East Jessamine Middle School: Policy Table of Contents

East Jessamine Middle School: Policy Table of Contents

Alignment with State Standard 2

Budget and Spending 3-5

Carry-In Food 6

Classroom Grading and Assessment 7-9

Committees 10-12

Consultation 13

Curriculum 14

Discipline, Classroom Management, and Safety 15

Enhancing Student Achievement 16

Equity and Diversity 17

Extracurricular Programs 18

Homework 19-20

Improvement Planning 21

Instructional Practices 22-23

Parental Involvement 24-25

Principal Selection 26

Program Appraisal 27

Program Review 28-29

Promotion 30

Protection of Instructional Time 31

School Day and Week Schedule 32

School Space Use 33

Staff Assignment 34

Student Assignment 35

Student Dress Code 36

Student /Family Support Services 37

Technology 38-39

Video Use 40

Visitor 41

Writing Program 42-44

ALIGNMENT WITH STATE STANDARDS POLICY

Alignment Needs Assessment

Our yearly Comprehensive School Improvement Planning process will include:

·  An analysis of our state testing data and other school data as necessary to discover the extent to which our students are meeting state standards and our programs are aligned with state standards.

·  Systematic work to discover and correct the causes of and barriers to high performance by all students and the movement of students toward our goals.

·  A revision of our Comprehensive School Improvement Plan based on our needs assessment data for that year. Our Plan will set Goals and address any indicated alignment issues to help move our students to state standards according to the timetable established by the Kentucky Board of Education.

·  We will implement this process to address our alignment with state standards and the resulting plan will be monitored by the council through ongoing implementation and impact checks.

POLICY EVALUATION

We will evaluate the effectiveness of this policy through our School Improvement Planning Process.

Date Adopted: 4/22/08

Date Reviewed or Revised: 9/12/11 Council Chairperson’s Initials _____

Date Reviewed or Revised: _____ Council Chairperson’s Initials _____

BUDGET AND SPENDING

Spending Categories and Munis Accounting

Whenever possible in budgets and financial reports, we will use spending categories that will make sense to most stakeholders in our school, even if those categories are not part of the state and district accounting system known as “MUNIS.” The Budget Committee will be responsible for ensuring that the choices we make are converted to the MUNIS codes.

Drafts, Revisions, and Approvals

January

·  The Content teams will ESTIMATE EXPENSES for the coming year that is needed to:

·  Implement our School Improvement Plan fully, including staffing, materials, professional development, and other needs.

·  Maintain our programs at the current level of quality including materials, professional development, and other needs.

February

·  The Administrative team will also ESTIMATE FUNDING for the coming year from:

·  Our allocation for certified and classified staff.

·  Our allocation for instructional materials.

·  Any additional allocations that we have reason to believe are likely to continue.

·  Our allocation for professional development.

·  Funds from any fundraising activities that are not designated for specific student group use and any fundraising activity money that we expect to carry over.

·  Grants that seem reasonably likely from any source.

·  Categorical dollars from programs listed as sources in our School Improvement Plan based on past funding and consultation with the principal about what is being considered for next year.

March

The Budget Committee will develop a DRAFT BUDGET that:

·  Lists dollar amounts.

·  Addresses the expenses for fully implementing our School Improvement Plan and maintaining other programs at their current level.

·  Describes which sources will be used to cover each expense.

·  Designates the person or group responsible for selecting specific items to be purchased in each spending category, with the media librarian as the person or a member of the group responsible for items for the library media center.

·  Identifies any further expenses and needs that cannot be covered within currently expected funding or are not being met by the current budget.

The draft budget will be circulated for input to the school council, the school staff, and all parents serving on council committees, and will be posted for public review.

The Council will:

·  Review the draft budget either in a regular or a special meeting.

·  Identify areas that may need adjustment to further reflect school priorities, new spending information, stakeholder input on the impact of the proposed plan, or other relevant information.

·  Charge the Budget Committee to consider those factors and submit a revised budget for council adoption.

April

After the council adopts its budget the Budget Committee will:

·  Notify the superintendent and local board in writing of the council’s decision on the number of persons to be employed in each job classification and any Section 7 requests.

·  Ensure that the portion of the council’s budget that governs its general fund allocations is converted into a standardized budget using the MUNIS accounting codes and that it is sent to the district central office.

·  Ensure that all relevant budget items are clearly reflected in the School Improvement Plan and that the person or group listed as responsible for selecting specific items has been notified of the dollar amounts.

Implementation and Monitoring

Every Month

The principal (or principal designee) will:

·  Ensure that all spending records required by the state and district are maintained.

·  Submit a budget report to the council.

January

The Budget Committee will:

·  Notify each individual and group designated to select items for purchase of the amount they were authorized to spend, the amount spent so far, their outstanding purchase orders, and the amount remaining available in each category.

·  Ask each individual and group to check those figures and report anything that may need adjustment and report whether they will need the full remaining amount to address the needs in question.

From these responses, identify any amounts that will not be needed as budgeted and make recommendations to the council for budget adjustments to maximize the use of those funds.

Professional Development

·  Our school’s plans for professional development (PD) will be in alignment with state and national professional development standards.

·  Organization and Budget Considerations

·  PD will be planned and carried out to meet the identified learning needs of:

·  The school as identified in the School Improvement Plan.

·  Individuals as identified in professional growth plans.

·  Each year’s updated Improvement Plan will be approved by the council and include components with PD activities for three of the four PD days in the district calendar and other appropriate learning opportunities for teachers.

·  Where needed to achieve the Improvement Plan goals, the components may also propose use of the flexible PD time option to replace some or all of those three days. This proposal must be submitted by the council for Board of Education approval.

Any PD funds not needed to implement the Improvement Plan will be used with advance approval, which must be obtained before the professional development activities take place. These activities may include:

·  Flexible professional development time needed to implement a staff member’s individual growth plan which must have principal approval, or

·  Other professional development that supports the Improvement Plan, which must have either council or principal approval.

·  In the event of conflicting approvals, priority will be given to individual growth plan needs approved by the principal.

·  The council’s annual budget will identify resources available for each type of need.

·  For needs identified in the Improvement Plan, the person listed in the Improvement Plan as responsible will make all the needed arrangements for the activity to take place and will complete purchase orders for any required expenditures.

·  For needs identified in an individual professional growth plan, the individual identified in the growth plan will make any necessary arrangements and will complete any required purchase orders for expenditures.

·  The principal (or principal designee) will check that each purchase order fits the funds available, respects any existing contracts or bid lists, and fits any other criteria established by the council. If those requirements are met, he or she (or a designee) will complete the purchase and no further council approval will be needed.

Evaluation of PD Activities

Any activity using PD funds will be evaluated by those participating immediately following the activity, or in the case of ongoing activities, at the end of the year. Evaluations will be designed to indicate the following:

·  What the participant now knows or is able to do as a result of that particular PD activity, and

·  The quality and effectiveness of the activity.

POLICY EVALUATION

We will evaluate the effectiveness of this policy through our School Improvement Planning Process.

Date Adopted: 5/13/08

Date Reviewed or Revised: _____ Council Chairperson’s Initials _____

Date Reviewed or Revised: _____ Council Chairperson’s Initials _____

CARRY-IN FOOD POLICY

CRITERIA FOR CARRY-IN FOOD TO STUDENTS

Carry-in food for students is discouraged, however under the following guidelines it may occur:

·  Parents/Guardians who on special occasion (birthday, family visitor, etc…) may bring fast food to his/her child are required to stay and supervise

·  The lunch will be taken to a school designated location away from the cafeteria

·  Parents/Guardians shall not bring food for children other than their own.

·  A student eating carry in food may not have other friends join them to eat.

POLICY EVALUATION

We will evaluate the effectiveness of this policy through our School Improvement Planning Process.

Date Adopted: 1998

Date Reviewed or Revised: 4/22/08

Date Reviewed or Revised: _____ Council Chairperson’s Initials _____

Classroom Grading and Assessment

All teachers at EJMS shall use Standards Based Grading as outlined in the procedures below.

The Grading Process

1.  Start with the learning targets. Create a plan for what learning you will assess for grading purposes during the quarter.

2.  Make an assessment plan to lay out how you will regularly find out what your students are learning.

3.  Create, choose, and/or modify assessments.

4.  Record information from assessments as you give them.

5.  Summarize the achievement information into one score.

6.  Turn the score into a grade.

Teacher’s Role:

·  Create student friendly learning targets that are congruent with the standard(s).

·  Create assessment plans to guide instruction throughout a unit.

·  All lessons are congruent with the learning targets and assessment plan.

·  Provide students with a copy of the learning targets and the progress sheets to track their mastery level progress. Refer to the learning targets and the progress sheets continuously throughout the lesson and unit.

·  Provide immediate descriptive feedback to students throughout the unit guiding them to mastery of the targets.

·  Conduct learning checks along the way to help students self-assess their progress toward mastery. Do not “grade” these learning checks but use them to provide immediate feedback on student progress.

·  Design unit assessments where each question is tied directly to the learning targets. Evaluate these assessments based on individual learning targets not as a whole.

·  Report student mastery on each learning target using the Academic Performance level descriptors.

·  Assess students on their Career Skills in one learning target per 9 weeks. This target assesses the areas of following rules and directions and quality work.

·  Have all students retake all learning targets that are on the Level 1 mastery level after they complete all formative assessments. All retakes given to students must be constructed responses.

·  Follow the school-wide expectations for retakes and make sure students are aware of how it works.

·  Set up a standards based grading scale in Infinite Campus. There should be a Summative Category folder that has 100% weight. Within this folder report each academic learning target as a separate assignment and report the student mastery level not a percentage. There should be a Career Skills Category folder that has 0% weight. Within this folder report this learning target once per 9 weeks using the mastery levels.

·  Communicate with parents at the beginning of the year about the grading policy, during the year by sending home reports and using Infinite Campus, and when students are not retaking their Level 1’s.

Student’s Role:

·  Keep track of your own progress on each learning target throughout the unit.

·  Take note of what you need to do in order to reach mastery of the learning targets and ask teachers when help is needed.

·  Follow rules and directions during class and produce quality work at all times.

·  Understand the 5 Levels of Mastery and how to meet the expectations of mastery.

·  Communicate your progress to parents and bring reports home.

·  Retake all Level 1’s after completing formative assessments and requesting any needed help from the teacher. The school-wide process for retakes will be followed.

·  Retake Level 2’s and 3’s when desired during the two week period.

Parent’s Role:

·  Know the learning targets with which your student is working.

·  Check student progress sheets and learning checks to know how your student is progressing on the learning targets.

·  Understand the 5 Levels of Mastery and what they describe about your student’s learning.

·  Encourage your student to study and complete retakes within the two week time period.

·  Check Infinite Campus to determine which learning targets your student needs to complete retakes on.

Reporting System

Academic Performance Level Descriptors

Level / Description /
5--Exceptional / This student exceeds the expectations for this standard.
4--Mastery / This student is meeting all expectations of the course standard.
3--Approaching Mastery / This student is making progress to the course standard. The student still needs some assistance to meet the standard. The student should be persistent in his/her effort to meet the standard.
2--Partial Mastery / This student needs continual support to meet the standard. This student needs additional practice.
1--No Mastery / This student is consistently performing below expected grade level standards. There is little demonstration of understanding. This student needs additional support to begin mastering the standard.
0--Incomplete / 0--Incomplete

Career Skills Performance Level Descriptors