BreakthroughII Magnet School

(North Campus)

Parent/Student Handbook

2017-2018

The Hartford board of Education complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws prohibiting the exclusion of any person from any of its educational programs or activities, or denial to any person of the benefits of any of its education programs or activities because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age or disability, subject to the conditions and limitations established by law. No student shall be excluded by removal, suspension or expulsion or otherwise disciplined on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, poverty, pregnancy, parenthood or language difficulty.

Table of Contents

School Staff and Contact Information………………………………………3

Mission Statement……………………………………………………………..4

Parent Involvement……………………………………………………………4

Character Education Curriculum…………………………………………….5

STEP Training ………………………………………………………………....5

Attendance Policies ……………………………………………………………7

Student Lockers ……………………………………………………………….10

Bus Transportation ……………………………………………………………10

Policies for Inclement Weather ……………………………………………..11

Community Meeting ……………………………………………………….....12

Homework Policies ……………………………………………………………13

Enrichment Programs …………………………………………………………13

Promotion and Retention …………………………………………………….13

Student Health Issues …………………………………………………………15

After School Daycare …………………………………………………………16

Contribution and Service ……………………………………………………16

Student Selection Process ……………………………………………………17

Student Assistance Team (SAT) Process …………………………………...17

Special Education ……………………………………………………………...19

School Governance Councils ………………………………………………..20

Student Discipline …………………………………………………………….14

Suspension/Expulsion ………………………………………………………..14

Cell Phones/Electronic Devices ……………………………………………...26

Dress Code/Uniform …………………………………………………………..28

FERPA…………………………………………………………………………… 30

Bullying Prevention/Intervention ……………………………………………31-36

Internet Safety ………………………………………………………………….37

Child Abuse/Neglect …………………………………………………………..40-43

Suicide Prevention and Intervention ………………………………………..43

Sexual Harassment ……………………………………………………………..50

Breakthrough Magnet II Compact ……………………………………………56

School Contact Numbers

BreakthroughSchool Office- (860) 695-6380

Breakthrough II fax- (860) 524-5395

Principal’s Cell Phone- (860) 305-3914

Breakthrough School Staff

Principal- Katherine Leonard

Dean of Students- Lisa Verderame

Theme Facilitator- Teri Webber

Executive Assistant- Emma Thomson

Office Assistant- LaKeesha Mitchell

Instructional Staff:

Pre-Kindergarten 3/4- Edith Tresner

Pre-Kindergarten 3/4 – Michelle Reid

Pre-Kindergarten 3/4 CDA- Danielle Tartaglia

Pre-Kindergarten 3/4 CDA- Shante Black

Pre-Kindergarten 3/4 CDA- Tanina LaRosa

Kindergarten/Grade 1- Alex Bruno

Kindergarten/Grade 1- Katelin Jacobs

Kindergarten/Grade 1 – Kelly Taylor

Grade 2/3- Lauren Belair

Grade 2/3- Liz Brunelle

Grade 2/3 – Alissa Angelo

Grade 4/5- Ben Fagan

Grade 4/5- Afton Gilyard

Grade 4/5 – Ryan Sprague

MS Math- Melanie Blain

MS ELA- Lisa Everett

MS Science-Anitra Orie

Special Education – Valerie Michaels

Special Education -Sophia Lindsay

Special Education- Meagan Pastre

Spanish Studies-Claudia Dresser

Physical Education- Stephen Curti

Music Education – Rosanne Jozwick

Art Education – Betsy Carnes

School Social Worker- Rendene Oakley

Mission Statement

The mission of the BreakthroughII MagnetSchool is for staff, families and community members of diverse backgrounds to work in partnership, developing students as models of outstanding character i.e., students utilizing problem solving, responsible choice making, and agreement forming and keeping. Character development permeates our broad-based instruction, producing students with academic rigor, aesthetic appreciation, and physical expressiveness aimed at contributing to others. At Breakthrough II School we celebrate our global community and our students’ resultant lives are marked by effectiveness, health and well being.

The BreakthroughII MagnetSchool is a school where families and teachers work together striving for academic success. We stress purposeful learning through learning which students gain knowledge; utilize higher order thinking, exercise body, mind and value learning. Parent participation is key to student success. It can take many forms: attending school assemblies, serving as a member of our advisory board, volunteering in a classroom, chaperoning a field trip, or offering a class in our after school program. We also support our parents’ learning to do school friendly things at home such as reading with their child, supervising homework, preparing their child for school or playing games together.

Parent Involvement

Parent Teacher Organization-The PTO Meets Monthly.

Family Nights- Family night activities will be planned each year at Breakthrough IIMagnet. Parents, staff and students will attend these events and share activities together, always with an eye toward improving children’s academic and character development. Past events include: Open house, Math Night, Literacy Night, Family Game Night, and our parenting and character curriculum course (see section on STEP & Discipline).

Show Our Stuff- Breakthrough students prepare annually for our “Show our Stuff” day held May. This is a day that many people interested in applying to our school attend. Parents and community leaders are also present. Each class displays an aspect of learning at Breakthrough in an assembly as well as with displays.

Breakthrough’s Character Education Curriculum

Breakthrough students are instructed in various problem solving strategies and communication techniques and complete monthly Self Assessment Rubrics with teacher feedback for monitoring progress. These include: HA HA SOStrategies for handling bullying, the use of I-messages, use of CommittedComplaints (those made with the commitment to finding a solution) Making Requests and Negotiating Agreements and using a 4 Step ProblemSolving approach.

Breakthrough’s character education curriculum raises student awareness in 5 major areas:

B- ChangingBreakdowns to Breakthroughs by applying problem solving strategies

R- TakingResponsibility for choosing to find value or not in each of life’s events and experiences

I -learning how Integrity (keeping one’s word) empowers relationships and goals

C – Creatingopportunities for students to Contribute within the classroom, school and community

K- Engagingstudents in increasing their Knowledge so that new possibilities for their lives can be created

Discipline and STEP (Systematic Training for Effective Parenting)

Breakthrough II Magnet School’s commitment to character development, stated in our mission, seeks to develop students who encourage others, speak politely, use good manners, set good examples, use decorum in the halls, are an appreciative audience, and respect school property. When difficulties arise, we train students to talk out problems, assume responsibility for their actions, think of others’ needs and change breakdowns into breakthroughs (use their mistakes as opportunities to learn).

All staff members have been trained in the course Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) as our approach to discipline with our students. This course is also infused with the key distinctions of our character curriculum. Speaking positively and encouraging students is the basis of the approach. Students also learn that there are logical consequences for misbehavior. Strategies for dealing with misbehavior from this course are used.

In the event a student exhibits unacceptable behavior, consequences will be given. Misbehaving students will lose privileges such as attending enrichment programs, having time outs, detention, or suspensions. In altercations involving two or more students, every effort will be made to resolve the problem, either before or after consequences have been administered. The goal is to learn from mistakes so as to develop self-discipline.

Consequences will be determined on a case by case basis with staff considering what best would suit the infraction and the needs of student(s) involved.

The Principal offers the course Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) to parents one evening per week for 7 sessions each fall. The class is offered from 6:00-7:30PM and childcare is provided.

Attendance and Punctuality

Attendance is crucial to academic success. All students should strive for perfect attendance. Teachers encourage good attendance by making available such common household comforts such as tissues, water, etc. and role model their use. This reduces absences due to true illness or emergencies. Breakthrough’s commitment to “wellness” includes ways to stay healthy such as proper nutrition, consistent sleep schedules and exercise daily.

The following procedures are required for absence from school:

  1. Parents should contact the main office the day of their child’s absence and provide the expected return to school date.
  1. Parents should provide a note on the child’s return to school with the reason for the absence in order for the absence to be considered excused. Teachers will retain notes in the child’s folder throughout the year.

Attendance Policy:

Regular and punctual student attendance in school is essential to the educational process. Classroom learning experiences are the basis for public school education. Time lost from class is lost instructional opportunity.

The Board of Education requires that accurate records be kept of the attendance of each child. Students should not be absent from school without parental knowledge and consent. Connecticut state law places responsibility for assuring that students attend school with the parent or other person having control over the child. To assist parents and other persons in meeting this responsibility, the Board of Education, through its Superintendent will adopt and maintain regulations to implement this policy.

The Superintendent shall follow the regulations adopted by the State Board of Education regarding “excused” and “unexcused” absences. The Superintendent shall report to the Board of Education a summary regarding attendance, each year in October, January, and June. A truancy summary report shall be provided to the Board annually.

Definitions of Excused and Unexcused Absences: Adopted June 27, 2012 CT State Board of Education.

Excused Absences

A student’s absence from school shall be considered excused if written documentation of the reason for the absence has been submitted within ten school days of the student’s return to school or in accordance with Section 10-210 of the Connecticut General Statutes and meets the following criteria:

  1. For absences one through nine, a student’s absences from school are considered excused when the student’s parent/guardian approves such absence and submits appropriate documentation
  1. For the tenth absence and all absences thereafter, a student’s absences from school are considered excused for the following reasons:
  1. student illness (Note: all student illness absences must be verified by an appropriately licensed medical professional to be deemed excused, regardless of the length of absence);
  2. student’s observance of a religious holiday;
  3. death in the student’s family or other emergency beyond the control of the student’s family;
  4. mandated court appearances (additional documentation required);
  5. the lack of transportation that is normally provided by a district other than the one the student attends (no parental documentation is required for this reason); or
  6. extraordinary educational opportunities pre-approved by district administrators and in accordance with Connecticut State Department of Education guidance.

Unexcused Absences

A student’s absence from school shall be considered unexcused unless they meet one of the following criteria:

  1. the absence meets the definition for an excused absence (including documentation requirements); or
  2. the absence meets the definition of a disciplinary absence.

Disciplinary Absences

Absences that are the result of school or district disciplinary action are excluded from these definitions.

*The Connecticut State Board of Education policy states that “A student is considered to be ‘in attendance’ if present at his/her assigned school, or an activity sponsored by the school (e.g., field trip), for at least half of the regular school day. A student who is serving an out-of-school suspension

Administrative Regulations Regarding Attendance (continued)

or expulsion should always be considered absent.” A student not meeting the definition of ‘in attendance’ is considered absent.

**Such documentation should include a signed note from the student’s parent/guardian, a signed note from a school official that spoke in person with the parent/guardian regarding the absence, or a note confirming the absence by the school nurse or by a licensed medical professional, as appropriate. Documentation should explain the nature of and the reason for the absence as well as the length of the absence. Separate documentation must be submitted for each incidence of absenteeism. For example, if a student is out sick two consecutive days, that student must submit the appropriate documentation covering both sick days. If a student is out sick two nonconsecutive days, that student must submit the appropriate documentation following each absence. Schools should take steps to allow non-English speaking parents/guardians to submit documentation in their native language

Truant is defined asa student age five to eighteen, inclusive, who has four (4) unexcused absences from school in one month or ten (10) unexcused absences in a school year. C.G.S. 10-198a(a) (2012 Supplement).

Habitual truant is defined as a student age five to eighteen, inclusive, enrolled in a public or private school and has twenty unexcused absences within a school year. C.G.S. 10-200 (2011) requires the school superintendent to file a Family with Service Needs complaint within 15 days after a parent fails to attend a required meeting with school officials or otherwise fails to cooperate in addressing his or her child's school absences. C.G.S. Sec. 10-198a(c)

Administrative Procedures:

  1. Annually at the beginning of the school year and upon any enrollment during the school year, the administration shall notify the parent or other person having control of each child enrolled in the Hartford Public Schools the obligations of the parent or such other person regarding attendance policy and regulations.
  1. Annually at the beginning of the school year and upon any enrollment during the school year, the administration shall obtain from the parent or other person having control of each child in a Hartford Public School a telephone number or other means of contacting such parent or such other person during the school day.
  1. Each school shall implement a system of monitoring individual unexcused absences of students, which shall provide that whenever a student enrolled fails to report to school on a regularly scheduled school day and no indication has been received by school personnel that the child’s parent or other person having control of the child is aware of the pupil’s absence, a reasonable effort to notify, by telephone, the parent or such other person shall be made by school personnel. All parent outreach efforts must be documented. When the school in which a child is enrolled receives no notification from a parent or other person having control of the

child is aware of the child’s absence, a reasonable effort shall be made by school personnel or volunteers under the direction of school personnel to notify by telephone and by mail such parent or other person having control of the child.

The required mailed notice shall include a warning that two unexcused absences from school in one month or five unexcused absences in a school year may result in a complaint filed with the Superior Court alleging the belief that the acts or omissions of the child are such that the child’s family is a family with service needs.

  1. When a student is truant, (see R-5114b), the building principal or his/her designee shall schedule a meeting with the parent of each child who is a truant, or other person having control of such child, and appropriate school personnel to review and evaluate the reasons for the child being a truant, provided such meeting shall be held not later than ten school days after the child’s fourth unexcused absence in a month or tenth unexcused absence in a school year. Notice and meetings must be in a language understandable to the parent.
  1. If the parent or other person having control of a child who is a truant fails to attend the meeting or fails to cooperate with the school in attempting to solve the truancy problem, such policies and procedures shall require the superintendent of schools to file for each such truant enrolled in the schools under his jurisdiction a written complaint with the Superior Court pursuant to section 46b-149 alleging the belief that the acts or omissions of the child are such that his family is a family with service needs.
  1. As appropriate, the superintendent or designee, shall coordinate services and/or referrals of children to community agencies that provide child and family services.
  1. In addition to the procedures specified, a regular education student who is experiencing attendance problems shall be referred to the building intervention Student Study Team (i.e. SST, SAT) or other appropriate body, for review and assistance. The team will review the student’s need for referral for a Planning and Placement Team (PPT) meeting. A special education student who is experiencing attendance problems must be referred for a PPT meeting for program review.

Lockers

Lockers are the property of the Breakthrough IIMagnet School and are subject to routine administrative inspection. Students will be assigned a locker by their homeroom teacher. Students keep them clean, and orderly to ensure their good working condition. Students should not share lockers or place a lock on their lockers. Lockers are solely for the purpose of storing book bags and books.

***Things not allowed to be placed on or in lockers: Mirrors, pictures, stickers, clothing, games, and/or any item not needed in school.

Bus Transportation

Hartfordstudents are transported by DattcoTransportation Company. Suburban students are transported by CREC. Safety and respect are our primary concerns. Expectations for student behavior on any school bus are consistent with Breakthrough II’s philosophy. Parents will be contacted, via a bus referral form, whenever a behavioral issue is reported to the school administrator. Every effort will be made to assist the student in problem solving a bus issue. Disciplinary actions may range from a warning/conference with student to bus suspension. Hartford board of education transportation department will be notified of any bus suspensions.

School Bus Expectations

  1. Stay in your seat. Changing seats, dancing, jumping over seats or any activity causing me to get out of my seat is strictly prohibited.
  2. Use a quite whisper voice. Put downs, unfriendly talk of any kind an noise making are strictly prohibitive
  3. Respect each other’s bubble space. Touching, pushing or hitting other students in any way is strictly prohibited.
  4. Listen to the bus driver’s directions and follow them the first time given.

Earn bus buck dollars for following the rules on the bus. Your bus monitor or driver will hand out bus buck dollars.