Ocean Park Elementary School
“Home of the Sandpipers”
Is Safe, Respectful and Inviting,
Where we set high standards and celebrate our achievements,
Where learning is challenging and engaging,
Where students are prepared to live successful lives as stewards of their world!
2015-2016
School
Handbook
School Information
Ocean Park Elementary School
P.O. Box 1220 – 25701 Vernon Ave.
Ocean Park, Washington 98640
665-4815
School Hours(Doors open at 7:40)School Office Hours
Monday—Thursday 7:15 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.
8:00 am – 2:40 pm
Friday
8:00 am—1:20 pm
Welcome
Welcome to Ocean Park Elementary School. This handbook contains schedules, policies and procedures, as well as routine information which you may need during the school year. Please take time to read it with your child and keep it handy for future reference.
The staff of Ocean Park Elementary School also extends a warm welcome to each of you. We want you to know that we are all available to assist you. When we all work together as a team, we can make a positive difference in the total school community. In addition to providing a productive, caring learning environment for your child, we want to make every effort to have excellent communication with you, the parent. We invite you to join the staff in working toward our school and district mission:
Ocean Park Elementary School is a
Safe, respectful and inviting place
Where we set high standards and celebrate our achievements,
Where learning is challenging and engaging, and
Where we prepare students to lead successful lives as stewards of their world.
School will be dismissing at 1:20pm every Friday for the staff to meet and work in Professional Learning Communities to develop a plan to accomplish the mission we have set before us.
Ocean Park Elementary Staff List
PrincipalCathy Meinhardt
Kindergarten Allyce Bruncke
Kindergarten Amy Curry
First Grade Robert Allen
First/Second Miki Frace
Second Grade Debbie Stotts
Third GradeTara Canio-Bello
Third/ Fourth Suzanne Knutzen
MusicBrian Vessey
Physical EducationKip Meinhardt
Special EducationKristin Clyde
CounsellorTricia Law
Library AssistantJudy D’Haene
SecretaryLynn Dickerson
Office Assistant/Supervisory AssistantPeggy Price
Paraeducators Karen Beckerle
Enrique Schott
Becky Erola
Karen Crain
Janice Thiry
Denise Thurston
CustodiansRalph Baker
Bob Bryant
Title I School
Ocean Park School has been a Title I building since l999. All certificated and classified teaching staff is considered highly qualified under the No Child Left Behind federal guidelines. This also means that all our students can and do receive Title interventions in math and reading when the need arises.
Ocean Park School - CHAIN OF COMMAND(Who do I go to with my concerns?)
TEACHER
Student behavior
Student work and/or curriculum
Student grades
SUPERINTENDENT/PRINCIPAL
Facility usage
Concerns about board decisions, policy, procedures or job descriptions
Maintenance Issues
Concerns about final decisions of Athletic Director, Curriculum Director/Dean of Students and/or Teachers
Scheduling
School Safety
Bus Safety
Bus issues
Board policy or procedures
Handbook issues or procedures
Concerns about all school staff
Issues about which you are uncertain whom you should contact
OCEAN BEACH BOARD OF EDUCATION
Concerns about final decision or interpretations of Superintendent
Board Policy
For your child's security, all entry doors will be locked with the exception of the main office entry. Please check in at the office if you have business at the school.
Student Check Out: To ensure the safety of our students, students are only released to individuals listed on the registration form, or those the parent or legal guardian has approved on the “Student Check-Out” form. Students will not be released to other individuals without parent approval.
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Student Arrival and Dismissal(Policy 3124)Your child’s safety is of utmost importance to us. Because we lack personnel to provide before school supervision, we ask thatyour child arrive at school no earlier than 7:40 a.m. at which time the school doors will be opened. We do ask, however, that you send your child on time each day. Students arriving after 8:00 am must check in at the office before going to the classroom.
At the end of the day, students must go home. Special arrangements for any after-school activities need to be pre-planned at home. If a student is to remain after school for an activity such as soccer or Scouts, students and parents should plan ahead and bring notes from home for after school activities.Students may not remain at school more than ten minutes after dismissal.
Please advise the school office,preferably in writing, when there is going to be a change in your child’s going home routine. Emergency changes are understandable, but day-to-day decision changes are both confusing to the child and disruptive to the educational process.
If you do have an emergency change in plans, please send a signed and dated note with your child or call the office no later than 2:00 p.m. While we make every effort to do so, calls received after this time may result in your child not receiving notice of a change in plans.
If you must pick up your child before school ends, come to the office, pick up a dismissal slip and present this to your child’s teacher. Teachers will not dismiss a child from the classroomwithout adismissal slip. If returning to school that same day, the child needs to check back in at the school office.
We ask that all visitors (parents and community) sign in at the office
and receive an appropriate name badge when visiting or volunteering
at school. Please use the front entrance to the school at all times.
Bus policy states that once a child is on board the bus, they may not be dropped off at a spot other than home without a bus note. Children will not be allowed to leave the bus at other than their normal stop without a note.
If someone other than the legal guardian or a person named on the emergency/registration form is sent to school to pick up a child during
school or at the end of the day, we must have your verbal or written approval to release the student.
Restraining orders must be on file in the school office.
Assemblies/Programs Assemblies are held for educational programs, student/staff recognition and for the enjoyment of students and staff. They are an important part of the total educational program. It is the responsibility of each student to maintain high standards of conduct and to give every courtesy to the speaker(s) and to the program. Student attendance at assemblies is an expectation. Students who choose to disrupt the assembly will be removed and may lose the privilege of attending other assemblies through the remainder of the school year. Students are required to sit with their class during the assemblies.
Attendance Information (Board Policy 3122, RCW 13.34.300)All students enrolled in the Ocean Beach School District are expected to attend all student days as noted in the District calendar. Students develop good or poor attendance habits early in their school career. By having students stay home only when it is absolutely necessary or when the child is experiencing poor health, parents can help their child develop good attendance patterns. Children don’t learn needed material when they are not in school.
It is necessary for you to phone the school office by 9 a.m. if your child is going to be absent for any reason. Your call should be made as soon as possible in the morning. A message may be left on the school answering machine before and after regular school hours. Failure to notify the school will result in an unexcused absence.
The State Compulsory School Attendance Law (RCW 28A.225) requires:
Parents to: make sure their child attends school.
Students to: attend school
Schools to:
- notify parents after one unexcused absence
- schedule a conference with parents, student, and school officials after two unexcused absences occur in one month
- file a truancy petition if a student gets a 5th unexcused absence in a month or a 10th unexcused absence during the school year
If it becomes apparent that your child will be absent for more than two days, please call
the school office and make arrangements to pick up assignments from your child’s
teacher.
- Prearranged Absence—Thoughit is discouraged, provisions can occasionally be made for students who need to leave school for family emergencies or other activities. Since continuity is so important in the educational process and new concepts are introduced daily, we ask that these absences be avoided whenever possible. Students are responsible for any makeup work as assigned by the teacher. Prearranged absence notice should be given at least one week in advance if possible.
- Family Vacations/Extended Absences: We encourage families to plan their vacations during the non-school days such as summer vacation, spring break, winter break, etc. One family vacation a year of 5 days or less will be excused as long as the absence is prearranged with the child’s teacher to help to minimize the effects of the absence.Any vacation that causes a child to miss 6 to 10 days will only be excused if the teacher agrees that the child can handle the make-up work. Any extended absence over 10 days will not be excused without a note from a medical practitioner and will fall under the above guidelines. If you decide to be gone for more than 10 consecutive school days, you have the following options:
- Unenroll your child and register him/her as a home schooled student at the district office;
- Enroll your child in a school where you are going to visit.
Failure to do one of the two options will result in a petition being filed in Superior Court under the Becca law.
- Attendance Incentive Program: Ocean Park School recognizes that regular school attendance contributes to successful student achievement. Days lost from school cannot be “made up,” even if the class work and homework are done, because there is no substitute for uninterrupted personal contact between teacher and student.
Attendance at school is a shared responsibility of the parent(s)/guardian(s), student and school personnel.
Ocean Park School provides incentives for good attendance.
Perfect Attendance defined as attending school every day according to the Ocean Beach School District calendar.Students who are removed from school during the school day will not be considered as having perfect attendance. Students with perfect attendance and no tardies will be acknowledged at monthly assemblies and those with perfect attendance for the year receive special recognition at the last assembly in June.
Outstanding attendance will apply to those students who attend every school day but receive a tardy or for some reason (for example: doctor appointments, dentist appointments) need to be removed from school. To receive “Outstanding Attendance” awards at the end of the school year, no more than 3 tardies/removals will be allowed.
Special Attendance Policy for Kindergarten and First Grade:Because kindergarten and first grade are critical years in the development of reading, writing and math skills, any student in these grades whomiss 30 or more school days and is:
- Between the 35th and 40th percentile in our reading or math measures will be retained at the parent’s request.
- Between the 25th and 35th percentile in our reading or math measures will be retained at the teacher’s and/or parent’s request.
- Below the 25th percentile in our reading or math measures will be retained.
*Students may only be retained 1 year.
**Decisions involving students on IEPs will be a team decision made at an IEP meeting.
Bicycle Riders For safety reasons, it is school procedure that only students in Grades 3-4 are allowed to ride their bikes to school. Please be sure you have a complete description of your child’s bike, including serial numbers. Bikes must be kept secured in the bike rack since the school is not responsible for their loss. Bike riders are to walk their bikes on the school grounds and in the crosswalks at all times. Parents: Your child must have a bike helmet if they are to ride their bike to school.
Boundaries: (Board Policy 3130 & 3131) There are currently two elementary attendance zones within the Ocean Beach School District. Cranberry Road serves as the dividing line between the two zones with all students residing north of Cranberry attending Ocean Park Elementary and all students living south attending Long Beach Elementary.
It is vitally important for planning, staffing and equity purposes to maintain a firm adherence to these boundary restrictions. Therefore, the district may require parents to provide proof of residence to insure that their students are placed at the appropriate school. (Please see Moving for exceptions to this policy)
Breakfast Routines
Students who have lockers downstairs, need to put their coats and backpacks in their lockers before going in to breakfast. Students who have lockers upstairs need to take their coats and backpacks into the cafeteria, put them on a lunch table bench and then get in line. Students do not go to their classrooms before breakfast.
Bus transportation information Bus riders will be given approximate bus pick-up and drop-off times the first week of school. Students should be at their stop 15 minutes prior to the scheduled pick-up times. If you have a concern about scheduling or bus information, please contact the Transportation Supervisor at 642-2104.
Our drivers do their best to keep to their schedule so that students will be at school on time. Usually students are expected to share bus seats with one or two other students. If your student arrives home late or the bus is late in picking them up, please notify the transportation department as soon as possible. The number to call is 642-2104. If your student has a problem on the bus or at a particular bus stop, please talk with your student(s) driver first, if the problem is not resolved then please call the transportation department at the same number.
BUS RULES
Don't Lose Your Bus Riding Privilege.
- OBEY THE BUS DRIVER AT ALL TIMES. The bus driver is authorized to assign seats.
- Be courteous. Use no profane language.
- Do not eat or drink on the bus.
- Keep head, hands, and feet inside the bus.
- Stay in the seat and face forward.
- Do not be destructive. Parents will be responsible for any damage done by their children.
- Do not litter. KEEP THE BUS CLEAN.
- Classroom conduct is required at all bus stops. No horse playing, fighting, etc.
- No electronics are allowed on the bus
*It is important that when students get off the bus in the morning and when they get on the bus in the afternoon that they walk to and from the bus to the school.
Bus Discipline: If it becomes necessary to write a referral for misbehavior on the school bus the following discipline will be issued:
- 1st Written Offense: Verbal Warning
- 2nd Written Offense: Three day bus suspension
- 3rd Written Offense: Five day bus suspension
- 4th Written Offense: Ten day suspension
- 5th Written Offense: Ninety day suspension
REMEMBER, SAFETY FIRST!
If your child is to ride a bus they do not normally ride, we must have a written note or, if need be, a phone call to the school office. If the change is due to an emergency, please notify the school office no later than 2:00 p.m. if possible.
Kindergarten students will not be let off the bus unless an
adult is present, and can be seen, at their home.
Cell Phones Cell phones are not allowed at Ocean Park Elementary School. Students who do not comply with this expectation will have the item confiscated and parents may pick up at their leisure. Second offense, the phone will be kept until the end of the year. Please contact the principal if you have a specific concern about this rule.
Classroom Placement Policy: Ocean Park Elementary School’s classroom placement process utilizes a team approach in providing well balanced, supportive instructional groups in all classrooms. To achieve this balance, teacher teams create learning environments based on the following criteria: gender, achievement level, behavioral characteristics, leadership, learning needs, support services, student combinations, parent information, staff and principal input.
Ocean Park teachers know their students very well and are committed to recommending an effective placement for all children. We believe this class placement process will assist us in creating fair and equitable learning communities for all our children. Student placement is one of the most important events that we perform each spring. Numerous hours are spent carefully placing each child to create balanced, heterogeneous groupings. It is because of this sensitive and professional process that we discourage requests for particular teachers. There are other considerations that are taken into account when we are dealing with split classes, contract language, and the number of times a student has the same teacher.