SCHOOL HOURS

MISSION

The faculty, staff, and community of Cashell are committed to educate all students in a safe, nurturing environment that maximizes academic achievement and interpersonal growth. We encourage the development of confident, responsible, critical thinkers with a commitment to learning.

VISION

Cashell students will become respectful adults who are motivated and inspired to achieve success and to contribute their knowledge and talents to society.

SCHOOL COLORS: Blue and white

SCHOOL MASCOT: Casey Cougar

- - - - - - - - - - ABCs - - - - - - - - - -

ABSENCES:

School hours are 8:50-3:05. Students may arrive as early as 8:25 a.m. and will enter their classrooms at 8:40. There is NO supervision for students BEFORE 8:25 a.m.

Teachers are NOT REQUIRED to provide makeup work or work in advance for unexcused absences. When students return to school Maryland law also requires that we receive a note from the parent or guardian that includes the following information:

Student's name
Date(s) of absence
Reason for absence
Signature of parent or guardian w/telephone number

Reasons for an excused absence include:
Death in the immediate family
Court summons
Hazardous weather conditions
State or other emergency
Quarantine
Religious holiday
Suspension
Work or other activities approved by the principal
Student Illness (State law requires a doctor's note after 5 days of absence.)

Daily, consistent, and prompt attendance creates school success and develops habits that lead to success in the workplace. We urge you to make school attendance a priority and to schedule vacations (and appointments, when possible) around the school calendar. The State of Maryland requires school attendance each day that school is in session, unless there is a lawful, excused reason for the tardiness or absence. In these cases, schoolwork can be made up.

On days that your child must leave early, you should send a note to the teacher. Please come to the office to sign your child out; the office will have the student sent to the office to meet you. Do not go to the classroom to meet your child; it disrupts the class.

A parent MUST come to the main office to sign in any student who arrives after 8:50am. If your child will not be at school or will be late, please call the school's main office (301-924-3130) BEFORE 9 a.m. For safety reasons, we call all parents of absent students who have not notified the school. We do have an answering machine if you need to leave us a message before the office opens in the morning.

PLEASE CALL BY 10 a.m. if you wish to request work for your child and you would like to pick it up or have it sent home with another student the same day. Otherwise, it will be available the next day.

ARRIVALS: TARDY AND HALF-DAY PROCEDURES:

Maryland State Department of Education procedures require all schools to keep accurate records of students who are late and/or spend a partial day in school. The state has made the following changes in recording attendance:

Students will now be recorded as:
* A.M. absent if they arrive at school more than one hour early.
* P.M. absent if they leave school more than one hour late.
* Either A.M. absent or P.M. absent if absent from school more than one hour during the school day.
* ABSENT for a full day if they are present for one hour or less of the school day.

BICYCLES:

Students must be in 4th or 5th grade to ride their bicycles to school. They must wear a helmet and must park and lock their bicycles in the bicycle rack. Students should dismount and walk their bicycles when on school grounds. The school is not responsible for loss or damage to bicycles. It is wise to register bicycles with the police. Students may not ride or bring scooters, skateboards, or roller blades to school. Also, no Heelies, please.

BUS SAFETY:

Parents are responsible for student safety at bus stops, although safety patrols assist. Please review appropriate behavior and safety rules with your child. Students who wish to ride a bus home with a classmate after school must bring a note to the office first thing in the morning. Bus drivers are not allowed to transport additional riders without parent/school permission. For problems concerning bus routes and bus stop locations, call Transportation 301-670-8274.

CELL PHONES:

MCPS policy does not permit elementary students to carry cell phones. If you feel your child must have a cell phone, the policy requires that you put your request in writing to the principal, Mrs. Stamoulis.

COMMUNICATION:

We have many ways for you to keep up to date with 'Cashell Happenings.' The easiest AND most important way for you to be informed is for you to check your child's assignment book EVERY DAY. It is also a great place for notes to and from your child's teacher.

Teachers prefer different methods of communication. Some prefer email or notes; others prefer to make phone calls. Teachers will respond to emails or phone calls within 24 hours. If you have a bigger concern, ask to schedule a conference.

Every Wednesday, the youngest child in the family (as per MCPS guidelines) will bring home the Wednesday Weekly Folder. This folder contains important information from the school, the PTA, and the community.

Be sure to check out the Spotlight, a monthly newsletter from the principal, Mrs. Stamoulis, principal. You'll also want to read the PTA's monthly Communique that contains news from the classes and what's happening in the PTA.

Many teachers also send home weekly or monthly newsletters, along with data notebooks or Friday folders.

DELAYED OPENINGS/EARLY CLOSING/SCHOOL CANCELLATION:

DELIVERY OF ARTICLES:

When you need to deliver books, glasses, lunches, homework, or musical instruments to school, come directly to the school office. Be sure the items are labeled with your child's name. We will get the article to your child so the classroom is not disrupted. We do not permit children to call home to request that missing items be brought to school.

DISCIPLINE POLICY:

Parents and staff work with our counselor each summer to review and update the discipline policy. As always, we ask parents to review the policy, which is in this handbook, with their children. Helping students learn and implement successful conflict resolution strategies is an important part of what we teach, model, and reinforce at Cashell. We expect all our students to work at making good choices, and we need your help in supporting and extending our efforts into the home.

DRESS CODE:

SAFETY ALERT - STUDENTS IN GRADES 1-5 WILL BE CLIMBING STAIRS AT LEAST TWICE A DAY. SNEAKERS OR TIE SHOES ARE THE SAFEST FOOTWEAR!

A variety of clothing is acceptable throughout MCPS. The exception is clothing which is distracting or disruptive to others at school. Examples include clothing with inappropriate sayings or graphics; revealing or very tight clothing such as tank tops, short shorts or halter tops, or hats or caps worn in the building. We do not want to see bare backs or belly buttons. Students wearing inappropriate items may be asked to do one of the following: turn shirts inside out, put on a sweater or sweatshirt, or call parents for a change of clothing. In all cases, we will notify you so you can help your child make better choices in the future. Fall and spring weather is particularly unpredictable. Dressing in layers at these times of the year is helpful.

DROP OFF & DISMISSAL:

We encourage you to have your children ride the bus to school to help develop their independence and limit the amount of traffic around the school. The parking lot is NOT OPEN for drop off or pick up.

If you do need to drop your child off at school, please enter the Cashell Rd entrance and pull up to the staff member on duty. Your child will be assisted getting out of the car and will enter directly into the multipurpose room. (Please have backpacks handy).

If you are picking your child up after school, PLEASE enter the Cashell Rd entrance and pull up to the end of the sidewalk. A staff member will be there to assist your child(ren) to get to your car. PLEASE DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR!

If you know ahead of time that you will need to pick up your child(ren) early, please send a note to your child's teacher. This will allow the teacher to have your child packed up for dismissal and give any assignments. If you need to pick up your child unexpectedly, call as soon as you know and we will notify the teacher. The secretary will call your child to the main office once you arrive.

Except in an extreme emergency, we will not dismiss students between 2:55 and 3:05. It's too disruptive to the classroom.

EMERGENCIES:

We try very hard not to interrupt classes for any reason. We do not call students to the office for phone calls, and we can only deliver messages in an emergency. If there is an emergency, call the office to inform us of the situation. Let us know what you need for us to do. Mrs. Yates, the school counselor, is also available to assist.

EMERGENCY DRILLS:

MCPS Policy requires that we have a fire drill once a month. We will also hold required Code Red and Code Blue drills during the year. You can reassure your children by letting them know that we will have these drills regularly to make sure we are all safe and prepared if anything unexpected were to happen. If your child is upset by these drills, please let Mrs. Yates, the school counselor, and the classroom teacher know so that they can offer extra support if needed. In the event that the school must be evacuated for an extended period of time, school buses will transport students to Magruder High School (301-840-4600).

EMERGENCY "YELLOW" CARDS:

For the students' safety, parents must complete the yellow emergency cards and keep the information current. We must always be able to reach parents or some designated emergency person. If any of the information should change during the school year, please inform the school office to update the yellow cards. Also, if your child will be staying with someone else while you are away, be sure we have any temporary emergency information such as how to contact you, name and phone number of the temporary guardians, dates, and written permission for that person to act in your behalf in case of an emergency.

*We also ask you to complete an ORANGE Emergency Information Sheet that allows you to name several people who are authorized to pick up your child in an emergency. This is particularly helpful if we have an early closing due to bad weather.

FORGOTTEN ARTICLES:

GOING HOME:

If your child is going home with someone else, you must send a note with your child that morning giving permission for your child to do so and explaining the change. Teachers will not allow children to leave with another student unless they have a signed permission note from you.

Likewise, students may NOT ride on the bus with a friend if they do not have this note. (If the bus is too crowded, students will not be able to ride home with a friend).

These arrangements must be made prior to the day of the scheduled get-together. Students are NOT allowed to use school phones to make arrangements to go to a friend's house.

HEALTH:

Cashell has a full-time health technician who is trained in first aid and CPR. Our school nurse is also here one day a week. If your child is feeling ill, she will take his/her temperature. If there is no fever, the child might be asked to rest for a while and then return to class. She will call you if necessary. PLEASE KEEP YOUR CHILD HOME IF HE/SHE IS ILL. With the possibility of a flu epidemic, we do not want to take unnecessary chances, and you certainly would not want to be responsible for the spread of this serious illness.

Any student with a fever or vomiting must be sent home.

If your child is hurt, the health tech will administer first aid as needed. She will call you if there is a head injury or a more serious cut or scrape.

In a serious health emergency we will call 911 first, and then notify you.

LICE:

We don't like to think or talk about it, but it can happen to any of us. The best way to prevent lice is to avoid sharing hats, combs, helmets, hair accessories or other headgear.

If you are asked to pick your child up at school because of lice, please don't be embarrassed or upset. If you find that your child has lice, it's important to let the school know, as well as the parents of your child's friends so they can check their children and reduce the continued spread of lice. After treatment, you will need to bring your child to the school nurse to be checked. It's VERY important to check your child's head every day for the next few weeks to make sure the lice are really gone.

If you have any questions, the nurse or Mrs. Yates, the school counselor, can give you some tips and/or send home helpful information and website addresses.

LUNCH:

It's not possible to let students call home every time they forget their lunch (or anything else). The best - and easiest - solution is to keep a small amount of money in your child's SNAP account at all times. Make sure that you send money in as soon as you get a 'low balance' letter from the cafeteria. It might be helpful to ask your child every now and then if they have received a letter, they don't always remember.

Mrs. Campos, our cafeteria manager, has in the past let students borrow money. Unfortunately, we can no longer lend money for lunches, since students often do not pay her back. We can provide a cheese sandwich, and we have a "share table" where students place unopened items such as milk or fruit for other students to take.

Please remember that your child NEVER NEEDS to have a cheese sandwich if you keep money in the SNAP Account.

MEDICATION:

PARTIES:

Each year Cashell Elementary School has two parties.

Our annual Halloween Parade starts around 2:00 p.m. Please make sure the costumes that you allow your child to wear to school are appropriate for pre-K through fifth grade audiences - no weapons, blood, guts or other possibly offensive costumes!

Valentine's Day Parties are normally held in the classrooms after lunch. We do not permit birthday parties at school. On a related note, please mail birthday party invitations. Students may not distribute party invitations at school. This avoids hurt feelings and interruptions to instruction. It's another great reason to make sure you have a Cashell Directory!

RECESS:

If a child is well enough to attend school, he or she must be well enough to participate in all school activities, including recess. Unfortunately, we do not have enough staff to supervise students who are unable to go outside. If your child has a serious health issue, please contact the school nurse to schedule a meeting. Please be sure that your children come dressed with coats, gloves, boots, and shoes, appropriate for the weather. We do have outdoor recess unless it is too wet, muddy, cold (wind chill/temperature below freezing), or otherwise unsafe.

VISITING:

We always welcome visitors to our school. If you need to pick up your child, drop off forgotten items, or speak with a staff member you MUST come by the office. We will be glad to help you. Help us keep everyone safe by doing your part to follow these guidelines when at school.

MCPS policy requires that anyone who enters the building for any reason or any amount of time must sign in and out at the office and let us know why they are in the building. Please do not go anywhere in the building without first printing and wearing a visitor or volunteer badge while in the building. If you do not check in at the office and are not wearing a badge, you will be stopped by staff and sent to the office to check in. We need EVERYBODY to honor these guidelines.

While visiting we ask that you silence cell phones and pagers.

We strive to limit any interruptions to the instructional program. While observing or visiting, do not engage in a discussion with your child or the teacher. If you would like to speak with the teacher, please call ahead of time to schedule a conference.

Students may not bring student guests to school.

The MCPS official Open House for parents is scheduled for Monday, October 12, 2009. We hope you'll be able to attend.

VOLUNTEERS:

WE LOVE OUR VOLUNTEERS! They are an integral part of our home/school partnership in education. Parents, grandparents, or community members who are interested in serving as volunteers at Cashell should contact the teacher, office, or PTA Volunteer Coordinators to get more information about how to get started. Teachers will have sign up sheets for volunteers at Sneak Preview and Back to School Night. The PTA also needs many, many volunteers for all their fabulous programs. There are things you can do at home as well as at school. If you have a special talent or skill that you'd like to share, please let us know!

We hope you have a wonderful school year. Our doors are always open for students and parents. Do not hesitate to call us if you have any questions or concerns.

XYZ:

Please keep this handbook in a handy place so that you can refer to it when you have any questions.