WELCOME TO RIVERSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Communication is one of the greatest keys to students’ success in school. It is hoped that this Parent/Student Handbook will provide our parents and students with a handy reference to important operating procedures for Riverside Elementary School. In addition to this handbook, please refer to The Maury County Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, Rules, and Due Process Procedures, which serves as the primary guide for student discipline matters in Maury County Public Schools. Parents must read through each of these two handbooks and sign the appropriate attached signature sheets and return to the school. Signatures of the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) indicates having read the handbooks and shared the content with your Riverside Elementary School student(s). Please list your Riverside student’s names on the signature sheets.
Regular Parent Newsletters will be sent home during the school year to provide another level of school to home communication. Parents are encouraged to use the Student Agenda books to provide home to school communication with the teacher. Using these tools, we can together create a more effective level of education for each of our students. We look forward to the opportunity of providing quality education for your child.
Ken Wiles
Principal
The Maury County Board of Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, religion, national origin, age, gender, marital status, disability, or any other unlawful area in the operation of its educational programs and in personnel administration. If you have any questions please contact:
Mrs. Mary Carter
Section 504, Title II and
Title IX Coordinator
Maury County Board of Education
501 West Eighth Street
Columbia, TN 38401
931-388-8403 ext 0101
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
Students should not arrive at school before 7:30 a.m. Early morning bus room is open at 7:30. Parents arriving before 7:30 a.m. must keep children in the vehicle in the bus lane until the doors are unlocked at 7:30 a.m. Under no circumstances may students be left unattended outside before the doors open. Students who arrive before 8:00 a.m. must enter the building through the doors which face Carter Street between the cafeteria and gym.
The main entrance is unlocked at 8:00 a.m. No students, parents, or other visitors should be in the main school area before 8:00 a.m. All other school doors remain locked during the day for security purposes.
Our dismissal procedure for car riders has changed significantly this year. Parents of K-5 students will no longer be able to come into the building to wait on students, nor wait outside from where car riders are being dismissed.
The following is the new dismissal procedure:
v Parents will remain in cars and form a line coming down Carter Street toward Riverside Drive, careful not to block the driveway at the Tennessee Valley Meat entrance (as this is a private drive)
v Car riders will be dismissed from the cafeteria doors as parents pull into the bus lane. Hanger tags will be used by parents picking up students. You MUST have this numbered green hang tag visible to our staff to pick up your child. Each grade level and multiple car riders will have specific numbers. Numbers are available in the school office.
v NOTE: If you think that your child will be a car rider at any time during the school year, please make sure you have a hanger tag.
v All car riders K-5 will be assembled in the cafeteria and dismissed to the cars as parents arrive in the bus lane.
v No separate car rider dismissal for kindergarten students.
v Please do not go into the office and ask for your child to be pulled from the car rider line.
v IMPORTANT: According to Maury County Board Policy #6.208, students will not be dismissed from the school office within the final twenty minutes prior to actual release time. If you need to pick up your child early, you must do so before 2:45 p.m. Please consider this policy when making appointments.
* A student who is only a car rider in the mornings will not need a number.
Car rider dismissal will begin at 3:10 p.m. It is critical that all car riders be picked up by 3:30 p.m. Pre-K pick up is at 2:30.
TRANSPORTATION FORMS
It is mandatory for parents to fill out a transportation form for every child in school, even if the child never rides the bus. The reasons are:
1. Some children will end up riding a bus to and from school later.
2. Most students will take at least one field trip during the year.
CHANGE OF TRANSPORTATION
In order to change your child’s transportation, a note must be written to the teacher by the parent or guardian. Please do not call on the phone to change transportation. Phone calls to change transportation will not be accepted. This procedure is designed to protect your child and we are very strict in the enforcement of this policy. You may fax us a written note at 931-380-4696. All notes need to be received in the school office by lunch each day. When a change involves a bus, it must be faxed by the school office to the Transportation Office for approval. The following information must be included on the note: Date of change, student name, address that student normally rides to and the address the student will be riding to due to the change. Every time you change your child’s transportation, you need to send a legitimate signed note. This is for the protection of each and every student. NO EXCEPTIONS, PLEASE.
TARDIES AND EARLY DISMISSALS
A student is expected to be on time to school and to class and be seated in his/her classroom desk by 8:15 a.m. School announcements are made at 8:15 sharp with the beginning of the academic day following immediately. The parent MUST come into the school office and sign in your child when they are tardy. If a student is tardy due to a doctor/dentist appointment, please bring a note from the doctor. This will be considered an excused tardy. A student dismissed before 3:15 is considered a tardy also. After five unexcused tardies the parent is contacted and after seven unexcused tardies a referral is made to the School Truancy Board. Please make every effort to get your child to school on time.
EMERGENCY INFORMATION
Please make sure that the office “blue card” has your latest phone number(s) and address. In the event of an emergency we need to be able to contact a responsible adult at all times. Only the people you have listed on the “blue card” are allowed to pick up your child. You must send a note if you are allowing any one else to do this. We CANNOT take this information over the telephone. This is for the safety of your child.
If your phone number or address changes, please send the office a note and we will make the changes for you. It is critical that the school has accurate working phone numbers for each student enrolled. You are welcome to stop by the office if you need to make any additional changes.
LIBRARY INFORMATION
Library books, like textbooks, are expensive and our students must do their best to take care of them and return them in a timely manner. All Riverside students have library privileges each week. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade may check out one book weekly. Because of our school schedule all books must be returned before leaving on all extended breaks throughout the year. Please help your child find a safe place to keep our library books while in their care because any lost or damaged books are considered a debt to the school and must be paid for or report cards will be held. In addition, our library hosts book fairs for our students each year and more information will be sent through our Parent Newsletters. No matter what grade your child is in, reading library books together is a good way to connect with your child.
INCLEMENT WEATHER
When students are dismissed early due to inclement weather or unusual situations, they are dismissed according to the information you have already put on your child’s registration form/office “blue card”. When we dismiss early, we cannot call parents. Sometimes, we find out about the dismissal only a short time before it occurs. Make sure the student information you have provided is accurate. Listen to the local radio stations when you suspect early dismissal. We ask that you do not call the school office for this information. The school system does have an automated calling system that is activated to notify parents who have given us working phone numbers.
Follow the same procedure for car rider dismissal. If you arrive 20 minutes prior to dismissal time, you will be able to check your child out in the office.
504 NOTICES
It is the policy of the MCBOE to provide a free and appropriate public education to all handicapped students within its jurisdiction, regardless of the type of severity of the handicap.
Students who are handicapped consistent with the definitions set forth in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1974 will be identified, evaluated, and provided with appropriate instruction and educational services. Persons thought to be handicapped should contact Mary Carter at 931-388-8403.
SRO OFFICER
Adam Lenz is our full-time School Resource Officer. Officer Lenz provides us with an extra measure of safety and security at school as well as being an integral part of the staff. He is a member of the Sheriff’s Department and is a fully commissioned officer of the law. Among other duties, the SRO will:
1. Not allow visitors to enter the building without having signed in properly in the office and display the stick-on-label/badge properly. Neither will he allow visitors to be in the classroom areas when deemed inappropriate. Necessary action will be taken for anyone who becomes unruly, argumentative, or defiant in the school building.
2. Assist the crossing guard in maintaining a safe flow of student and automobile traffic both mornings and afternoon.
3. Warn and/or issue citations to persons not wearing seat belts or for infants/children not properly restrained in appropriate restraint devices in automobiles arriving at or leaving school at any time. This not only applies to school property but to public streets as well.
4. Help maintain good order on the school campus.
PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES
Parent/Teacher conferences will be held four times during the school year from 4 -7 p.m. on school days. Two conferences are scheduled for the first semester and two for the second semester. Please check your school calendar for the dates of the conferences. Remedial work will be recommended for some students who fall behind during the nine week grading periods. These remediation sessions will be held during the first week of fall and spring break.
SCHOOL FEES
It is the responsibility of parents to pay the workbook/instructional fee and consumable fee issued to you at registration or when your child enrolls in school. The consumable fees help fund many materials and supplies which teachers use in teaching your children. Waivers only apply to the workbook/instructional fees. ALL PARENTS SHOULD PAY THE CONSUMABLE FEE. The office staff will be contacting you by note or phone call if your child’s fee is not received in a timely manner.
Fees are as follows:
Kindergarten Instructional Fee $25.00
Consumable Fee $20.00
$45.00
1st – 2nd Math Workbook $35.00
Assignment Book $ 5.00
Consumable Fee $10.00
$50.00
3rd – 5th Instructional Fee $10.00
Assignment Book $ 5.00
Consumable Fee $15.00
$30.00
Separate checks must be written for lunch money, fees or any other activities at Riverside. We apologize for the inconvenience but due to accounting procedures we must follow the Tennessee Accounting Guidelines.
BUS BEHAVIOR
Parents of students who ride buses must sign a Transportation Form. These are kept on file at school with a copy sent to the bus transportation office. Violence, including but not limited to fighting, slapping, punching, tripping, bullying, or harassment, will not be tolerated. Students who engage in these activities will have their bus riding privileges suspended for a period of time.
USE OF TOBACCO
Smoking or other use of tobacco is prohibited in public schools and on the campuses. If not properly enforced, schools and the administration can be fined for violation of the Tennessee Code Annotated Law. Please refrain from tobacco usage on any part of the school campus.
TRAFFIC AND SAFETY
Please drive slowly through the school zone and pay close attention to the school crossing guard while observing the speed limit. Do not let students enter or exit your vehicle from the driver’s side of the car. This exposes them to on coming traffic.
UNLESS YOU ARE IN CAR RIDER LINE, PLEASE DO NOT PARK YOUR CAR IN THE BUS LOADING ZONE ON CARTER STREET WHICH IS IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF THE CAFETERIA AND GYMNASIUM.
SAFETY DRILLS
Our school regularly conducts practice drills for fire, tornado, natural disaster, intruder, or any other unsafe or dangerous threat to the school and its occupants. Sometimes these events are actual events and not just a drill. Since these drills are unannounced, sometimes parents are either in the building or are entering or exiting the building. Please realize that during a drill or lockdown, students will not be released to parents until an “all clear” signal is given. This may occur quickly or may take quite some time. Please be patient and realize that the inconvenience is designed with the safety of all students and building occupants in mind. If you get caught in the middle of a drill, please join in the drill. Staff members will know how to assist you in doing this.
BEHAVIOR AND DISCIPLINE
Riverside Elementary follows the Elementary Code for Discipline of Maury County Public Student Handbook subtitled “Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, Rules, and Due Process Procedures”. Parents receive a copy of this booklet at the beginning of each school year and are required to sign the Statement inside the front cover. This sheet is then submitted to the school and kept on file. Various punitive measures are imposed according to the frequency and severity of the offenses. These measures are in place to provide your children a safe, effective, learning environment. Administrators have some discretion in these matters. After-school detention (Extended Learning) is often utilized. Also available for 2009-2010 is an elementary alternative setting for chronic or severe infractions. Please keep your Maury County Student/Parent Handbook handy for reference.
RETURNED CHECKS
Maury County Public Schools will gladly accept checks. When a check is used as payment, the check writer authorizes us to process the payment as a check transaction, and to collect a fee through an electronic fund transfer from the check writer’s account if the payment is returned unpaid.
FARS (Federal Automated Recovery Systems) has been hired by the Board of Education to collect our returned checks. When paying by check, you authorize us to supply FARS with additional phone numbers and address changes not printed on the returned check.
HOMEWORK
If you need to pick up your child’s homework, please call the school office by 12:00. Teachers need to have time to get their assignments and books together. Homework may be picked up in our school office after 3:15. If you do not call before 12 noon, homework can not be made available. We encourage you to call for your child’s homework in order for them to stay caught up. A student has 3 days after returning from sickness to complete their homework assignments. Class work missed due to out-of-school suspension will not be made up.
PICTURES
School pictures are made in the fall and the spring. A note is sent home to let you know when picture day will be. Remakes are only made in the fall. Make sure you turn in your orders by the date on the picture envelope. If your order is not received by this time, you will have to pay a late fee. You receive proofs to choose from in both fall and spring. Also in the spring you are given an opportunity to purchase an 8 x 10 picture of your child’s classroom.
ATTENDANCE
If your child is absent for any reason, please send a parent or doctor/dentist note for the absent to be excused. We appreciate parents calling to let us know a student will be absent, but you must also send a note every time your student is absent. Excused absences are illness, doctor/dentist visit, and death in family.
5 Unexcused Absences Parent Letter
7 Unexcused Absences School Truancy Hearing
9 Unexcused Absences Maury County School Truancy Hearing
12 Unexcused Absences Warrant/Petition Filed
Please refer to the Maury County Student Handbook on page 12 – Procedures.
SCHOOL MEALS
Breakfast and lunch are available to all students. Breakfast begins at 7:35 a.m. for students arriving early and continues until 8:05 a.m. Students may bring lunches from home. Please remember that you may not bring in or have food brought in to our students from restaurants or fast food stores. This is in accordance with MCBOE policy.
Elementary students may only charge up to 5 days. According to MCBOE policy, students should not be served a regular meal if charges are in excess of 5 days. We ask that you put your child’s money in an envelope with his/her name, teacher, amount, and labeled lunch money. This helps to prevent this money from being put into the wrong account. To avoid your child from getting behind in breakfast/lunch money, please pay by the week or by the month. We are unable to contact parents each time a student is behind. It is embarrassing to your child if they have to be served a substitute lunch. Breakfast cannot be charged if you owe 5 days of lunches. DURING THE MONTH OF MAY, A STUDENT CANNOT CHARGE TO THEIR ACCOUNT.
Cafeteria Prices are as follows:
BREAKFAST
Students $1.50 ($7.50 per week)
Reduced Breakfast .30 ($1.50 per week)
Visitors: (Adult) $2.50
LUNCH
Students K – 5 $2.35 ($11.75 per week)
Reduced Lunch .40 ($2.00 per week)
Visitors: Adult $3.75
Visitors: Child $3.00
Holiday Meals for Visitors $5.00 - $7.00
Visitors pay for their lunch in the cafeteria. A note will be sent home by students when our Holiday Meals will be served. You will be able to buy tickets for these meals early and pick them up in the office on the day of the lunch.
APPROXIMATE LUNCH SCHEDULE
Hertzske 10:32 – 10:56 Whiteside 11:33 - 11:57
Holley 10:35 – 10:59 McPherson 11:36 – 12:00
Williams 10:38 – 11:02 Andrews 11:39 – 12:03
Jones 10:41 – 11:05 Flowers 11:42 - 12:06
K-Bartrug 10:42 – 11:06 Cheek 11:48 – 12:12
Armstrong 10:52 – 11:17 Sears 11:51 – 12:15
Morency 10:55 – 11:19 Brock 11:54 – 12:18
Reaves 11:02 – 11:26 Helms 12:05 – 12:29
Stephenson 11:05 – 11:29 Burcham 12:08 – 12:32
1st Rhodes 11:08 - 11:31 Ward 12:11 – 12:35
King 11:10 – 11:34
Buchanan 11:16 – 11:40
Yokley 11:19 – 11:43 Reed 10:44 - 11:08
Watts 11:22 – 11:46 Rainey 11:28 – 11:55
DRESS CODE
Maury County Schools recognize the effect which student dress and grooming has upon student behavior and commitment to learning. In order to maintain an atmosphere conducive to learning and to prepare students for working environments, Maury County School requires that all students, grades K – 12, exercise good taste with regard to their personal appearance. Attire considered disruptive or risky to health or safety is not appropriate. All Dress Code Attire is included in the Maury County Public Schools Student Handbook. Every household should have at least one copy of this handbook. Please refer to it for any questions you may have about the dress code.
Polo shirts at Riverside may be White, Navy, Pink, Kelly Green, Royal Blue and Red.
Pants, shorts, capri pants, skirts, skorts, jeans, or jumpers in the colors of navy blue, black or any shade of khaki. No cargo pants are allowed.
MEDICATION
A student shall not possess any prescribed or over-the-counter medication at any time during the school day, at a school activity, or on school grounds.A designated employee(s) will be assigned by each school administrator to assist in the self-administration by students of medications in school.
Medication guidelines are as follows:
1. Written orders must be provided by a physician, dentist, or nurse practitioner that has the legal right to write a prescription, detailing the name of the drug, dosage, and time medication is to be given. The Administration of Medication Request Form must be completed by both the Health Care Provider and the parent or guardian of the student in order that the school may comply with the Health Care Provider’s orders.
2. Medication must be transported to and from school in the original, pharmacy labeled container by a parent or responsible adult.
3. Renewal or changes:
a) all long-term medication must be renewed at the beginning of the new school year.
b) any changes in medication or dosage during the school year requires new documentation.
c) changes in prescription medication shall have written authorization from the licensed prescriber and the parent.
4. At the end of the school year, the parent must pick up the remaining or unused medication, or it will be disposed of in an appropriate manner.
Short term prescription medication must also be sent in the original container with a dosage spoon or cup an a signed note from the parent or guardian specifying student’s name, dosage, and time to be given. Guidelines above also apply. Please refer to the Maury County Board of Education Student Handbook for more detailed information on medication.
VISITOR INFORMATION/CLASSROOM INTERFERENCE
We always want parents to feel welcome at Riverside Elementary School. However, due to events in recent times, we have tightened our procedures for visitors (including parents) to access the building during school hours. During the entire time that teachers are required to be in the building they are engaged in preparation for teaching or in teaching our children. Parents who need to see teachers during the school day should send a note to the teachers asking for a conference during the teacher’s planning time or after school. Another way of communication is by indicating on the student assignment book that a meeting is requested and the teacher will set up the time and notify you. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN IN AND JUST EXPECT TO BE FREE TO GO OUT INTO THE BUILDING. The office staff must approve your presence in the building. We are happy to have parents eat lunch with their children. Simply enter the office, sign in, display the stick-on label/badge on the front of your upper outerwear, and you’ll be instructed when and where to join your child in the hallway entering the cafeteria. Remember you cannot bring in outside food to cafeteria. This is Board Policy. Always sign in and remember to sign out. Display your visitor’s badge so that it may be seen by our staff. It is their way of knowing that you have properly signed in. School staff members have been alerted to question anyone in the building without the appropriate sticker. These measures are to provide a safe and secure environment for your children as well as for the school staff.
FUNDRAISERS
We plan for two fundraisers a year. One will be in the fall and one in the spring. The success of our fundraisers depends on your help and we certainly appreciate your support and participation in these. Profits made from fundraisers are used for books, technology, instructional supplies and materials, playground equipment and repairs, and any other items needed to enhance our school environment.
FIELD TRIPS
Field trips are planned by each grade level. Notes will be sent home with your child informing you about field trips. In order for your child to go on a field trip, the form sent home must be filled out completely.
WEBSITE
In order to access our school website, go to www.mauryk12.org and click on visit our schools, then Riverside School. We try to keep our website updated with current information concerning Riverside School.
You may also find out more about our Title I school-wide program by going to www.mauryk12.org and clink on Title I Programs.
REPORT CARDS
Each child K-5 receives a report card every 9 weeks. Please sign your child’s report card and return it to the teacher the following day.
If for any reason you will need a copy of your child’s report card, there will be a minimal charge of $1.00. Please allow several days for your request.
According to Board Policy, the school can hold a child’s report card when a debt is due the school.
Examples of a debt: 1. Lost and/or damaged text books
2. Lost and/or damaged library books
3. Lost and/or damaged classroom books
4. Returned checks
5. Lunch/breakfast money owed
6. Damage to school property
7. Unpaid school bills