Policies

The safety of all who attend Montgomery is of great concern to parents and staff. Therefore, we ask your personal cooperation and commitment to observe the following school safety rules:

• The parking lot will be closed from 7:45 - 8 a.m. and 1:45 - 2 p.m. daily.
• Minimum days the parking lot will be closed from 12:30 - 12:45 p.m.

If you drive your child to and from school, please drop off and pick up your child at the curb or park on the street and walk your child to campus. Eliminating the number of cars driving through the parking lot creates a safer environment for our students and staff. Due to safety concerns the parking lot will be utilized for school buses, staff, and handicap parking.

Children MAY NOT arrive at school before 7:30 a.m. Supervision of children ends at 2:15 p.m. on regular days and at 1:00 p.m. on Thursdays. Children MAY NOT be on campus after school hours unless they are with their parent, under the direct supervision of a teacher, or involved in a school-approved activity.

School staff supervises the playground beginning at 7:45 a.m.

Minimum Days: Please be advised that every Thursday will be a minimum day in the Evergreen School District unless otherwise noted. Minimum days are utilized for teacher preparation and staff development training. All students in grades 1-6 will be dismissed at 12:45 p.m., kindergarten students are dismissed at 12:30 p.m.

Research has shown that students who are late or miss school find it difficult to be successful. It is important that parents ensure their children attend school regularly. Please telephone the school office before 8:30 a.m. on the day your child is absent at 408-270-6718. You may receive a phone call at work or home verifying an absence if we do not hear from you. Perfect Attendance Awards are presented to students at the end of the school year if students have had no absences or tardies.

Parents of students who have frequent absences or tardies will be contacted to discuss interventions to improve the child(ren)’s attendance pattern. If the absences and/or tardies continue, students and their parent/guardian will be referred to the Student Study Team (SST) or the District’s School Attendance Review Board (SARB).

Tardy Policy

Tardiness disrupts instruction. Student success is directly related to student attendance and the student’s ability to be in his or her seat and prepared to begin class when the bell rings. Students are marked tardy if they arrive at school after 8 a.m. Students arriving after 8 a.m. are admitted with a pass from the attendance office.

Truancy Policy

One of the questions that parents frequently ask is: We are going out of town for a few days. Will my child be considered truant? The answer is, Yes! According to California Education Code 48260(a), Any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without valid excuse three full days in one school year or tardy or absent for more than any 30-minute period during the school day without a valid excuse on three occasions in one school year, or any combination there of, is a truant and shall be reported to the attendance supervisor or to the superintendent of the school district.

Excused absences basically fall into the following categories: illness or injury, medical appointments, or funeral of immediate family member. Unexcused absences would include such activities as ski trips, travel out of the country (even if the purpose of the trip is to visit an ill relative) and vacations of any sort. In addition to accruing unexcused absences and being labeled as truant, children with unexcused absences of 10 or more days are dis-enrolled from school. Sometimes this results in there being no space available when the family returns from vacation and attempts to re-enroll their students.

To avoid the unpleasantness of having a child declared legally truant, and possibly losing his/her space at the school, parents are strongly encouraged to plan vacations around school holidays. If you have any questions, please contact your school's principal.

During school hours, NO student is permitted to leave the school grounds without written permission and checking out with the office. Please come to the office to sign out your child for any appointments during the day. All campus visitors and volunteers are required to sign in and out at the office, and wear a badge while on campus. Children or students are not allowed in the staff room at any time. This includes before, during and after school hours. Remember not to use your cell phone when volunteering in the classroom and leave the phone on vibrate so it does not disturb the class.

For the safety of our students, adults are not allowed in any student bathroom. A restroom available for adult use is located in the office. Students may be taken outside of the café to eat lunch with parents/guardians at the designated area, however the student MUST be signed out by their parent in the school office prior to lunch.

Any person who comes on the school grounds must go to the office to sign the visitor’s book and get a visitor’s badge before going into a classroom.

Parents are always welcome to visit their child’s classroom. Please follow the guidelines below:

1. Telephone the school to make an appointment with your child’s teacher for a classroom visitation.
2. Check in at the school office prior to visiting a classroom to pick up a visitor’s badge.

Students may not leave the school grounds without permission. If you must remove your child during school hours, please come to the office and we will notify your child’s teacher. Please schedule appointments late in the afternoon so as to not disturb your child’s instructional day. Students should not be taken out of class unless it is absolutely necessary. The front office will not call a student from class to have him or her wait in the front office for a parent/guardian to arrive.

The person checking out the student must be listed on the student's emergency card. Please be sure all daycare persons are listed on emergency cards and in the Parent Portal. It is critical that the information on emergency cards and in Parent Portal is kept current.

Skateboards are not allowed at school.

Bike Safety Rules
Students in 3^rd- 6^th grades may ride their bikes to school. The school requires parents to sign a permission slip before their child may ride his/her bike to school.

Students Must:

• Ride bike in a safe manner (i.e., no speeding, weaving, double riding, etc.)
• Wear a helmet at all times when riding bike
• Walk bike on school property
• Begin riding bike once completely off school campus
• Lock up bike in appropriate bike area
• Have permission slip signed by parent/guardian
• Obey all crossing guards and Montgomery staff
• Walk bike on sidewalk areas (not in parking lot)
• Obey all of the above rules or student will no longer be permitted ot bring bide to school.

• Do not touch other students or their property for any reason.
• Keep your hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
• Follow directions of all adults including the Yard Duty Supervisors.
• Be in your class line after the bell rings and stand quietly.
• Come prepared to class with supplies and be ready to learn.
• Profanity, teasing, and name calling are not allowed.
• Running and chasing students on the blacktop not allowed.
• Chewing gum is not allowed.
• Littering is not appropriate behavior.
• All school rules apply during the instructional day including the child’s way to and from school.

Students are expected to dress appropriately and to be properly groomed for the school day. The type and style of clothing is individual and personal. The school shall be concerned only when a student’s attire is extreme and could cause distractions or is unsafe. Shoes must be worn at all times for safety reasons. Shoes with roller-wheels (Heelies) are NOT ALLOWED.

Examples of inappropriate clothing may include:

• Garments where the torso is exposed, such as tube tops, tank tops, half shirts, and halter tops.
• Clothing that has obscene words or pictures, sexually suggestive language or pictures, drug or alcohol statements or pictures.
• Hats and caps can be worn outside. They may not be worn inside the classroom, Media Center, or multipurpose Room.
• Gang-related clothing.
• Recreational clothing such as bathing suits, gym shorts, or cut-offs.
• Flip-flops and all sandals without heel straps.

Since fashion trends change quickly, the principal reserves the right to deem certain articles of clothing inappropriate even if not outlined in the student agenda.

Students are expected to follow playground rules to ensure their safety.

General Rules

• Stay inside the red lines at recess.
• Keep lines straight when walking with your class and do not cut in line.
• Throwing grass, rocks, and/or sand is not allowed.
• Do not push, wrestle, trip, roughhouse, fight or play fight.
• Running is ONLY ALLOWED on the grass, not on the blacktop.
• Do not play in the bathrooms.
• Use appropriate language.
• Stealing is not permitted.

Swings

• Swing sitting down, one at a time.
• No jumping off of the swings.
• Do not walk in front of or between the swings.
• Swing forward, not sideways.
• Do not climb on the swing poles.
• Do not push others on the swings.
• A student may swing 25 times before getting off the swing.

Jungle Gym

• Do not play games on or around the jungle gym.
• Do not run around the jungle gym area.

Parallel Bars

• One student at a time may cross the parallel bars.
• Do not stand on the bars.
• Move across the bars in the same direction.

Slide

• Only one student at a time on the slide.
• Only one student may be on each rung of the ladder at a time.
• Slide in the sitting position only.
• Do not block another student on the slide.
• No walking up the slide.

Student Possessions
Please put your child(ren)’s name on clothing and lunch boxes. THE ONLY TIME STUDENTS CAN BRING TOYS, GAMES, BALLS OR OTHER ITEMS TO SCHOOL IS WHEN THE TEACHER INSTRUCTS THEM TO DO SO. Tape recorders, radios, CD players, iPods, cellular phone or headphones are not allowed at school.

Consequences for Unacceptable Behavior

Consequences are related to the severity and frequency of the offenses: Warning/reminder of the rule, time out, loss of recess, exclusion from an activity, phone call to parent, campus clean up duty, referral to the administrator, behavior contract, assignment to another classroom, escort to or from school, modified school day, systematic exclusion, and suspension from school.

Severe Misconduct/Zero Tolerance

The following acts will result in an immediate referral to the principal and other proper authorities: Continued misbehavior or serious misbehavior, fighting, play fighting or threatening to cause injury, defying authority, committing an obscene act, engaging in habitual profanity, sexually harassing another person, possessing and/or using a dangerous object or substance. There is Zero Tolerance for weapons, items that look like weapons, and drugs or alcohol.

As defined by Evergreen School District, homework is an integral part of each student's educational program. We believe homework is an important extension of the classroom:

• Homework reinforces and supplements school learning experiences.
• Homework is good for discipline in teaching children accountability and fostering initiative, independence and responsibility.

Homework generally falls into three categories: practice, preparation and extension.

• Practice assignments provide the student with the opportunity to reinforce newly acquired skills or apply recent learning strategies.
• Preparation assignments ask students to read something or perform some activity in order to be ready for the next day’s lesson.
• Extension assignments attempt to take the student beyond the work begun in the classroom to encourage individualized, creative activities.

The suggested time to be spent on the above activities are:

• Grades 1-3 (30 – 45 minutes daily)
• Grades 4-6 (45-60 minutes daily)

• Guide TV and other electronic device viewing
• Maintain contact with the teacher.
• Schedule daily playtime
• Participate in family games.

The safety of all our students is of utmost importance to us. Parking Lot Speed is 5 miles per hour or slower for student safety. Students need to be escorted through the crosswalks in the parking lot.

Buses receive priority in the drive through lane. As so, the yellow gates into the parking lot are CLOSED during the mornings and afternoons, so the buses have a place to drop off students safely. Please drop off your students in the loading zone in front of the school.

When there are no buses and the gate is open, the drive-through lane is ONLY for drop-off and pick-up of students in the designated YELLOW curb area. PARKING IS NOT PERMITTED.

RED CURB: It is unlawful to stand, or park a vehicle whether the vehicle is attended or unattended. EMERGENCY vehicles need access.

DISABLED PARKING: It is unlawful for any person to park or leave standing any vehicle in a stall designated for disabled persons without proper authorization.

Cell Phone Policy: Off and Out of Sight

If it is necessary for a student to have a cell phone, it must remain OFF and in the their backpack during school hours. The school is not responsible for lost or stolen cell phones. A telephone is available for student use in the office. For the safety and protection of our students, we encourage ALL students to know at least one telephone number of an adult listed on their emergency card and/or in Parent Portal.

District policy states that students who are in possession of a cell phone while school is in session must have them turned off and they must be in their backpacks. Exceptions are at the discretion of school or district administrators.

The Evergreen School District Board of Trustees believes that all students have the right to an education in a positive learning environment free from disruption. The Evergreen School District Board of Trustees also recognizes that student possession of cell phones allows parents and students to communicate before and/or after the school day and to this end may provide a measure of safety and comfort to both. The use of personal electronic signaling devices, including but not limited to cellular/digital telephones, pagers and beepers, during the instructional day or any other time unless directed by a District employee is prohibited, except that student use of such devices will not be prohibited if essential for a student’s health.

Legal Reference: Education Code

48901.5 Electronic Signaling Devices: possession, use prohibited; exception

51512 Prohibited use of electronic listening or recording devices.

Policy Adopted: June 22, 2006

School staff supervises the playground beginning at 7:45 a.m.

Lunch recesses are supervised by paid Yard Duty Supervisors.

We invite interested parents and community members to call the school office if they are interested in working as a Yard Duty Supervisor.

There is no supervision after school. Students are expected to leave for home immediately following dismissal. To ensure student safety, we require children waiting for a ride or a sibling to wait inside the school corridor, not on the playground, the sidewalk, or in front of the school. PARENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PICKING UP THEIR CHILD(REN) ON TIME FROM SCHOOL.

Emergency cards are sent home with all students at the beginning of the year. A parent or guardian needs to complete the emergency cards with current and correct information. The school staff uses these cards to contact parents/guardians in the event of an emergency. Moreover, students will only be released to those people listed on the emergency cards. If your phone number or address changes, please contact the front office to update your child(ren)'s card immediately.

Food items or balloons WILL NOT be allowed for birthday celebrations in the classroom. No celebrations involving food or drink will be permitted. If parents wish to recognize their child’s birthday at school they may provide decorative pencils, bookmarks, erasers, or stickers. You also have the choice of donating a book directly to the classroom. Talk to your child’s teacher about what book might help the classroom collection. Teachers may elect to honor students as they see fit by giving special recognition, singing of songs, special classroom duties, etc. In addition, birthday party invitations need to be handed out outside of school hours.

This new policy has been implemented because of several concerns:

• Conflicts with our local wellness policy regarding childhood obesity
• Conflicts with the guidelines of the district’s Child Nutritional Service
• Concerns over students who have food allergies
• The negative impact these food items have on our office and custodial staff
• Loss of instructional time

To protect the privacy rights of our students, at no time should pictures or video of children, except your own, be taken or posted to any website or social media without the permission from the child's parent or legal guardian.

Throughout the school year, your child will have the opportunity to attend field trips. Teachers will be sending home specific information regarding the field trip their class will attend. Siblings are not permitted to accompany chaperones. In order for a child to attend a field trip, they will need to turn in a signed field trip permission slip. If a signed permission slip is not turned in to their teacher, they will not be able to attend the field trip. Verbal permission or e-mail permission will not be accepted.

If you have a question about your child’s class, please contact your child’s teacher first. He/she is most likely to be acquainted with the situation and possible ways of handling it. The teacher may be having the same concerns, and a discussion may help to clear up any questions. If an acceptable solution cannot be reached, the teacher or parent may contact the principal to arrange a time when the situation can be presented and other solutions offered.

Lunch Drop Off Policy

Student lunches from home should either be brought with them to school or dropped off in the office 15 minutes prior to their lunchtime. Student lunches cannot be handed to students next to the café.

Lunchtime Expectations

Enter and exit the cafe in an orderly fashion.
All students must remain seated during lunch and must request permission to leave their seat.
Food should be eaten in a polite and courteous way.
Students should speak in a quiet voice.
When the whistle is blown, students are expected to be quiet immediately.
When finished with your lunch, put trash in the garbage can, pour milk in receptacle, and stack trays.
Tables and surrounding area are to be left free of food and trash.
Students will be dismissed by the noon duty and should walk to the playground.