Christiana Elementary School
Faculty and Staff Handbook
2015-2016
Operating Principles
Work Collaboratively to Ensure All Student Succeed
Be Personally Accountable
Expect and Achieve Excellence
Be Data-Driven Decision Makers
Mantra
“Teaching does not occur if learning does not occur”
Christiana Elementary School (updated August 2014)
Mission
The mission of Christiana Elementary School is everyone learning, every day, to ensure students become independent, responsible, and successful learners.
Operating Principles direct how we make decisions. We have clearly defined principles that guide our actions because we understand that our decisions affect the students we serve:
· Work Collaboratively to Ensure All Students Succeed
· Be Personally Accountable
· Expect and Achieve Excellence
· Be Data Driven Decision Makers
Vision
At Christiana Elementary School we are committed to our VISION of teaching and learning where
Students
· use their own data to set goals and track progress.
· show their school pride and loyalty through their work and participation in activities.
· engage each other in discussion and learning while supporting each other in taking academic risks.
· are respectful, responsible and safe members of the CES learning community.
Teachers
· work in peer led PLCs focused on student growth.
· design and use common assessments to drive instruction and monitor student progress in learning.
· create and facilitate collaborative classrooms of high expectations for success through the development of appropriate differentiated instruction that allows for individual difference and learning styles.
· are solution oriented.
Mantra – “Teaching does not occur if learning does not occur”
The School
· provides the highest quality education in a secure, positive, and challenging environment for all students.
· promotes continuous data conversations within and across grade levels to target growth of all students.
· creates opportunities for parents, teachers, and students to work interdependently on student learning goals.
· aims for an atmosphere of cooperation with mutual respect for individual differences and community vaues.
Belief Statements
At Christiana Elementary School we believe:
1. Children and learning come first.
2. Education is a lifelong process.
3. All children can learn given appropriate time, instruction and access to resources.
4. High standards and expectations must be maintained through a system of accountability for all staff and students.
5. Students benefit academically in a safe, supportive and stimulating environment.
6. Education is a shared responsibility. It is a partnership of home, school and community.
7. Each student, parent, and staff member is treated with dignity and respect and is expected to treat others in the same manner.
8. An effective balance and interdependence must exist among written curriculum, instruction in the classroom, and assessment for and of learning.
9. Implementation of PLCs provides the best environment for internal collaboration and data based decision making.
10. Quality faculty and staff are essential to school excellence.
The Definite Dozen
Written by Pat Summit, Head Coach of the Lady Vols
Quoted from her book Reach for the Summit
As we get caught up in day-to-day matters, we sometimes forget what’s really important to us. I like to keep the Definite Dozen nearby as a refresher.
1. Respect Yourself and Others
✓ There is no such thing as self-respect without respect for others.
✓ Individual success is a myth. No one succeeds all by herself.
✓ People who do not respect those around them will not make good team members and probably lack self-esteem themselves.
✓ When you ask yourself “Do I deserve to succeed?” make sure the answer is yes.
2. Take Full Responsibility
✓ There are no shortcuts to success.
✓ You can’t assume larger responsibility without taking responsibility for the small things too.
✓ Being responsible sometimes means making tough, unpopular decisions.
✓ Admit to and make yourself accountable for mistakes. How can you improve if you’re never wrong?
3. Develop and Demonstrate Loyalty
✓ Loyalty is not unilateral. You have to give it to receive it.
✓ The family business model is a successful one because it fosters loyalty and trust.
✓ Surround yourself with people who are better than you are. Seek out quality people, acknowledge their talents, and let them do their jobs. You win with people.
✓ Value those colleagues who tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear.
4. Learn to Be a Great Communicator
✓ Communication eliminates mistakes.
✓ Listening is crucial to good communication.
✓ We communicate all the time, even when we don’t realize it. Be aware of body language.
✓ Make good eye contact.
✓ Silence is a form of communication too. Sometimes less is more.
5. Discipline Yourself So No One Else Has To
✓ Self-discipline helps you believe in yourself.
✓ Group discipline produces a unified effort toward a common goal.
✓ When disciplining others, be fair, be firm, and be consistent.
✓ Discipline helps you finish a job, and finishing is what separates excellent work from average work.
6. Make Hard Work Your Passion
✓ Do the things that aren’t fun first, and do them well.
✓ Think big, work small.
✓ Plan your work, and work your plan.
✓ See yourself as self-employed.
7. Don’t Just Work Hard, Work Smart
✓ Success is about having the right person, in the right place, at the right time.
✓ Know your strengths, weaknesses, and needs.
✓ When you understand yourself and those around you, you are better able to minimize weaknesses and maximize strengths. Personality profiles help.
✓ Be flexible.
8. Put the Team Before Yourself
✓ Teamwork doesn’t come naturally. It must be taught.
✓ Teamwork allows common people to obtain uncommon results.
✓ Not everyone is born to lead. Role players are critical to group success.
✓ In group success there is individual success.
9. Make Winning an Attitude
✓ Combine practice with belief.
✓ Attitude is a choice. Maintain a positive outlook.
✓ No one ever got anywhere by being negative.
✓ Confidence is what happens when you’ve done the hard work that entitles you to succeed.
10. Be a Competitor
✓ Competition isn’t social. It separates achievers from the average.
✓ You can’t always be the most talented person in the room. But you can be the most competitive.
✓ Influence your opponent: By being competitive you can affect how your adversary performs.
✓ There is nothing wrong with having competitive instincts. They are survival instincts.
11. Change Is a Must
✓ It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts the most.
✓ Change equals self-improvement. Push yourself to places you haven’t been before.
✓ Take risks. You can’t steal second base with your foot on first.
12. Handle Success Like You Handle Failure
✓ You can’t always control what happens, but you can control how you handle it.
✓ Sometimes you learn more from losing than winning. Losing forces you to reexamine.
✓ It is harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals.
Fourteen Things That Matter Most
From What Great Teachers Do Differently By Todd Whitaker
1. Great teachers never forget it is people, not programs that determine the quality of a school.
2. Great teachers establish clear expectations at the start of the year and follow them consistently as the year progresses.
3. When a student misbehaves, great teachers have one goal: to keep the behavior from happening again.
4. Great teachers have high expectations for students but even higher expectations for themselves.
5. Great teachers know who is the variable in the classroom: They are. Good teachers consistently strive to improve, and they focus on something they can control – their own performance.
6. Great teachers create a positive atmosphere in their classrooms and schools. They treat every person with respect. In particular, they understand the power of praise.
7. Great teachers consistently filter out the negatives that don’t matter and share a positive attitude.
8. Great teachers work hard to keep their relationships in good repair – to avoid personal hurt and to repair possible damage.
9. Great teachers have the ability to ignore trivial disturbances and the ability to respond to inappropriate behavior without escalating the situation.
10. Great teachers have a plan and a purpose for everything they do. If things don’t work out the way they had envisioned, they reflect on what they could have done differently and adjust their plans accordingly.
11. Before making any decision or attempting to bring about any change, great teachers ask themselves one central question: What will the best people think?
12. Great teachers continually ask themselves who is most comfortable and who is least comfortable with each decision they make. They treat everyone as if they were good.
13. Great teachers keep standardized testing in perspective; they center on the real issue of student learning.
14. Great teachers care about their students. They understand that behaviors and beliefs are tied to emotion, and they understand the power of emotion to jump-start change.
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Rutherford County Schools
Section 1 - Statements of Purpose
Our Mission
The mission of Rutherford County Schools is to empower today’s students to grasp
tomorrow’s opportunities.
Our district believes:
· Learning promotes individual student success.
· Providing a safe and nurturing environment is essential to student learning and staffeffectiveness.
· Collaboration between parents, the community, and the school system is vital to the development of self-directed,productive citizens.
· Achieving academic benchmarks through the use of research-based strategies is theresponsibility of all educational stakeholders.
· Creating challenging programs is paramount in fostering continuous improvement and highexpectations for the educational community.
· Empowering Professional Learning Communities to develop educational priorities andimprovement strategies is key to academic success.
Shared Vision
The vision of Rutherford County Schools is to provide students with the knowledge and skillsto become citizens who can adapt to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
Link to RCS Strategic Plan http://www.rcschools.net/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=17412&#gotonew
Link to Tennessee Report Card on Education
http://tn.gov/education/data/report_card/index.shtml
Link to AdvancEd Accreditation Report
http://www.rcschools.net/education/page/download.php?fileinfo=QWR2YW5jRURfcmVwb3J0LnBkZjo6Oi93d3c1L3NjaG9vbHMvdG4vcnV0aGVyZm9yZGNvdW50eS9pbWFnZXMvZG9jbWdyLzQxM2ZpbGUxMDE0LnBkZg==§iondetailid=16238
Christiana Elementary School
Section 2 – General Information
20
Attendance - Staff
The importance of dependable staff attendance is enormous! We are all linked together in our mission to serve our students, so when one staff member is absent or tardy, we ALL feel the impact!
1. All staff members should be in their assigned areas no later than 7:45 a.m. Teachers should be at their hallway doors supervising and greeting students. Educational assistants will follow their assigned schedules.
2. Unless an after-school duty or meeting is assigned, all teachers may leave at 3:15 p.m. on regular school days.
3. All teachers are expected to attend all school activities that specifically relate to the grade level being taught. This includes the PAC events or other programs in which their students are involved such as awards night, parent orientation, open house, reading nights, and parent conferences. Every effort should be made to attend these very important events, and any variance from the required attendance should be discussed with Mrs. Benson.
4. Faculty meetings will be held on Tuesdays. The specific dates will be determined by our school needs. Tuesdays, in general, should be reserved from 3:15-4:00 p.m. for faculty and assigned team/committee meetings, training session (which may run 2 hrs.). Any teacher who is unable to attend a scheduled meeting must notify Mrs. Benson in advance of the meeting.
*Committee meetings dealing with various issues will be held preferably on Tuesday, but the day may be adjusted if mutually agreed upon by the members of the committee. Each grade level team should select a secretary who will keep attendance and minutes at team meetings.
*As an alternate to Tuesday meetings, Thursdays will be the second day of the week for meetings/trainings.
ABSENCES
Student learning is greatly impacted by the absence of the teacher; therefore, a significant commitment should be made to avoid missing school.
1. Two Personal Leave days per school year are allotted to each teacher, and the teacher must receive permission from Mrs. Benson in advance of taking the day(s). These days will be noted on Mrs. Benson’s calendar. The leave form can be obtained from the secretary.
2. Ten Sick Leave days per school year are allotted to each staff member. The secretary will provide the leave form. A doctor’s note is required after five sick leave days have been taken. This must be attached to the leave form.
3. In the event that a staff member is going to be late arriving to work or absent, the staff member will notify Mrs. Benson (615-767-9022). Any request to leave earlier than 3:15 p.m. must be approved by Mrs. Benson in advance. Leaving campus during the school day is prohibited, and any variance from this policy requires approval by Mrs. Benson.
4. Anytime that it becomes necessary for a teacher or special education assistant to be absent from a regularly scheduled school day, a substitute must be requested via SubFinder – NO exceptions. A Substitute Folder and detailed lessons plans should be prepared and kept current. The Substitute Folder will be given to Mrs. Haynes to be kept in the front office. In the event that a substitute is not secured and leave must be taken, a purple leave form must be completed. See Mrs. Holt.
5. If an extended leave is required, see Mrs. Holt for the appropriate forms that will require School Board approval.
6. Reminder – sick days are not to be used as vacation days.
INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY
The following is a summary of policies to be followed in the event of inclement weather:
CERTIFIED EMPLOYEES (Ten and Eleven Month)
• If school opens late, certified employees will report one hour later than is required on a regular school day. Please note that this rule applies even if the starting time for students is delayed in excess of one hour.
• If a certified employee has been granted an extended leave prior to the date of inclement weather no adjustment will be made to the leave.
• If a certified employee has arranged for a substitute and school is cancelled prior to the substitute arriving, the certified employee will not be charged for a sick day, and the substitute will not be paid. If school is cancelled after a substitute arrives at the school, the certified employee will be charged a sick day and the substitute will be paid.