from your family doctor.)

-          - For any student with frequent excused absences due to illness, the school may require a doctor’s excuse for each absence after notifying the parent.  At that point without the excuse from a doctor the absence would become unexcused and begin counting toward truancy guidelines

-          - Medical appointment

-          - Death in the immediate family

-          - Personal family reasons, ONLY when cleared in advance by the building principal

      Unexcused Absences
The following absences will be considered unexcused:

-          - Any absence that has not been cleared within 24 hours by a phone call or note from the parents

-          - Any absence without the knowledge and consent of parents

-          - Shopping

-          - Babysitting

-          - Absences without a doctors excuse after being notified that on is required.

      Make up work for absences will be given to the student upon his return to class.  Students will have one day for every day that they have been absent to complete and turn in work missed.  If make up work is not completed, zeros will be recorded and averaged into the grade book.
 

Students will be considered tardy if they are not in their classrooms when the bell rings at 8:30.  This includes students who may be eating breakfast at school.  Any students who enters his/her classroom after the 8:30 bell will be asked to go to the office for a tardy slip.  If a student is tardy and has not reported into class by 9:00 a.m. they will not be counted on the hot lunch count.  You may call the school prior to 9:00 a.m. and request for your child to be counted for hot lunch.  If you do not call the student will be required to bring a cold lunch from home.  Anytime a student is not in class for a period of time less than 3 hours, it is recorded as a tardy.  This includes time when students are picked up early from school or taken out for appointments.

The reason for this is that we must order our school lunches from the main kitchen by 9:00 a.m.  If you have not notified us and we give your child a lunch we will not have enough food for the last group of children that we do have on our lunch count.

NOTE: It is important to all of us that your children are in school and on time each day.  Developing these habits early will only help them in the future.  Because this is so important, there is a Kansas attendance law which I am required to abide by.  The procedure for enforcement of this law follows:

                Compulsory Attendance Enforcement

In compliance with KSA 72-1113, the following procedures will be utilized for enforcement of the state’s compulsory attendance statute.

1.       In the event any regularly enrolled student, K-12 is inexcusably absent for three (3) consecutive days or for a total of five (5) days in a semester, that student is not in compliance with the state’s attendance statutes. (KSA 72-1113(c))

2.       The parent or person acting as the parent of any student identified in #1 above will receive a written letter from USD 475, informing you of the unexcused absences and asking that you respond directly to the principal to resolve the problem.

3.       If there is no communication from the parent to the school within 3 days, a second letter will be sent requiring the parent to attend a truancy meeting with the district Asst. Superintendent, County Attorney, and SRS official at the local SRS office at which time they will begin an investigation.

4.       For any student who is less than 13, if attendance does not improve, an official truancy report will be filed by the school to the SRS office at which time they will begin an investigation.

5.       As requested, school district personnel are to assist the SRS staff or the County Attorney with any investigation that might follow the submission of truancy reports.
 

Any after school activity requires maintenance of a safe and orderly environment.

All children in attendance should be accompanied by a responsible adult who will be accountable for their behavior.  If problems arise in their regard, individuals involved may be asked to leave the activity.
 

In an attempt to provide security and prevent disruption of learning, we ask that all parents and visitors stop at the school office before going to individual classrooms.  We ask that all visitors enter through the front doors of the school.  For security purposes no one will be admitted through other locked doors in the building.

Parents are welcome to visit/observe in classrooms at any time.  However, if you would like to talk to the teacher or if you would like to observe a certain subject, please call in advance so that we can help by coordinating your visit to avoid conflicts in schedules and classrooms interruptions.

Volunteers are welcome and very much appreciated.  When you enroll your children we will ask you if you would like to volunteer time or services.  Possible volunteer services include but are not limited to: working with individual students, working with small groups of students, assisting with class projects, helping with paperwork, helping in the media center, assisting with preparation of maters, etc.  Working together we can make a difference for our children.  Please check in at the office before going to classrooms.

We will give you a volunteer/visitor button to identify yourself.
 

On occasion when severe weather conditions make changes in the regular school schedule advisable, announcements will be made by local radio stations, KJCK 1420 AM and 94.5 FM.  Whenever possible, announcements will be made by 6:00 a.m. and not later than 6:45 a.m.

If the temperature with the wind-chill is 20 degrees or less, children will not go outside and will have inside recess.  During inclement weather if there is an early dismissal, each child should have on filed in the office an arrangement notice as to his/her transportation from school.
 

Fire and tornado drills are very important exercises and should be taken seriously.  State required practices will be conducted periodically throughout the school year.  Teachers and staff will instruct students concerning procedures for these two emergencies and procedures will be practices before the first drills take place.

There are also procedures for these two emergencies should they take place during an evening event.  The principal and staff know the procedures and will instruct all those present on the steps to be taken to try to insure the safety on all.
 

there is a building Crisis Communication Plan with procedures for dealing with other crisis situations.  Copies of the plan are in the office, the media center, and with the primary and intermediate team leaders.
 

BACK