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Scudder “Cowpokes”
Parent Handbook 2015-16
Welcome to Scudder Primary! This packet contains helpful information for the families of our Scudder “Cowpokes.” Please take some time to read over the following information, as it will assist you throughout the school year. If you have any questions, please contact the Scudder office.
Dara Richardson, PrincipalRachel White, Campus Secretary
SueAnna Thomas, Instructional StrategistJaniece Remeny, Campus Registrar
Scudder Primary
(512) 847-3407FAX (512) 847-2738
School hours:
Morning drop-off: 7:25-7:55am
Tardy Bell: 8:00
Instructional Day: 7:55 am-3:00 pm
Pick-up Time: 3:00-3:20pm
All Scudder policies are designed for the sole purpose of keeping students safe. While some procedures and policies may seem frustrating or time-consuming, please keep in mind the overall purpose of keeping our building secure.
Visiting Scudder During School Hours
All visitors must sign in and receive a visitor’s sticker in the front office. For security reasons, all exterior doors of the building remain locked throughout the school day. The front door will automatically lock at 8:00. To enter, you must ring the bell located to the right of the front door and speak with the secretary. During classroom instructional times, visitors are not allowed in classrooms unless scheduled with the teacher. If you need an item delivered to your child (lunch, books, etc.), please drop the item(s) off at the front office, so that class time is not interrupted for deliveries.
Contacting Teachers During School Hours
If you need to contact your child’s teacher during the school day, please plan to call during the teacher’s conference time, plan to leave a voicemail message, or send an e-mail. If you need to communicate a change in the way your child is going home, or you have an urgent message that needs immediate attention, please communicate this to the staff member who answers your phone call. (E-mail, text messages, and voicemail messages are sometimes not checked by staff members until the end of the school day, and can be overlooked if the teacher is absent on that day.)
Daily Routine at Home Regarding School Information
Please check your child’s backpack daily for notes from the school and/or teacher. Your child may also have homework assignments and/or daily reading assignments that need your signature each evening. Each student will have a folder that travels back and forth between home and school. You can use this folder to send notes to your child’s teacher whenever necessary. Keeping up with daily backpack checks will help your family stay up-to-date on what’s happening at school. You can also access the district website to find out about dates and events for WISD and Scudder at
Morning Car Drop-off and Afternoon Pick-up Procedures
Please note: Please be patient at the beginning of the year as we implement the following procedures. It usually takes about 2-3 weeks for parents to become familiar with these procedures. Experience has shown that, once these procedures are followed and implemented, drop-off and pick-up becomes smoother, much more time-efficient, and very safe for the children.
Morning car drop-off procedures at Scudder:
Car drop-off times are from 7:25am to 7:55am. Children are considered tardy at 8:00am each day. For the safety of the students, no child is to be dropped off at school before 7:25 each morning. Children dropped off before 7:25 would be completely unattended, as there is no staff member on duty to monitor them. If you arrive after 7:55, you should walk your child into the front office.
When dropping your child off, there are two choices:
- You can park in a designated (non-staff) parking space and walk your child across the crosswalk area. You may either let him/her walk to the designated morning meeting area, or you may walk him/her to the meeting area. Children under the age of 10 are not allowed to walk across the crosswalk without a parent or guardian. As you reach the crosswalk area, please wait until traffic has stopped in the car lane before crossing, as many parents in cars do not always have clear visibility of pedestrians. Staff members are posted to assist with traffic flow and crosswalk flow.
- You can drive through our car lane and one of our staff members will help your child out of the car. Please do not park your car in the car lane or exit your car during this drop-off procedure, since there are many more cars waiting to pull up. Please encourage your child to have his/her lunchbox, backpack, etc. close at hand, so that once the door is opened, there can be a smooth exit. Once your child is out of the car, please proceed toward the car lane exit.
Afternoon car pick-up procedures at Scudder:
Car pick-up times are from 3:00pm to 3:20pm. All children must be picked up by 3:20 each day.
When picking your child up at the end of the school day, there are two choices:
- You may stay in your car and enter our car lane. A staff member will be circulating through the line of cars soon after 3:00 to collect student names, which will then be telephoned directly to our intercom staff member. It will help our staff if you can display a hangtag (provided by our PTO) or a paper plate with your child’s first and last name and teacher’s name in your windshield. Your child’s name will then be called over the intercom, and your child’s teacher will dismiss your child to walk out to the car pick-up area. He/she will wait for your car at the benches near the car pick-up area. Once your car has stopped near the benches, a staff member will assist in loading your child. This is the most efficient way to pick up your child, as we take great measures in keeping the car line moving quickly. Within a few weeks of the start of the year, we’re familiar with cars and students, and this process is efficient and, most importantly, safe for the children.
- You may park in a designated (non-staff) parking space and walk across the crosswalk to wait for your child. We ask parents to sit on the benches near the entrance of the school. As our afternoon staff members come down the sidewalk at 3:00, your child’s name will be phoned directly to our intercom staff member (holding up a nametag with your child’s first and last name and teacher’s name is a great way to speed up this process). Your child’s name will then be called over the intercom, and your child’s teacher will dismiss your child to walk out to the pick-up area. If you arrive after cars start loading, please proceed to the flagpole to give your child’s name to the staff person stationed there. Please use caution when using the crosswalk on your way back to your parked car, since many drivers in the car lane have limited visibility of pedestrians. If you need to enter the building for student pick-up, please enter only through the front entrance, and please sign in at the front office to receive a visitor’s badge.
Bus Procedures
Buses drop Scudder students off at school between 7:20-7:40 each morning, and pick Scudder students up each afternoon at 3:05. A transportation form must be completed and turned in to the school office or transportation office for a child to ride the bus to or from school. The WISD transportation office’s phone number is (512) 847-2781.
Riding a different bus than normal, requires approval from the transportation department. Please notify your child’s teacher in writing if your child will ride different buses on certain days, or if your child needs to ride a different bus than usual. (In a situation that requires a last-minute change in the way your child travels home, please call the office to notify someone by 2:30 pm.)
Scudder students are expected to maintain the same kind of behavior on the bus that is expected at school. Bus drivers are expected to complete a student bus referral form (Bus Conduct Report) on any misbehaving student for the Principal to use in deciding corrective actions. Parents will be notified for each bus referral.
“Rule of 3, 2, 1” (Specific to Scudder)
3 bus referrals: A 3-day bus suspension will be established after the third bus referral of the school year.
2 more bus referrals: A 5-day bus suspension will result after 2 more bus referrals after the initial 3 referrals (5 bus referrals total) in the school year.
1 more bus referral: A 10-day bus suspension will result after 1 more bus referral after the initial 5 bus referrals (6 bus referrals total) in the school year.
Upon the 7th bus referral in the school year, the Principal will decide on further corrective actions.
Changes in How Your Child Goes Home
If you need your child sent home in a different way than usual, please send a signed, dated note to your child’s teacher. If the change is last-minute, please call the school office by 2:30 so that our school secretary can notify the teacher before the end of the day. If your child’s teacher does not receive a note or phone call from a parent indicating a change, she must send your child home in the usual way.
Lunch Procedures
Scudder students can bring lunch from home or purchase school lunch. The cost of a cafeteria-provided student lunch is $2.35. WISD uses the Lunch Money Now system, in which parents can put money into an account for their child to purchase meals. Lunch Money Now can be accessed on-line through our district website ( , or you can send money with your child to school, and our cafeteria staff members will include it in your child’s account. A cafeteria lunch and breakfast menu will be sent home each month.
Parents/family members are always welcome to have lunch with their child during the designated school lunch period. If you are visiting for lunch, please sign in and receive a visitor’s sticker in the front office. Please wait in the office or in the cafeteria for your child’s class to enter the cafeteria. A circular table is available in the cafeteria for you to have lunch with your child. (If you eat at this table or at the outside picnic tables, for logistical reasons, please do not invite any other students to join you and your child.) If the circular table is already full, you are welcome to eat at your child’s designated lunch table, or sign your child out in the office and eat outside at one of the picnic tables. Please make sure your child has finished lunch and will be ready to return to the classroom at his/her class’s usual time. If you have signed out your child and eaten outside, please walk them back into the office and sign them in. If the weather is nice enough, we allow students to play on the playground after finishing lunch, before they return to the classrooms. We ask that visitors do not accompany children to the playground for this after-lunch recess. If your child would like to join his/her class for this playtime, please say goodbye in the cafeteria. However, your child may also choose not to go to the playground and stay with you until it is time to return to the classroom.
Breakfast Procedures
Cafeteria-provided breakfast is available everyday at Scudder. The cost of a cafeteria-provided student breakfast is $1.45. Your child may purchase breakfast from the Lunch Money Now account or with cash. Breakfast is served from 7:20-7:50 each morning. If your child will be eating breakfast at school, please make sure he/she arrives by 7:35, so that he/she will have enough time to eat breakfast and get to class by 7:55. (Entering the classroom at 8:00 or later due to eating breakfast will still cause your child to be counted tardy for the day.)
Attendance Procedures
Once a child enrolls in public school, we are required to enforce attendance policies based on state law. These policies are outlined in our handbook (p. 13-17) and are for students throughout the district. The following is a summary of the policy in an effort to make Scudder parents aware of the WISD policies and procedures.
Regular attendance at school is essential for each child’s learning, and absences from school often disrupt the learning process. Each child’s attendance is closely monitored to ensure that he or she is present for at least 90% of the school year instructional days, and that he or she is arriving at class on time each day, and remaining at school for the entire school day in order to receive credit for the school year (this includes both excused and unexcused absences). This means that if a child misses more than 10% of the school year for any reason, we are required to consider mandatory retention.
Naturally, if your child is sick, your child should remain at home. We fully support you making sure that your child is healthy enough to return to school. When a student is sick, it is important that a parent sends a note so that the absence can be excused. A note stating the reason for the absence, signed by a parent/guardian or doctor, must be provided within three days of the child returning to school. Failure to provide a signed statement within the following three days of the absence will result in the absence being recorded as unexcused.
We are not allowed to accept notes through e-mail. Absences will be recorded as “excused” only if written documentation is provided by the parent/guardian, within three days of the child returning to school. A parent note can excuse up to 3 consecutive days of absence. A physician’s note is required to excuse 4 consecutive days of absence or more.
According to state law, it is the parent’s duty to monitor their child’s absences and follow these attendance procedures. When there are excessive “unexcused” absences, parents are subject to prosecution under the Texas Education Code (TEC) 25.093 “Contributing to Non-Attendance.” This filing with the court can take place after the fourth “unexcused” absence within a 4-week time period or if a student is absent from school on 10 or more days or parts of days within a 6 month period of time during the same school year.
Please be aware that three tardies = 1 unexcused absence. Parents must be very careful about both tardies and withdrawing students early during the day (i.e. signing a student out before 3:00). The rules require that students attend all parts of the day.
Our attendance “snapshot” is at 10:30 each morning. If a child arrives after 10:30 without a physician’s excuse, he/she will be counted absent for the day.
Naturally, we want to avoid any attendance issues. We ask for your diligence in dealing with this matter. Our attendance office will be closely monitoring attendance and communicating with parents regularly, should attendance issues arise. Here are some tips and reminders:
* Please bring your child on time. The first bell rings at 7:55 a.m. and the tardy bell rings at 8:00 a.m. Your child should be in the building by 7:55 to ensure that they are not tardy. You may begin dropping students off at 7:25 a.m. If you are planning for your child to eat breakfast at school, they need to begin eating by about 7:35 in order to be done by 7:55. Please be aware than any child arriving at school later than 10:30 am will be counted absent for the day (unless a doctor’s note is submitted for the late arrival).
*Send notes within three days to avoid unexcused absences. If your child is sick, please send a handwritten note within 3 days. If your child has ongoing health issues, documentation from a physician early in the year is important.
*Ensure that your child attends the entire school day. Attendance rules apply to all parts of the day (see page 15 of the handbook). Please avoid checking your child out of school early (before 3:00), as this process disrupts classroom activities. If early check-out becomes a repeated issue, unexcused absences will result. A note from your physician will be accepted as excuse for an early withdrawal, as doctor and dentist appointments would be valid reasons for parent check-out.
We recognize students with perfect attendance through awards ceremonies each 9-weeks, and with a party at the end of the year and a prize drawing. Please note that to be eligible for perfect attendance for the nine weeks you may have no more than 2 tardies or leave earlies combined. We also host two “No Tardies” parties per year to recognize students with 2 or fewer tardies per semester.