Student Handbook

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

• School begins: 8:55 am
• Dismissal: 3:45 pm

Wednesday Early Release

• School begins: 8:55 am
• Dismissal: 12:30 pm

Snow Day Schedule

The following schedule is in effect for days with severe weather conditions and APS declares a two-hour delay:

• Arrival: 10:55 am      
• Dismissal: 3:45 pm

The purpose of the Painted Sky Elementary School discipline policy is to ensure the safety of the staff and students at our school.

Behavior Expectations

• Always try your best and stay focused on your learning.
• Keep your hands, feet, and all other body parts to yourself.
• Always use appropriate language.
• Always treat others the way you would like to be treated.
• Always use playground/school equipment properly.

Within the Painted Sky discipline plan, there are several actions that require immediate attention from the administration and the parent:

• Physical fighting with evidence of injury or potential injury, including play fighting.
• Bullying
• Destroying property (classroom, bathroom, personal property of others, graffiti)
• Discriminatory behavior (racial put-downs, verbal abuse, etc)
• Bringing a weapon to school.
• Theft
• Weapons possession / use
• Arson
• Gang Related Activity

Bullying is a way of using power aggressively in which a person is subjected to intentional, unwanted and unprovoked hurtful verbal and/or physical actions. Bullying results in the victim feeling oppressed, fearful, distressed, injured, or uncomfortable. The aggression is repeated on more than one occasion. Consequences for any of the above behavior will be determined by the administration. This could include suspension.

In addition to the above policies, each teacher has established his/her own classroom rules that support the school-wide discipline policy. Please check with your child’s teacher for more information.

Please encourage your children to leave their personal possessions/toys at home. There is a risk of such items being broken, lost, or stolen. These items will be confiscated for parents to pick up in the office. Painted Sky is not responsible for the loss of or damage to a student’s possessions. Sports equipment, such as balls and jump ropes, are provided to each classroom by our P.E. department.

Items not allowed:

• Weapons, toy or otherwise
• Bicycles, skateboards, scooters, wheelie shoes
• Trading cards, action figures, and other toys
• Make-up, large jewelry
• No Illegal substances
• Any other items that are a disruption to the learning environment and/or creates a safety problem can and will be confiscated

It is very important to your child’s education that he/she attend school on a regular basis. Please make every effort to get your child to school every day.

Absences

If your child will be absent from school, it is your responsibility to call (836-7763 ext. 59602) before 8:00 am.  If this is not done, the absence will be considered unexcused. In APS, a student is considered “a student in need of early intervention” (truant) at five (5) unexcused absences and a habitual truant at ten (10) unexcused absences in a year. Principals may request additional documentation for excessive excused absences.

For safety reasons, Painted Sky’s attendance monitor will call families to determine the whereabouts of unexcused absent students. Students are responsible for all assignments missed.

Tardies

It is extremely important that your child arrives on time to school every day. Parents must accompany late students to the office to sign students in for the day and receive a pass to class. The tardy bell rings at 7:30 am.

Arrivals & Departures

• School begins at 7:30 am and ends at 2:30 pm
• Students may not arrive before 7:20 am unless enrolled in the Before/After school program.
• Teachers begin serving breakfast in the classroom at 7:30 am
• If your child arrives late or needs to leave early for an appointment, please report to the office first to sign them in or out
• Parents are encouraged to make appointments, whenever possible, outside the school day
• Students will only be released to the adults indicated in Synergy
• Children will not be released during the last 30 minutes of the school day:
  • If you need to pick up your child before the end of the  school day, please do so before 2:00 pm

Phone use for students will be allowed on an emergency basis only. Parents, please make every effort to make your child and your child's teacher aware of any change of after-school plans before leaving home in the morning. This will keep students safe and classroom interruptions to a minimum.

Parents/Guardians/family members visiting the campus, must sign in at the office.

Please note: School-age students are not allowed on campus during the school day without the approval of the administration. Students truant from their home school are never allowed on campus during school hours.

Fire regulations require the school to hold periodic fire drills. They are held once a week for the first month of school and once a month thereafter. When the fire alarm sounds, everyone in the building is required to exit according to the “Fire and Emergency Exit Plan” posted in each classroom.

Homework will be distributed by the homeroom teacher and should be completed in accordance with the classroom teacher’s homework policy. It is expected that all assigned homework be completed and turned in in a timely manner.

In addition, every student at Painted Sky Elementary School must read for at least 20 minutes each night as a part of nightly homework.

Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) include but are not limited to cell phones, electronic game equipment, iPods, MP3s.

PEDs will be confiscated using the following process:

• The device will be secured and identified by make, serial number, condition, and owner
• The first offense will require a parent to come to the office and sign for the device
• The second offense will result in the device not being released to the parent until the end of the semester

No student uniforms are required.  Please refer to the APS handbook for additional information regarding the APS dress code.

• Students must wear appropriately fitting clothing (No excessively tight or revealing clothing, no sagging or bagging permitted)
• Students may not wear clothing that advertises displays or promotes drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sexual activity, violence, disrespect or bigotry.
• Students may not wear spiked jewelry, chains or belts with more than 2 inches excess.
• Gang-related apparel is prohibited.

In addition, students of Painted Sky Elementary:

• May not wear or bring any form of make-up to school including glitter, lip gloss, hair products, and/or false nails.
• When wearing shorts or skirts, the length must be at least the length of their fingertips when hands are rested at their side.
• Shirts must not have spaghetti straps and they must cover the midriff.
• Heeleys and/ or rollerblades or any other shoes with wheels are not allowed.
• Students are encouraged to wear closed toed shoes. Flip flops, sandals and high heels are discouraged.

In the event of a dress code violation, parents will be contacted.

All Painted Sky students receive breakfast and lunch free of charge.

Painted Sky has a full-time nurse and health assistant available to provide general first aid, administer medications, and conduct routine health screenings.

In order to notify parents in the event of student illness or medical emergency, we ask that parents keep emergency contact information up-to-date. Please notify the front office if you change home, work, or cell phone numbers. Please also list several adult contacts that can be reached in the event of an emergency.

• Please keep your child at home if he/she has a fever over 99 degrees or is vomiting.
• Students must present a pass from their teacher to be seen in the health office.
• Parents will be notified immediately if a child needs to be sent home due to illness or injury.
• Students who are ill will not be permitted to walk home.
• Please notify the health office of any medications, allergies, medical conditions or other health concerns that may impact your child during the school day.

Medication Policy

• All medications, including over the counter medications, must be turned in to the health office.
• A physician must submit in writing her exact recommendations for administering medications including the name of drug, dosage, schedule of administration, and possible side effects for each medication to be administered at school.
• No school employee may administer medication unless licensed/trained to do so.
• Students may carry an asthma inhaler during the school day, however, an authorization form must be on file in the health office.
• All medications left at school after the last school day will be destroyed.

• Field trips are a privilege. Field trips may be revoked for inappropriate behavior, excessive absences, or failure to meet requirements established by classroom teachers. In circumstances where buses or admission fees are pre-paid, field trip payments will not be reimbursed.
• Parents must complete an APS background check to accompany students on field trips. The background check can be completed here: Volunteer with APS
• Siblings are never allowed to accompany students on a field trip. Activities are planned by teachers, and the focus of all chaperones should be on the safety of our students.
• Students are expected to ride the bus to and from field trip sites. Students are not permitted to ride in personal vehicles.

Transportation to and from school is a service and not a right. Buses follow a strict schedule and it is recommended that all students arrive at their designated bus stop five minutes prior to their scheduled bus time.

Students are expected to:

• Follow school rules while waiting for the bus
• Stay seated at all times on the bus
• Keep hands, feet, and objects to themselves at all times
• Show respect toward the bus driver and fellow passengers
• No object shall be thrown on or out of the bus
• No food or drink is allowed on the bus

Students who choose not to follow bus rules or endanger themselves or others as a result of their behavior on the bus may be suspended from bus services. Chronic bus infractions may result in termination of bus transportation privileges.

Contact APS Transportation at (505) 880-3989.