9611 Westmoreland RoadCornelius, NC 28031(980) 343-1071Fax (980)343-1072

August, 2014

Dear Students and Parents,

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to J.V. Washam Elementary School, home of the Hawks!

We are energized about the 2014-2015 school year. Our entire staff is committed to creating a safe and nurturing environment for our scholars. Our classroom teachers are devoted to providing your child with high quality instruction at their ability level. Additionally, they will be providing you with communication weekly through electronic communication, written notes, Friday Folders, or phone calls.

The staff members at JV Washam have a tremendous amount of passion about what they do and continue to learn as educators throughout the year through professional development. Classrooms here are engaging, motivating, and suitable to meet various student learning needs. Here at J.V. Washam we pride ourselves on character development as we strive to develop the whole child. It is our goal to teach our scholars how to be responsible citizens who show respect and pride in their school.

We ask that you join us on our journey for success this year. We envision a strong partnership between home and school and we cannot do this without your support. If you cannot be in our building on a regular basis, you can still assist your teachers. Please contact them to discuss ways you can support the classroom from home. We encourage all families to participate in our Parent Teacher Organization, helping our students see the importance that their parents are placing on school. In return, students will be motivated to come to school and give their best each day, academically and socially.

I am excited to work with all of the families of J.V. Washam Elementary School. Our school has a great reputation in the community and we could not do it without the support of all stakeholders. Please feel free to reach out to me at anytime should you have questions or concerns.

Respectfully,

Paula RaoPrincipal

JV Washam Elementary Student and Parent Handbook

School Hours 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.

7:15 a.m. Students begin arriving (school doors will not open until this time)7:45 a.m. Start of instructional day2:45 p.m. Dismissal begins

It is extremely important that your children are in their classrooms and ready to begin their school day at or before 7:45 A.M. and in attendance for the entire day when he or she is well. If children arrive after 7:45 A.M. they must be brought to the office by an adult and signed in as tardy (oversleeping and bad traffic are not considered excused). Setting a goal to be at school between 7:15-7:25 will allow for appropriate time to be in class on time.

After School Enrichment Program (ASEP)

The ASEP will operate daily from 2:45-6:00 p.m. Applications are available by calling to speak with the ASEP coordinator at 980-343-1071. ASEP can also be reached by emailing asep@cms.k12.nc.us or by calling the ASEP central office at (980) 343-5567.

Attendance

There is strong evidence to support a direct correlation between good attendance and school achievement. Parents or guardians are responsible for seeing that their child(ren) attend school each day it is in session, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education policy and the North Carolina Compulsory Attendance Law (GS-115C-378). The parent is required to notify the school in writing within three days of an absence from school. Failure to notify the school will result in the absence being coded as unexcused. Excused absences are for: illness, death in family, religious holiday, or a family emergency. According to the current CMS policy, family vacations are unexcused absences. When a child accumulates three unexcused absences, the parent will receive a letter of notification. Subsequently, if a student reaches six and ten cumulative days of unexcused absences, the parent will be notified of the next steps according to state attendance policy. Please do not be offended by the tone of the letter, as it was designed to make sure that students are not being marked incorrectly for unexcused absences. On days that children are absent the family will receive an automated notification at approximately 7 PM. A student must be in attendance for at least half of the school day to be counted present; a half-day at Washam is 11:15 AM.

Students need the benefit of a full instructional day. Please limit early dismissals. Absences from school should be for an illness or emergency only. Students who are frequently absent or tardy miss the sequence of learning and can fall behind.

Attendance: Sign-in/Sign-out policy

If a student is late or if an emergency dictates an early dismissal the parent is required to sign the child in or out in the main office. Please do not go to the classroom first, as teachers will ask for notification from the office prior to accepting or releasing a student. Student supervision is a part of our safe school plan and we want to make sure students are released from the parent/teacher into the hands of the receiving adult. Exceptions to the sign-in policy are a late bus or late breakfast due to the late bus arrival.

Attendance: Tardiness/Early Dismissals

Students are considered tardy if they are not in their classroom ready to work when the 7:45 bell rings. Due to a demanding curriculum and time restraints, announcements will begin when the tardy bell rings and instruction will begin immediately after. It is disruptive to the incoming child and the students in the classroom when someone arrives late.

Bus Transportation

Students riding the bus must adhere to safety and behavior guidelines. Students are expected to be at the stop 10 minutes prior to the assigned pick up time. Buses will not wait for students to walk to the stop as this impedes traffic flow and schedules. Students are expected to sit in an assigned seat, talk quietly, and follow the driver’s directions. Standing, yelling, making inappropriate comments, and any physical contact with others are violations of bus guidelines. Students who do not adhere to bus guidelines will be disciplined as follows:1st offense- conference with student and verbal warning2nd offense-written warning sent home3rd offense-bus suspension for 1-3 days(For more serious offenses, such as fighting, a student may be suspended from the bus immediately). Notices regarding bus behavior are required to be signed by the parent and returned to school the following day. Please speak to your child about bus safety and the importance of practicing good bus behavior both to and from school.

FREQUENTLY ASKED TRANSPORTATION QUESTIONS

Q: What if I need to have my stop changed for some reason?A: In order to change a bus stop or request a new one, you must go to the CMS website and complete the Alternate Stop, Unsafe Stop, or Change in Request form. These are then submitted electronically. The site is www.cms.k12.nc.us. Look for the transportation link at the bottom of the site. Depending on the time of year, this could take several days to two weeks to be approved before they can actually be assigned to the bus and begin riding. Once you have submitted the change of information, please contact the school in about 3 days to verify if it has been approved.

Q: What if I need my child to ride to a daycare center that is being served via a CMS bus?

A: If you have registered your child at a daycare service that CMS provides transportation to, you will need to go online at the CMS website and request that stop in the section titled Alternate Stop. Your child’s daycare service cannot do this for you. This only applies to daycare services that CMS provides bus transportation for, not daycare vans. Failure to request the daycare stop will mandate that the driver take your child to the assigned home stop. The sooner this is completed, the sooner your child will be able to ride the bus to that daycare.

Q: What if I need to change my transportation for a period of time, such as to a car rider?A: A written note must be sent into the child’s teacher explaining the change in transportation. This will be signed off by an administrator. We do not accept changes for transportation over the phone.

Cafeteria

Students may pay for lunch on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Please make checks payable to the Washam Elementary cafeteria. If you are interested in paying online go to http://www.paypams.com or call 980-343-6041. If necessary you may request a print-out of your child’s purchases from the Cafeteria Manager, Mr. Eric Lavin. Applications for free or reduced lunch are available in our main office. Parents requesting free or reduced meals must complete an application within the first ten days of school or during the enrollment process. Lunch status is evaluated at the beginning of each school year. This designation does not carry over from year to year.

Students are asked to RESPECT and follow all cafeteria procedures, to RESPECT the rights of others around them, be RESPONSIBLE for using appropriate manners and inside voices, showing good CITIZENSHIP by cleaning up all trash and putting it in the proper place, and by showing TRUSTWORTHINESS by taking their turn to clean and sweep for their class.

Cafeteria-Birthdays and Guests

Parents may bring store bought cake, cupcakes, or treats to the cafeteria during the regularly scheduled lunch time to celebrate a child’s birthday. Please make sure the teacher is aware of your plans in advance. We also expect that all students in the class are included in the celebration. Please do not bring or send balloons or other gifts to school. If you choose to do so, they will remain in the office until the end of the day. Balloons or other large items cannot be taken onto a bus.

Parents and siblings are welcomed and encouraged to visit our cafeteria and have lunch with your children. Please sit at the assigned tables so that we have adequate space for students and visitors. We ask that you and your child only invite 1 child to sit with you during your visit. Please adhere to the regular lunch schedule so the students may rejoin their class immediately after lunch.

Food Choices

I hope that all of you will support our cafeteria by buying school lunch. However, I know that we all look forward to a special lunch and it is acceptable to bring in lunch for your child occasionally. If you pack lunch, please be advised that soft drinks are not allowed in the cafeteria and we ask parents to support us and only allow children to have one small treat a day or make a treat a special Friday event. We also ask our families to please monitor student intake of sweets while at school. Talk to your children about only getting one dessert or using it as a reward on Friday’s. Our goal is to have a healthy student body at JV Washam. Food Allergies

Although the school nutrition program no longer serves peanut products, there is not a CMS policy banning peanut products from the cafeteria. However, there is a designated nut free table in the cafeteria. If your child has a food allergy, please inform the teacher and the school nurse as soon as possible.

Carpool

Safety is our primary concern and we want all of our children supervised when on school grounds. Directions for car pool procedures will be provided in the back to school letters and during the first few weeks of school. I am asking that parents follow the directions of the school staff in regards to loading and unloading students. Registration for carpool will be available at the beginning of the school year. A thirty-minute window prior to the start of the instructional day and after the dismissal bell is provided to accommodate transportation needs. Staff will begin accepting students out front at 7:15 a.m. Please make sure you release your child into the custody of a staff member on duty. The carpool drop-off and pick-up will be available at the front of the building only. Do not drop your child in the back, side or in the parking lot to walk into the school alone. In the afternoon, please pick your child up by 3:00 p.m. Many meetings for the staff are scheduled in the afternoons and begin immediately after the students depart. If you have an emergency, please notify the office so that arrangements can be made for your child to wait in the office. If the carpool procedures do not accommodate your needs we will be happy to help with arrangements for bus transportation.

Change in transportation

Occasionally you will need to make a change in regard to the way a child goes home. If you are making a change in this regard please do the following: Please send in written notification to your child’s classroom teacher regarding changes on how your student will be leaving school. This includes a request for bus, day care van, or car pool changes. If it is an emergency and a transportation change must be made via phone please call the school prior to 1:00 PM. It can be very hectic in the office after this time and will be difficult to get the information to your child. Early pick-up of students will not be allowed between 2:15-2:45 p.m. unless it is an emergency. An adult must come to the office to request an early dismissal. Identification will be required if the office staff is not familiar with the adult picking up the student(s). Please give us as much notice as possible if a change in transportation is needed. Students enrolling in August or later in the year will be

assigned a bus stop by our central transportation department. This process usually takes 1-2 weeks at the beginning of the year and later, 2-3 days after the request has been received. If a bus change has been requested, students will not be allowed to ride the new bus until the school receives notification of the assignment from our transportation department.

Communication

Regular communication and quality customer service is very important to us. The school website will be updated on a weekly basis and classroom teachers will establish a communication link with the parents. Teachers will also have access to email communications as a tool to use with parents throughout the year. Our goal is to respond to all parent calls and communication in a timely manner and we will make every effort to get in touch with you by the end of the working day. Please stay in contact with us and make sure that all changes in phone numbers are given to teachers and office staff. In addition, we will send home communication folders on Friday of each week. Friday is also the day to expect progress reports, work samples, important information, class news and an electronic copy of The Hawkeye, our weekly newsletter. We will also use a tool called Connect Ed to communicate with our school community. This is a phone message system that allows us to get information to large parts of our community quickly and efficiently. We can also be found on Facebook.

Curriculum

All instruction in grades kindergarten through fifth grade follows the Common Core State Standards. In addition, units of study will be developed to integrate reading, writing, and content (social studies and science). Grades K-5 will follow the balanced literacy approach to reading and writing. Teachers will instruct students using the Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop Model. They will have time for independent reading and writing at their level, one-on-one teacher conferring, guided reading/writing, sharing, and word work. Our mathematics program follows the CMS pacing guide which includes Investigations and CMS district units to address Common Core State Standards. Students in grades K-5 will also participate in an additional block of intervention/extension activities daily for a minimum of 30 minutes. Science and social studies will be an integral part of the curriculum. In grades 2-5, Washam will utilize the Catalyst model for our Talent Development program whenever possible (push-in model). Students with Individual Education Plans and those learning English as a Second Language will receive specialized instruction in addition to the regular classroom instruction. All students will be appropriately challenged through purposeful and relevant learning experiences. Homework will be given on a regular basis (3-4 nights a week) and will provide practice with skills students are learning. Students will be expected to produce quality work on all of their assignments, including homework and projects.

Discipline

Character Education is the cornerstone of school discipline. Our faculty will focus on a school wide discipline plan that promotes respect, responsibility and citizenship. The purpose of the plan will be to identify expectations for student behavior, plan

opportunities to teach and practice appropriate behaviors and to use logical and appropriate consequences for both good and poor choices. Teachers will be encouraged to handle discipline concerns in private and to utilize both school support services and parents in the process. A character education program will be implemented that focuses on practicing characteristics that represent good character. Our students are taught the importance their student to teacher and student to student interactions are and how they can affect those around us. Teachers will be encouraged to engage students to participate in the school, community and world through meaningful character initiatives as they integrate these concepts in all things that they do each day. A copy of the school discipline policy and the CMS Rights and Responsibilities Handbook will be reviewed during the first two weeks of school and sent home with each student as added reinforcement for students so all children understand school rules. It is our expectation that students and parents read and understand the guidelines and the consequences for violations. Our school behavior expectations can also be found on our website.

Dismissal Procedures

Dismissal procedures will begin at approximately 2:45 PM. ASEP students and car riders will be dismissed first. Within minutes, bus dismissal will begin. The end of the day is an extremely busy time so we ask that you not ask for early check-out between 2:15-2:45. We understand that afternoon appointments may require an early dismissal and the office staff will try to accommodate your requests prior to this time period.

Emergency Dismissal

In the event of inclement weather or an emergency, students may be dismissed early. It is very important that you complete an emergency dismissal form for your child at the beginning of the school year. Please notify the office if this vital information changes. Information regarding cancellation of school is broadcast on television and radio shortly after 5:00 AM. This information will also be listed on the CMS website (www.cms.k12.nc.us) and parents will receive a message through our Connect Ed automated phone system. The school does not have this information in advance of this broadcast unless the announcement is made the previous evening.

Faculty and Staff

JV Washam Elementary School will have a faculty of approximately 100 staff members for the 2014-2015 school year and they represent a highly skilled and dedicated group of individuals. Each individual brings strengths that he/she will share with other members of the school. Balanced teams of teachers, including experienced and young teachers, will serve on most of our grade levels. Teachers will share assistants based on a significantly reduced allotment of assistants. Special area teachers include art, music, physical education, media, and technology. Our classroom assistants support our instructional program. We have a K-5 Math facilitator in addition to a Literacy facilitator. Our facilitators will build the capacity of the teaching staff, support classroom teachers and students and to make recommendations to the principal regarding curriculum and instruction. A Talent Development specialist serves our school each day and they will work in grades 2-5 in team teaching and pull-out situations as our schedule requires. Our Exceptional Children’s department is comprised of a speech/language pathologist, 3 Exceptional Children teachers, an Exceptional Children assistant and a part time English as a Second Language teacher. We also have a Dean of Students. This person will mirror the responsibilities of an assistant principal. They will handle any academic or behavioral concerns throughout the year.

Additional faculty includes a guidance counselor who will be available as both a student and parent resource. They will also spend time in classrooms talking to students about bullying and other social expectations of JV Washam. Please call this dedicated professional if you have any school based developmental issues. We are also very fortunate to have a dedicated office, cafeteria, custodial and after school enrichment staff who complete our team.

Health/Emergency Locator Card

It is important that we have accurate and up to date information to reach you if your child becomes sick or injured. Please complete and return the emergency locator card during the first week of school. Please notify the office if this information changes. It is critical that you inform the teacher and the office staff of any serious illnesses or conditions that your child has so that we can be prepared if assistance is needed. The nurse will contact the parent to complete a specialized health plan if necessary. We have personnel trained in CPR, how to use our AED (automated external defibrillator) equipment and we have first responders to handle emergencies.

Health Room

Washam will have a school nurse a minimum of 2-3 days a week. Secretaries and parent volunteers will be responsible for the students at all other times. The following procedures will guide services provided: Each faculty member will have a first aid packet consisting of band-aids, gloves, etc. Cuts or scrapes will be washed and band-aids applied by the teacher. Parents will be notified by the classroom teacher if necessary. If a child has a fever, is vomiting or has other significant symptoms of illness a parent will be called. If a child receives a head injury of any kind, the child will be sent to the health room and a parent will be called. In the event that a student has a severe accident, the parent and 911 will be called. Please keep the teacher and main office updated regarding phone numbers where you can be reached at all times. It is important to know that our staff CANNOT give even a cough drop, aspirin or any over-the-counter medication, even with parent permission.

Health Room-Medication

A medical authorization form completed by a doctor must be on file for medication to be dispensed by nurse or authorized school staff. The prescribing doctor and parent must sign this form and return it to the school before medication can be given. This includes medicine for colds, allergies, upset stomach, headaches, etc.

Health Policy on Contagious Illnesses or Conditions

CMS policy requires that students with infections or contagious illnesses must stay home the first 24 hours of the illness or until they no longer have fever. A student with head lice will be sent home and may return when the parent provides evidence of treatment and there are no “live lice.” Please let us know immediately if your child has any contagious illness, so we can notify other parents if necessary. Student names will always be kept confidential.

Homework

Homework is given 3-4 days a week at Washam Elementary except in the event of a special school activity held on a school night or over the weekend (except in special circumstances). Reading is an important component of homework and each student or parent must record their reading assignments. Young students may be read to by an adult. Students should have a variety of texts to read: choosing from a class book or novel, a magazine, or other selections from the media center. Guidelines for time it takes to do quality homework are: K-1st grade, approximately 30-40 minutes, 2nd -3rd grade 45-60 minutes, and 4th-5th grade 60-90 minutes. Homework is practice for the work done in school. Please notify your child’s teacher if you have a concern regarding homework.

Lost and Found

Please mark all student coats, jackets, lunch boxes, etc. with a permanent marker. Lost items may be reclaimed in the lost and found box located in the front foyer. Unclaimed items will be donated to charity periodically.

Name Tags

All faculty and staff members are required to wear a CMS name tag as part of the safe schools initiative. Students will be issued a name tag and will wear them at all times they are traveling in the building. Student name tags are provided free at the beginning of the year. Name tags include vital information, including a bar code for checkout in the media center and lunch codes.

Parent Volunteers

Parents are welcome and encouraged to participate in school activities at any time. In addition to visiting, there are many opportunities to be involved as a volunteer. Opportunities include: classroom helpers, health room assistants, office/technology assistants and media assistants. There are several “at home” jobs that parents can assist with. You do not have to be at our school to volunteer! Please consider

volunteering by contacting your child’s teacher, the school office or the PTO volunteer coordinator. The website to register with CMS is https://www.cmsvolunteers.com. ALL volunteers must register prior to volunteering.

Parents can be involved in their child’s education at J.V. Washam in many ways: Establish good communication/rapport with your child’s teacher and principal Check your child’s backpack each evening for information coming home to

you about the class and school Be aware of class work that your child is covering each week Read to your child each evening and encourage them to read independently if

they are able Join our PTO and attend PTO and school events regularly Join a PTO committee and volunteer in some aspect of the classroom and

school environment Eat lunch with your child periodically and get to know classmates and other

parents Be a Room Parent and be an active participant in class events Sign up to be a “Washam Buddy” tutor and work with children throughout our

school Ask questions if you are in doubt about something Listen attentively to your child Nurture your child with unconditional love and understanding Teach and remind children to eat a healthy lunch including fruits and

vegetables each day.

PTO

The mission of the PTO is to work together as parents and staff to enrich our children’s lives by offering creative social, educational, and physical opportunities for them. The PTO will have office hours in the Parent Resource Center located in the main entrance of the school.

If you are interested in being a part of this wonderful organization in a leadership or volunteer role please let us know! Our goals can not be met without a strong parent support network working in unison with teachers for our children. We want all of our families to be involved in their child’s education and we look forward to having you join us in this educational journey.

School Leadership Team

The School Leadership Team is comprised of administrators, teachers, staff, and parents who meet monthly to oversee the school improvement planning process. The PTO president is a member of the team. The PTO holds a general election of the SLT committee membership in the spring. The principal may add members to the team to balance the representation to reflect the student population of the school. This team focuses on the “big picture” of the school and looks at ways to continue to improve throughout the year. Families can also use the Public Comment Form found on the website to discuss areas of concern that they would like to be reviewed by the

School Leadership Team. If parents are interested in this committee please contact the principal for more information.

Safety

Measures are in place to insure that our students and staff are safe at all times. All exterior doors will be locked throughout the school day. Safety audits are conducted a minimum of three times a year to rate our effectiveness in responding to an emergency by locking down our school within three minutes. We will conduct safety drills, known as lockdowns, as well as fire and tornado drills. This will enable us to practice how to stay safe in an emergency. Please follow the directions of the school staff during a drill or emergency. We request that you help us monitor student safety in our building. Please notify the office of any condition that appears to be unsafe.

Visitor Management System

Lobby Guard was chosen as the CMS Visitor Management System provider. Lobby Guard tracks visitors at all schools and maintains a record of all CMS Registered Volunteer hours. Visitors will approach the Lobby Guard kiosk located in the front office and select the reason for their visit. Their picture will be taken and the visitor will scan their driver’s license. This information is processed against a National Sexual Registry to ensure the visitor is not a convicted sexual offender. Once the visitor is cleared, they receive a stick-on badge which identifies who the visitor is, their picture and the purpose of their visit. While visiting, they badge is worn on the outermost garment which assist staff in knowing the visitor has properly registered at the school.  When the visitor leaves, they simply return to the office and scan their badge and they are immediately signed out. During our security audits this procedure is double checked for compliance. Badges are not reusable from day to day. 

The main function of Lobby Guard is to query each visitor against a National Sexual Offender Registry to ensure that convicted sexual predators do not have access to school property. Additionally, in the event of an emergency evacuation, Lobby Guard can be accessed from any smart device, which enables staff and emergency responders to see who is signed in and provides a method for accountability during such crisis.

Should a person fail the initial screening, CMSPD is behind the scene to quickly clear that person from the failed screening process. If the person is in fact a convicted sexual offender, we immediately dispatch law enforcement to the school to further investigate. The majority of the time failure results in a close name association and birth year, not true offenders. It is important to remember that just because a person fails their initial screening it does not mean they are a sexual predator. 

Student Dress

CMS has a student dress code for all students so that clothing does not become a distraction. Students should wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Tank and spaghetti straps are not allowed unless they have shirts underneath them. Shorts and skirts need to be an appropriate length reaching mid-thigh or longer. Clothing showing bare backs, abdomens, or suggestive or inappropriate language is not appropriate for school. Flip flops are not allowed because of safety. Students will need to wear athletic shoes on physical education days. Most days children will be playing outside so please send your child in clothes that are “play friendly.” Parents will be called and asked to bring a change of clothing or shoes should a student come to school dressed inappropriately.

Student Population

Approximately 1080 students in grades K-5 will attend Washam Elementary for the 2014-2015 school year. The number of classes per grade level ranges from 6-9. Classroom size is limited by the NC Legislature to 24 in grades K-3 and 29 in grades 4 and 5. In critical situations, a waiver of class size can be requested from the state.

Website

The website address for Washam Elementary is http://schools.cms.k12.nc.us/jvwashamES/Pages/Default.aspx.

Please visit the website for weekly updates.

The link for OSP/Online School Payments can be found on the J. V. Washam website.