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Parent Handbook

 

Welcome to North Central Elementary

 

MISSION, VISION, MOTTO, AND BELIEFS

 

MISSION:

To educate all students for success.

VISION:

To empower and challenge all students to become productive members of a global society.

MOTTO:

“Excellence...Always.”

BELIEFS:

We Believe …

  • In striving for Excellence...Always.
  • All students are valuable and unique.
  • Students should be actively involved in the learning process.
  • It is imperative that parents take an active role in their child’s education.
  • The community is a valued stakeholder in the success of our students.
  • In high expectations for all students.
  • Learning is a lifelong process.
  • Quality education develops cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills.
  • Quality education is enriched through a comprehensive library, the arts, physical education, character education, and technology curriculums. 

 

Title One Information

Title I is a federal education program that supports low income students throughout the nation. Funds

are distributed to high poverty schools, as determined by the number of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. In collaboration with families, community members, teachers, and staff, North Central Elementary School has developed a written Title I parent and family engagement policy. The school welcomes feedback from our parents and community partners through our PTO, SIC, parent and teacher surveys, and suggestions offered during school and community events. The policy is distributed to parents each year through a variety of outlets including the Back to School Night, Annual Title I meeting, school and teacher newsletters, posts on our webpage, and social media page. 

 

This policy describes the means for carrying out the following Title I parent and family engagement requirements under the guidelines offered by our district and state. The goal of this policy is to: (1) Honor and recognize families' input, (2) Connect family engagement to student learning, (3) Create a welcoming, inviting culture, and (4) Develop the capacity of families to negotiate the roles of supporters, advocates, and collaborators.


 

Attendance

  • A written statement from a parent/legal guardian, physician, dentist or other recognized licensed/certified medical practitioner or legal officer is required for each absence.  The statement should be dated and include the date(s) of absence(s), the reason(s) for the absence(s), telephone number of the parent/legal guardian and the required signature.
  • A written statement from a parent/legal guardian can be used to excuse up to 10 student absences. (sickness not requiring a doctor’s visit, death in the family, etc.)
  • Any absence beyond the 10 allowed “parent notes,” requires a medical excuse from a physician, dentist, or other recognized licensed/certified medical practitioner.
  • Students must attend half of the instructional school day in order to be counted present for the day.
  • Students signed out prior to 11:30am or initially arriving to school after 11:30am are counted as absent and will require a parent/medical note (in addition to the sign out sheet documentation)

Healthroom Information

  • Medication
    • Parents must bring in all medications to be signed in and counted along with a doctor's order for precipitation medicines. Parents are allowed to bring an unopened over the counter medicine that will be counted and logged into the health room. Students are not allowed to keep medicines with them unless we have a doctor's self carry order on file.
  • Sick Students
    • Please keep children at home with a temperature of 100.0 accompanied by symptoms (cough, diarrhea, vomiting). Your child may return to school when he/she is fever free without medications for 24 hours.
    • lease keep children at home if they have vomited 2 or more times during the previous 24 hours. Your child may return to school when he/she has not vomited in 24 hours.

 

Volunteer Information

Are you interested in being a volunteer or being a chaperone on a field trip? Please read the information below for the two volunteer options.

(Chaperoning, field trips, and all out-of-school activities)

  • Volunteers are persons who will possibly be unsupervised while with KCSD students. Level 2 volunteers undergo a more comprehensive background check. Volunteers who wish to be approved for Level 2 status should apply at the link below.
  • Level 2 status is good for 2 years.

 

The process for volunteer applications to be approved may take at least two weeks.

 

Please see the Parent Contract for Field Trips attached here.  A copy will be sent home to be signed and returned by all Parents chaperoning field trips. 



 

PTO/SIC

PTO meets the last Monday of each month in the school library.  If you are interested in joining, please contact one of the board members for more information.

PTO Board:

President: Jenn Perrigo

Vice President: Abby Spitzer

Secretary: Tommi Barngrover

Treasurer: Catalina Fortner

Teacher Rep: Lexe Sims

Teacher Rep: Dana Watkins

Parent Rep: Cassady Knight

 

Ex-officio Members-

Britt Gardner- Principal

Kristen Galuppi- Assistant Principal

 

 

SIC meets in conjunction with PTO the last Monday of each month in the school library. If you are interested in joining, please contact Kim Simon, Co-Chair or Abby Spitzer, Co-Chair for more information.

 

SIC Board:

Chair: Kim Simon

Co-Chair: Abby Spitzer

Teacher: Jamie Carpenter

Teacher: Rebecca Double

Parent: Rebekah Clements

Parent: Desi Hubbard

Parent: Brittany Hall

Community Member: Craigan Blankenship

Community Member: Alison Truesdale

Community Member: Jennifer Perrigo

 

Ex-officio Members-

Britt Gardner- Principal

Kristen Galuppi- Assistant Principal

Lexe Sims- Teacher of the Year

 

Events

School/Student Events

  • Pelicans (monthly visits)
  • Fall Pictures
  • Spring & Class Pictures
  • Field Day
  • NCE Fall and Spring Book Fair
  • Santa Shop

 

Family/Community Events

  • Back to School Night 
  • Grits for Grandparents
  • Twas the Knight Before Christmas
  • A Knight to Cherish (Parent/Child Dance)

 

Awards

 

  • End of Semester Awards
    • Academics
  • End of Year Awards
    • Academics
    • Related Arts
    • Extracurricular Participation Recognition
      • Girls on the Run
      • Noble Notes
      • Knightingales
      • Music Awards
      • Good News Club
      • NCE Morning Show

 

Extracurricular Activities

 

  • Girls on the Run
  • Noble Notes
  • Knightingales

 

These extracurricular activities are for grades 3-5.  Applications for these extracurriculars will be sent out at a later date. 

 

Code of ARMS

This year North Central Elementary School is implementing our Code of Arms.  Our goal is to provide the best behavioral support for all students.  By teaching common expectations, we can best support students’ social, emotional and academic outcomes.  The Code of ARMS expectations are…

 

  • Always Excellent
  • Respectful to All
  • Manage Yourself
  • Stay Safe

 More information can be found by clicking on the link here.

Discipline

North Central Elementary School follows the Kershaw County School District Parent/Student Summary Code of Conduct for all grades. Level I offenses are  addressed and documented by classroom teachers. Parents will be contacted  by teachers to inform them of inappropriate student behavior(s). An  accumulation of five Level I offenses will result in an  administrative referral as a Level II. Administration will refer to the Code of  Conduct for all grades to determine an appropriate disciplinary method.  Possible methods include behavior interventions, detention, In-School Suspension or  Out-of-School Suspension.  During ISS, students are removed from the regular setting and placed into a small population in a non-social setting. They  work on assignments sent by their teachers while under the supervision of a  mentor for the prescribed time set by the administrator. During Out-of-School Suspension, the student must remain at home for the prescribed time period set by the administrator. 

 

  • Minor Offenses include: 
    • Inappropriate language, not being prepared for class, calling/blurting out, teasing, refusal to work, non-compliance, minor dishonesty, minor disruption, minor aggression, unsafe or rough play, disrespectful (tone, attitude, body language), disrespect towards property, pattern of not completing homework, cheating/forging.

 

  • Major Offenses include: 
    • Aggressive physical contact, fighting, property destruction, weapons, pattern of aggressive/profane language, credible threats, major disrespectful episodes, harassment of students/teachers, major/chronic destruction, major/chronic refusal to follow school rules, major/chronic classroom disruptions, major theft, racial/ethnic discrimination.

 

Visitors During Lunch

North Central Elementary is excited to welcome parents into our school to eat lunch with their elementary children. When you eat with your child, you will notice that we have routines, procedures and expectations for our students. To ensure the safety of all of our students in the cafeteria, we will follow the following KCSD guidelines for parent lunch guests in our school:

 

  1. Please contact the front office to let them know you plan to eat lunch with your child at least one day prior to your visit. (the earlier, the better due to space constraints)
  2. All lunch visitors will need to bring identification and check in at the front office to receive a visitor’s badge.
  3. Parents should arrive at your child’s exact lunch time to ensure that we keep all students on schedule. All students must eat at their designated lunch time.
  4. NCE will have a special eating area for you and your child when you visit. Due to space constraints, please limit guests to 2 per student/per visit. 
  5. We welcome you to purchase food in our cafeteria or to bring food from home. The cost for a parent lunch is $4.85

 

Food for Celebrations

Parents are welcome to supply treats and goodies for their student’s class for special occasions (birthdays, holidays, etc.) as long as the following guidelines are met…

  • Food items should be STORE BOUGHT and be wrapped in the original package
  • Items should be individual servings i.e. cupcakes and cookies
  • Parents/Guardians should plan accordingly with their child’s teacher (contact teacher) 
  • Supply alternative treats for students with allergies (if needed)
  • We ask that treats/goodies are limited to one per student.