ELEMENTARY	HALLWAY	CLASSROOM	CAFETORIUM	RESTROOM	PLAYGROUND	GYM
Respectful	Greet on another silently, keep your voice off.	Listen and follow directions.  Take care of classroom supplies. Use your inside voice	Use good manners, listen to adults.	Respect others privacy. HUSH, FLUSH RUSH	Share equipment, listen to adults. Take turns and play together.	Take care of equipment, listen to adults. Show good sportmanship.
Responsible	Keep hands and feet to yourself. Remeber your purpose.	Be ready to work. Do your best. Stay on Task. Complete your work.	Stay seated Clean up your area Use inside voice.	Hush, Flush, Rush Throw away paper towels.	Bring appropriate clothing for the weather. Return equipment	Help clean up Wear appropriate weather
Safe	Always walk Stay to the right in single file	Keep your hands and your feet to yourself. Wait your turn	Sit correctly Keep your hands and feet to yourself Eat your own food	Hush, Flush, Rush Wash your hands with soap and water	Play carefully Stay within recess area	Games stay in appropriate areas

Welcome to Alcester-Hudson Elementary School. This handbook has been designed to answer some of the questions you may have about our school and its policies. We encourage each student and parent to become familiar with the information in the handbook. If you have any questions, feel free to call. We want to work closely with you to provide the best education possible for your child. The safety of your child is our number one priority.

Our Vision: A school of achievement, confidence, and inspiration.

Our Mission: Inspire every student, every day, with every opportunity

 
 
 

Philosophy of Alcester-Hudson Community Schools
We believe…

·         Students have a natural desire to learn and need the opportunity to acquire academic, technical and life skills.

·         Students must learn to be responsible and to accept the consequences of their decisions.

·         Students learn best in a positive, supportive and innovative atmosphere.

·         Students should develop pride and respect for school, community, themselves, and others.

·         Students will be challenged to develop and achieve their potential and dreams.

For additional information, you may call 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327) (voice). Individuals who use TDD may use the Federal Relay Service.

Or you may contact us at the following address: Family Policy Compliance Office U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue SW Washington, DC     20202-8520

The State Law provided that “no child shall be admitted to school for the year immediately preceding the first grade unless she/he is five years of age on or before the first of September of the current school year.”

Birth Certificates

South Dakota State Law 13-27-3.1 through 13-27-3.3 requires the parent or guardian to present a certified copy of a child’s birth certificate upon the child’s initial enrollment in a South Dakota School. If a certified copy is not obtainable, the parent may submit an affidavit in lieu of the birth certificate as issued by the Department of Health. A copy of the certificate will be kept on file. If a birth certificate is not on file at the beginning of the first day of school, the student may be provisionally admitted for a maximum of ten (10) days. If those ten (10) days pass with no certificate presented to the school office, the student may not be able to continue attending school.

MODEL NOTICE OF DIRECTORY INFORMATION
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law, requires that the Alcester-Hudson School District, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personal identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, the Alcester- Hudson School District may disclose appropriately designated “directory information”

without written consent, unless you have advised the district to the contrary in acc ordance with the district procedures.

The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the Alcester-Hudson School District to include this type of information from your child’s education records in certain school publications. Examples include:

Ø      Playbill, showing your student’s role in a drama production. Ø      The annual school yearbook (The Cubette)

Ø      Honor roll, Academic Honors, or other recognition lists Ø         Graduation programs

Ø      Sports activity programs (wrestling, basketball, football, volleyball etc. showing weight and/or height of team members)

 

Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations without a parent’s prior written consent. Outside organizations include, but are not limited to, companies that manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks. In addition, two federal

laws require local educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Ele mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to provide military recruiters, upon request, with three directory information categories--name, addresses, and telephone numbers--unless parents have advised the LEA that they do not want their student’s information disclosed without their prior written consent.

 

If a student’s parent, guardian or an eligible student, does not want the Alcester-Hudson School District to disclose directory information from the student’s education records without prior written consent, the student’s parent, guardian or an eligible student must notify the Alcester-Hudson School District in writing within thirty (30) days of the

beginning of the school year or, if enrolling after the beginning of the school year, within thirty (30) days of enrollment. A request to withdraw consent should be submitted in writing and signed.

 

The Alcester-Hudson School District has designated the following information as directory information:

-  student’s name, grade, dates of attendance

-  address, phone number, email address

-  photograph, date, and place of birth

-  participation in officially recognized activities and sports

-  height, weight, positions of members of athletic teams

- degrees, honors, and awards received.

-  recent educational agency or institution attended.

To ensure that both parents and the school are informed concerning a student’s absence or tardiness from school, parents are encouraged to call the Alcester-Hudson Elementary School (934-2171) by 8:15 A.M. when they know their child will be absent or late. In return, the school agrees to call the parent as soon as possible after 8:30 A.M. whenever the child does not arrive in school and the parent did not notify the school.

A student will pick up an admit/tardy slip upon coming to school after 8:15 or if a child leaves during the school day and then returns.

A student’s contribution and achievement in class are directly related to attendance. Both students and parents must understand that students miss a vital portion of his/her education when he/she is absent from school.

While it is true that written work can be completed for make-up, class instruction or presentations, discussions, technology, activities, and student-teacher interaction can never be made up.

Furthermore, South Dakota statutes require the local Board of Education to enforce definite standards of attendance with few valid excuses for absence. With the foregoing in mind, together with the provisions of the state law, specifically SDCL 13-27-1, the official attendance policy of the Alcester-Hudson Elementary Schools shall be as outlined below.

Full Day of School
An entire day of school at Alcester-Hudson Elementary School is 7 hours or 420 minutes per day.

Excused Absences
An excused absence indicates a legal absence from school with written parental permission or school permission. All excused absences are cleared through the Principal’s office.

1.    An illness will count one day absent for each day gone but a doctor’s note will be required after three (3) consecutive days absent.

2.    Doctor or dental appointments will need to be verified with a note from that office.

3.    An elementary pupil shall be eligible to be counted for school attendance up to five (5) days in a school term when an excuse from actual school attendance is requested by a parent or guardian for the purpose of attending events of state or nationally recognized youth programs of educational value.

 

Unexcused Absences
An unexcused absence indicates a student is absent from school with or without the consent of the parent or for a reason that is not acceptable to the school.

Absences

South Dakota law requires regular school attendance of all students until the age of 18. Regular attendance is necessary for students to be successful in learning. Alcester- Hudson School District will adhere to all state laws pertaining to attendance. Codified Law 13-27-6.1 states: An elementary and secondary student is eligible to be counted for school attendance up to six days in a school term if an excuse from actual school attendance is requested by a parent or guardian. For the purpose of this policy, the principal is granted the authority to make the determination regarding the granting of the excuse.

 

A letter of attendance will be sent to parents after 3 – 6 absences. Failure to comply with mandatory attendance laws will result in notification of the courts. Therefore, after 10 absences, and every 5 absences thereafter, attendance records will be sent to the state’s attorney.

 

Tardies

If a child arrives at school by 9:00 AM, he/she will be considered tardy. If a student arrives AFTER 9:00 AM, he/she will be considered absent. The school will not categorize tardies as excused or unexcused. When the total time missed from tardies reaches 7 hours, those tardies will be listed as a full day of an unexcused absence.

 

Due to state law SDCL 13-27-1, when a student reaches

20 days absent from school or 8,400 total minutes, the superintendent will submit a petition to the Court for resolution or seek an alternate remedy. It is also important to note that the discretion of the superintendent will be used in a case-to-case basis.

There will also be notes sent home as a communication tool as a student approaches 20 days absent for the benefit of the family.

 

Students Leaving During the Day

Parents requesting a child to leave the school grounds during the school day MUST NOTIFY THE OFFICE.

Parents picking up children any time during the day prior to normal dismissal time are required to inform the office in advance and to report to the office. The teacher must be notified before she/he can allow the child to leave the classroom. CHILDREN ARE NOT TO BE PICKED UP FROM THE PLAYGROUND AREA OR FROM THE CLASSROOM.