College Grove Elementary School Handbook
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Welcome to College Grove Elementary School for the 2021-2022 school year! We are dedicated to providing all our students with an exemplary educational experience. We ask that all students and parents read through the content of this agenda to familiarize themselves with school policies and helpful information about CGES. Attached is our full handbook for the 2021 - 2022 school year.
CGES Policies
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Technology
Student Issued Chromebooks
All students will be issued a Chromebook that will travel between home and school daily. Please ensure your child’s Chromebook is charged each night and ready for use each morning. Chargers should remain at home.Internet and Acceptable Use
As a part of the enrollment process parents fill out the Internet and Acceptable Use Form to permit their child to access the Internet while at school.Cell Phones
Students will not be allowed to access or use personal cell phones or other electronic devices capable of texting, taking pictures, or calling (smartwatch, tablets, etc.) during the academic school day. Student communication with parents should be done through school staff personnel for safety purposes. Students are not permitted to call or text from their devices at school. If your child brings a cell phone to school, he/she is required to turn it off and leave it in his/her backpack and/or cubby during the school day. If students are not adhering to these expectations, teachers will collect the phone and notify parents. Please note that faculty is not liable for any lost or stolen cell phones. If your child needs to make a call while at school, he or she will notify a teacher, administrator, or staff member and place the phone call through the school’s phone system. Thank you for your understanding, as calling, texting, and students playing games on cell phones is a distraction to our learning environment.Toys, Electronics, and Items from Home
Students are not allowed to bring computer games, smart watches, handheld gaming devices, toys, trading cards, etc. to school. Our goal is to keep students focused on learning. Any exceptions to this policy will be communicated to the parents from the teacher. Please note that CGES faculty is not liable or responsible for any lost or stolen electronics or other nonacademic related items; thus, we ask children to leave them at home. -
Arrival and Dismissal Policies
Arrival begins at 8:30 a.m.
•Morning Arrival is in the front of our school and will be two lanes.
•Vehicles will form two lanes and need to pull up to the vehicle in front of them as much as possible to avoid large gaps within our line.
•As vehicles move into the unloading zone, parents will be signaled when students may exit the vehicle. Students will exit onto the middle cross walk path as they enter the school building.
•Students need to exit the vehicle directly onto the cross walk, so they can safely walk down the middle of the cross walk without walking around the vehicle.
•Staff will be available to assist children as needed, so parents can remain in their vehicles for morning drop off. Passing other vehicles while in drop off zone is not permitted.
•Please do not use cell phones, as we need all drivers attentive to their surroundings for the safety of our students.
Dismissal begins at 3:50 p.m.
•Car rider dismissal is in the front of our school and will be two lanes.
•Vehicles will form two lanes and need to pull up to the vehicle in front of them as much as possible to avoid large gaps within our line.
•We will use a new School Dismissal Manager App this school year. Parents will download the app prior to the first day of school. During dismissal, school staff will walk to your car and parents will scan the QR code. This will signal your child’s classroom that you have arrived.
•While in our dismissal pick up zone, please turn off your engine and stand beside your vehicle in the crosswalk area between the two lanes. Students will be dismissed from the entrance of our building and will walk in the middle of the two car lanes using the crosswalk that is lined in our parking lot to reach their vehicles.
•We will have staff available to assist as needed.
•Once all children are loaded safely in vehicles, our staff will hold up a “go” sign to signal parents that it is safe to start their engines and proceed off campus.
•If a student is late to the loading zone, the parent will be instructed to pull to a designated parking spot and a staff member will bring the child to the parent, when it is safe to do so.
•Please do not use cell phones, except to scan the QR code for our dismissal app, as we need all drivers attentive to their surroundings for the safety of our students.
Transportation Changes
Children’s schedules have become more complex in recent years, often resulting in multiple destinations during a given week. In addition, the mode of transportation and the person responsible for pick-up each day often varies. To work most efficiently and to ensure that every child arrives safely to the correct designation, we are implementing a new car rider app this year that parents will log into to make all transportation changes. At the start of the school year, instructions will be shared with families on how to download the app.
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All changes in transportation (ex. bus or car rider for the day) will need to be made by 2:30pm each day utilizing the School Manager Dismissal App.
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In the event, you would like for your child to ride a different bus home with a friend, please check with the office to ensure that bus is accepting additional students. Some busses are at capacity and are unable to hold additional students. If the bus is permitting additional student riders, then the requested change for that day will need to be made through the School Dismissal Manager App before 2:30pm. Then our office staff will issue a bus pass to your child prior to dismissal.
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If an emergency arises after 2:30pm, parents will need to call the office. However, this is for unexpected/emergency situations only. Phone calls cannot become habit for families because this becomes confusing for students and staff. -
Attendance
School Hours 8:50 a.m. to 3:50 p.m.
8:30 a.m. Doors open for students to enter school
8:50 a.m. Class begins
3:50 p.m. School day ends and dismissal begins
***Children who arrive after 8:50am are considered tardy. When this happens, an adult must walk the child into the building to sign in at the office.
Attendance Policy
The Williamson County School System requires written parental or medical documentation for all absences, tardies, and early dismissals. Student academic success requires students to be present each school day possible. Excused absences include: (1) illness, (2) death in the family, (3) recognized religious holiday, (4) doctor or dentist appointment, or (5) Principal approved emergency or exceptional circumstances. When a student returns to school after an absence, please email Mrs. Angie Goodman, our attendance secretary at angelag@wcs.edu, stating the following information: Student’s Full Name, Teacher’s Name, Date of Absence, and Reason for Absence. If a doctor’s note is required, please scan or take a picture and attach to the email. Phone calls will not suffice in excusing an absence. Emails and doctors’ notes are kept on file for the school year. Each time your child is absent you will receive an automated phone call from our school. If a student returns to school without an absence note, the absence will be coded as unexcused. When a student accumulates a total of 8 excused absences, all other absences will be considered unexcused unless a doctor’s note is given to the school. (If a child is absent due to a COVID related reason, please contact Nurse Tonya at tonya.rider@wcs.edu).
Student attendance is monitored closely for unexcused absences to ensure we are complying with TN Truancy Law. Parents will be notified when absences begin to accumulate.- 5 unexcused absences – a letter will be sent to parents and a meeting may be scheduled with school
administration. - 10 unexcused absences – a letter will be sent to parents, a meeting will be held with family and school
administration, parents may be required to attend a meeting with WCS Truancy Intervention Officer and/or a
petition may be filed with Juvenile Services in accordance with Williamson County School. - The new Tennessee Department of Education Accountability Regulations (ESSA) defines students as "chronically absent" after 18 absences per year, regardless of excused or unexcused. Students who accumulate 18 or more absences will be considered “Chronically Absent” when reporting our attendance to the
state. However, this ESSA policy as defined by the state is different than truancy, as truancy focuses on unexcused absences only. In response to the Tennessee Department of Education Accountability Regulations (ESSA), which defines students as "chronically absent" after 18 absences per year, regardless of excused or unexcused, WCS schools are conservative in excusing absences due to family trips. Family trips should be scheduled during regularly planned breaks. However, if parents are seeking approval for a family trip, they need to email Mrs. Lillard. If a child has accumulated more than 8 absences that have been excused with a parent note (not doctor’s note) or is struggling in an academic area, trips will not be excused based on the attendance policy. - Tardies
Students are tardy if they are not in their classroom by 8:50. Parent or medical documentation is required when a student is tardy. Tardies may be excused for the following reasons: (1) illness, (2) death in the family, (3) recognized religious holiday, (4) doctor or dentist appointment, or (5) Principal approved emergency or exceptional circumstances. Parents will check their child in through our office and students will receive a tardy pass to enter class after 8:50. It is recommended that all car riders be in their classrooms ready to learn by 8:45 to avoid being tardy. If school buses arrive late to school, students are not counted tardy. - Early Dismissal
Students are counted absent from school if dismissed before 12:20.
Due to safety issues and the interruption of instructional time in classes, the cut-off time for afternoon early dismissal is 3:15 p.m. (except in an emergency).
We ask our parents to please email the teacher and Mrs. Goodman, our attendance secretary (angelag@wcs.edu) the morning of the request for early dismissal (unless an emergency arises) with the following information:
1) Student’s name and teacher’s name
2) Date and time student will be checked out of school
3) Reason for early dismissal
Parents/Guardians must show proper photo ID and provide a reason for the check out with the front office staff.
Office personnel will call the student to the office upon parent arrival. Office personnel must verify the identification of individuals with a valid state issued photo ID when releasing a student. Parents must communicate to the school when giving permission for someone other than the parent/guardian to pick up a student.
Emergency Information
It is vitally important in times of emergency that the school is in possession of information that will enable us to reach parents promptly and directly. In addition to your Skyward online input of information, please be sure to return the blue emergency card with contact information that has information about who can pick up your child. If there are any changes through the year, you must notify the office immediately. In the event of an unexpected early dismissal during the school day (such as inclement weather), we will follow your child’s regular mode of transportation unless notified otherwise.
- 5 unexcused absences – a letter will be sent to parents and a meeting may be scheduled with school
District Wide Policies
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Attendance
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Technology and Chromebooks
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Dress Code
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Grading and Progress Reporting
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Annual Public Notices
Annual Public Notices including FERPA, Child Advocacy Groups Contact Information, Homeless Education, Rights of Children with Disabilities and Parent Responsibilities, Section 504 Notice, State Statutory Rights of Parents and Students, Teacher Information, and the Williamson County Schools Statement of Non-Discrimination can be found on the Annual Public Notices posted to the WCS website.
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Statement of Non-Discrimination
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Child Find
Williamson County, in compliance with federal and state law, performs a countywide Child Find. Child Find uses screening to find students in both public school or private school located in the geographic region who may need special education services and supports.