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Brookdale Elementary School

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Parent/Student Handbook

Click here for a printable form of the Parent/Student Handbook.

Arrival At School
Bus Students
Car Drop-Off Procedures
Bus Schedules
Reporting Student Absence
Visiting The School
General Homework Guidelines
Writing In Content Areas
General Rules For Student Conduct
Playground Rules
Rules For Indoor Recess
Lunchroom Rules
Birthdays
Teacher Phones

Arrival At School

Walkers should arrive at school no earlier than 8:50 A.M. Teachers are present on the school grounds and crosswalk areas beginning at 8:50 to monitor safety during this arrival time at school.

There are maps available at the school office which indicate various walking routes within the subdivision. Please remind your children not to cut through yards on the way to and from school. This will help them learn to respect the privacy and property of others.

When the weather is inclement (rain or temperatures which fall below zero wind chill), all students will be admitted to the school upon arrival.

Bus Students

Students who ride a school bus are expected to arrive at the designated bus stop promptly each morning. Students may only ride the bus route to which they have been assigned. No students will be allowed to switch routes for any reason.

All bus students are dropped off in the circle drive in front of the school building. Upon arrival, students proceed to the designated entrance area on the playground via the sidewalk on the west end of the building. Teachers are on hand to supervise bus arrivals and departures at school.

Please remind your child to follow a route to the bus stop which you have agreed upon. We expect students to respect the property of others in the community and not cut through yards, etc. For safety reasons, please reinforce with your child the need to stay off of the street while waiting for the bus to arrive. Students are not permitted to use any of the playground equipment before school begins due to supervision and the potential for injuries

Car Drop-off Procedures

The safety of all of the children at Brookdale School is the top priority concern for both parents and staff. There are at least five teachers or adult guards at various locations on the school grounds and crosswalks before and after school to supervise student safety. We need parent cooperation, however, in order to assure maximum safety during the drop-off and pick up times. Traffic is frequently congested, especially when the weather is inclement, and parents are urged to be patient and follow designated procedures at all times. Even though there may be days when you are late for an appointment or in a rush to get to work, no timetable or schedule is worth more than a child’s life. If there is a time for patience and extra caution, it is when driving near a school at entrance and dismissal times, especially during bad weather.

Please Follow the Following Procedures:

Students may only be dropped off or picked up by car at the curb on either side of Redfield Road. The circle drive in front of the building is reserved exclusively for school busses between 8:50 and 9:05 A.M. and between 3:35 and 3:50 P.M. If parents are driving a handicapped or temporarily disabled child to and from school, arrangements can easily be made to use the front driveway for this purpose for as long as necessary.

The pick up area on Redfield Road is for standing only during the designated times. Please remain in your car. When cars are left at the curb along Redfield, it causes other cars to have to back up in order to pull out. This can create a serious safety problem with so many children on the school grounds. After you drop off or pick up your child, please move up and pull out onto Redfield Road.

The crosswalk may not be blocked at any time during entrance or dismissal. There are signs posted prohibiting standing or parking in this area. The Naperville Police Department has been asked to ticket any cars violating this regulation.

Parents who wish to wait until their child enters school in the morning, or meet their child at the dismissal door after school, must park in the school parking lot on the south side of the building and walk to the entrance or dismissal site. Parents may also park along the curb which is adjacent to the grass island by the front doors of the schools. Again, parents must meet children at the door and walk them to the car in the parking lot. In addition, parents may park and leave their cars along Redfield Road where parking is not restricted to STANDING ONLY during entrance and dismissal times. For security reasons, no one is permitted to cut through the school building to get to the playground area during this time.

Students are to cross Redfield Road at the designated crosswalk area only. If you are waiting on the east side of Redfield, please do not motion to your child to cross the street at any other location. Reinforce the necessity of crossing at the crosswalk where an adult is providing supervision.
It is essential that all parents observe the school speed zone limit of 20 m.p.h. at all times when children are present.

On behalf of the children at Brookdale School, all of whom are irreplaceable, thank you for your cooperation.

Bus Schedules

If your child rides the school bus, please review the bus schedule carefully to determine the time and location for your child to be picked up. Questions regarding bus service should be directed to the transportation office at 904-0900.

Reporting Student Absence

For safety reasons, parents are to call the school to report all student absences. Please call the attendance office, prior to the beginning of the school day, to report your child’s absence. A recorder is available for this purpose, so you may call in the evening if you know your child will not attend school the next day. Student absences of 3 or more days require a note from a parent.

Please call 428-6810 and leave the following information:

Your name
The name of the child who will be absent
The name of your child’s homeroom teacher
The reason for the absence and anticipated length of absence.

All absences must be called in to the absence line in order to be considered "excused."

Parents may leave a message requesting homework, if the absence is reported prior to 9:00 A.M. and the child is absent for more than 3 days. Homework may be picked up at the school office after 3:35 P.M. or sent home with another student if specified in the message you leave on the recorder.

Visiting the School

All visitors to the school are required by Illinois School Code to report to the principal’s office upon entering the building. Visitors will be given a badge to be worn at all times while in the school building. Please sign in at the office when you arrive and sign out and return the visitor badge upon leaving the building.

The procedures for reporting to the principal’s office, signing in, and wearing a visitor badge must be followed any time visitors enter the school building, including times when parents come to school to drop off their children in the morning or wait for children at the end of the school day. After school, parents may wait outside the appropriate school exit for children if they do not wish to sign in at the office and wear a visitor badge. If you choose to wait in the building, and follow the sign in procedures, please wait for your child in the vestibule area immediately outside of the school office. Parents are not permitted to go to the classrooms and wait outside the doorways. This causes distractions in the classroom during instructional time and poses a security problem as well. If you need to deliver a lunch to school for your child, please bring it to the principal’s office. Lunches will not be delivered to the classroom. Students will pick up lunches in the kitchen in the school cafeteria when they arrive for lunch.

If you are sponsoring an after school group, such as Great Books or a scout troop, and enter the school before 3:30 P.M. it is necessary to sign in at the school office and wait in the vestibule area outside the principal’s office until dismissal. If you choose to go into the cafeteria or LMC area where your group will meet, prior to dismissal, a visitor badge must be worn.

If you are dropping something off at school for your child, please report to the office upon entering the school. Items may not be brought to the classrooms by parents during school hours. The teacher will be informed that you have left something in the office for your child and he/she will be allowed to come to the office at a time which is convenient to the classroom schedule. In the event that you are bringing a lunch to school for your child, please follow the above procedure.

If you decide to pick up your child after school, and have not made prior arrangements to do so, please call the school office prior to 3:00 P.M. and leave the necessary information with one of the school secretaries. Your child will be notified to meet you at the designated location as per your instructions. This frequently occurs during times when the weather becomes inclement during the school day. Please be sure to send the teacher a note if you have your child deviate from regular after school procedures. For example, if you want your child to meet you after school rather than take the bus, it is essential to inform the teacher with a note. This is especially critical for children in the lower grades.

Certainly, many of the above procedures look very complicated, however they are necessary to help assure the safety of your children. It is impossible for the staff to recognize every parent in such a large school and the badges assure staff members that you have registered in the school office. All staff members are reminded regularly to stop any adults without visitor badges and direct them to the school office. All staff members are required to wear ID badges as well.

Please be assured that it is not our intent to keep parents away from school. The exact opposite is, in fact, true. We truly value the time you take to visit your school or volunteer your services here. The only time that you may feel justified in feeling offended is when you feel that there are not adequate safeguards in place to help assure the the safety of your child.

General Homework Guidelines

It is the practice at Brookdale School to assign homework on a regular basis. The purpose of this practice is to reinforce skills which have been introduced in the classroom as well as to reinforce the development of good study habits. It is important to recognize the need for increased expectations for independent study as children advance through the grades. It is also important for both parents and teachers to recognize that a child’s day in school is already demanding and there needs to be ample opportunity for play and relaxation. This is especially important in our community where so many children are involved in a variety of enriching extracurricular activities. The school’s guidelines are meant to represent general expectations regarding homework assignments. There will naturally be some variation depending upon classroom activities, special projects, etc. In addition, as children move into the upper grades, homework will more frequently be given with advanced due dates of one or even two weeks in the future. Students will be expected to plan their time so that long, last-minute homework sessions will not occur.

The school encourages parents to act as resources for their children as they complete their homework assignments. It is very appropriate for parents to answer occasional questions or provide guidance regarding an assignment. It is not appropriate for parents to do most of the assignment for their child. Let this be your child’s job. If you feel that your child is really struggling with an assignment, or is confused, please write a note or call the classroom teacher. In addition, if your child is consistently devoting a great deal of time to homework, beyond the times indicated in the following guidelines, you need to contact the classroom teacher immediately to discuss the situation.

Kindergarten:

No formal homework will be given to children in kindergarten. Instead, children will be involved in the kinds of activities which build a foundation of responsibility, consequences, and self-direction. This would include having children be responsible for taking papers home for review with their parents. At times, these papers would have to be returned to the teacher with a parent signature.

Grade One:

The homework which will be given in first grade consists of oral practice reading and reinforcement of math facts. These tasks should last no longer than ten or fifteen minutes per session. Independent reading is encouraged as often as possible.

Grades Two and Three:

Homework assignments should be given for a maximum of three nights per week for a maximum of fifteen minutes per session for both grades two and three. Math assignments for grade three may be given for a maximum of four nights per week for a maximum of fifteen minutes per session. Homework may include activities such as reading and math, practice with flash cards, reinforcement of spelling words, or reading selected literature rather than pencil and paper activities.
Independent reading is encouraged on a routine basis. This is especially encouraged over the weekend or during vacation periods.

Grades Four and Five:

Homework assignments will be given for a maximum of four nights per week for a maximum of one hour per session.

Late Assignments:

If students are absent from school due to illness, an appropriate amount of time will be allowed for the completion of missed homework without any penalty. Homework assignments will be sent home as per parent request if the homeroom teacher receives this request prior to 10:00 A.M. on the day of absence.
If homework is not turned in on the due date, for any reason other than an excused absence from school, the student will be given a late homework notice to be taken home and returned to the teacher with a parent signature.
If the assignment is received the next day, it will receive a half credit or be reduced one letter grade. Any assignments not turned in by the day after the due date will receive a grade of F. If this occurs frequently, the report card grade will likely be affected.
Homework assignments will not be made prior to children leaving for vacations which are taken during the time that school is in session. Children will be given additional time to make up missed work upon returning to school.
No homework assignments will be given in any grades on Fridays or before school holidays.

Writing in Content Areas

The faculty has worked hard on establishing expectations for student writing in content areas; areas outside of language arts such as social studies or science. A writing skills matrix is included in this handbook which indicates the written communication skills which teachers will expect to see demonstrated in all written work which is handed in. Our goal is to improve the overall quality of written work and reinforce the need for good writing in all written work. In most cases, students will receive a grade for the content area and a language arts grade for the quality of their writing. At no time will the content area grade be lowered as a result of poorly written work, except on assignments which are in the area of language arts. In addition to the skills outlined in the matrix, grade level appropriate spelling will also be evaluated.

Writing Conventions:

The following chart indicates writing skills in the areas of capitalization, punctuation, and spelling at each grade level. The chart indicates whether skills are considered to be Beginning (B), Developing (D) or Secure (S). If the skill is developing or expected to be secure at a grade level, it will be expected that any written work, in all content areas, will demonstrate this.

Grade Level	K	1	2	3	4	5
Capitalize the first word in a sentence	B	B/D	D/S	*	*	*
Capitalize proper nouns	B	B/D	D/S	*	*	*
End punctuation (. ? !)	B	B/D	D/S	*	*	*
Greetings and closings in letters	B	B	B/D	D/S	*	*
Periods in abbreviations / initials		B	B/D	D/S	*	*
Apostrophes in contractions		B	B/D	D/S	*	*
Apostrophes in possessive nouns		B	B/D	D/S	*	*
Commas to separate nouns series		B	B/D	D/S	*	*
Capitalization of book titles		B	B/D	D/S	*	*
Commas in dates		B	B/D	D/S	*	*
Quotation marks for speaker’s words		B	B/D	B/D	D/S	*
Commas in addresses			B	D/S	*	*
Correct spelling for grade level	B	D/S	D/S	D/S	D/S	D/S

Discipline

We believe that children, like adults, live in a world in which they will be accountable for the choices they make. Our general school policy supports that decision making process through the various strategies used in individual classrooms. Generally, our approach to management consists of the following:

Parameters or general expectations for student behavior
Choices
Consequences

This approach is not only consistent with the need for children to demonstrate responsible behavior which is intrinsic, but also places the responsibility for the behavior upon each person. The emphasis is always placed upon encouraging growth in personal responsibility.

Parents are encouraged to consult the District 204 Parent-Student Handbook for further information regarding school policies and procedures. Information regarding student health and physical/immunization requirements are detailed in this resource guide. Handbooks will be sent home with students during the first few weeks of each school year.

General Rules for Student Conduct

Students are to arrive at school no earlier than 8:50 A.M. when supervision is provided.
When arriving at school, students are to walk to their line using the sidewalks.
Students are to enter the school building in an orderly fashion and exit at the end of the day by walking on the sidewalks.
The playground equipment may not be used before school.
Skateboards/roller blades are not allowed at school.
Bicycles must be walked from the school property line to the bicycle rack. Bicycles must be placed in the bike racks and locked. For safety reasons, parents are strongly encouraged not to allow children in Kindergarten, first, and second grades to ride bikes to school. Scooters must remain outside and be chained to the bike rack.
Use the sidewalks when coming to school or going home. Show respect for the property of others and do not cut through yards.
Students must go directly home after school unless parents have informed the teacher, in writing, of other after school arrangements.
Cross Redfield Road at the adult supervised crosswalk ONLY.
Students are expected to walk in the hallways at all times.
Vulgar language and printed materials are prohibited in school.
Toys, games, electronic equipment, watches that beep, hard balls, and radios/tape/CD players are not allowed in school without the teacher’s permission.
Show respect for the rights of others at all times. Everyone shares the responsibility of making Brookdale School a happy, safe place for all.

Playground Rules

Students are to walk to and from the playground areas using the sidewalks.
All playground equipment is to be used properly:

One person on a swing only
No standing on swings
No climbing on swing frames
No standing or climbing up slides.

Tackle or rough games are not allowed.
No equipment from home may be brought for use on the playground.
Students are to stay out of neighbors’ yards and respect their property. Play is allowed on the north side of the building, away from the window areas, only. Students are never to go around the building or near Redfield Road.
Playground balls are not to be thrown near the windows or on the roof.
Students are expected to line up as soon as the whistle is blown.
It is expected that all students will show courtesy and respect for the adult recess supervisors. Students who choose not to follow recess rules, will lose recess privileges.

Rules for Indoor Recess

When the weather is inclement, recess will be held in the school gymnasium. Students may bring a game, book, crayons and paper, etc. to be used during this time if they choose. Markers may not be brought into the gym at any time. Students may also choose to participate in organized games.
Please Note: All students are expected to participate in daily recess. A student may be excused for no more than three days with a parent note. A doctor’s note is required to excuse a student from recess for more than three days. Students are expected to have appropriate winter clothing for recess. As long as the wind chill temperature is above 0, recess is held outdoors.

Lunchroom Rules

Lunchtime should be a time to relax and enjoy eating and the company of peers. Conversation is a necessary part of making lunch an enjoyable experience. Loud noises or yelling diminishes the quality of the lunch period for everyone and is not permitted.
Throwing food in the lunchroom is strictly prohibited and will result in notification of parents and/or loss of lunchroom privileges.
Students are to remain seated during the lunch periods and raise hands for assistance.
Students are encouraged to take uneaten food, such as apples, oranges, etc. home rather than throwing it away.
Garbage is to be disposed of in the designated containers for recycling when students are dismissed for recess. Students will be dismissed when the table and floor area are free from litter and students are orderly.
Lunch boxes are to be placed in the classroom containers at the conclusion of the lunch period.
Each lunchroom supervisor will inform students of a signal for QUIET. When they need to make announcements, students are expected to be silent and listen.

Birthdays

Sending birthday treats to school is no longer permitted beginning with the 2002-2003 school year. After considerable discussion, it was decided that the celebration of birthdays is most properly placed at home. We now have many children with very specific medical, dietary restrictions, those who observe dietary restrictions for religious reasons, and some students with life-threatening allergies to certain foods. In addition, these observances take instructional time away from the curriculum.

Please also refrain from sending party invitations to students via the school. No party invitations of any sort will be distributed to children in any classrooms.

Teacher Phones

All staff members have telephones with voice mail.

We would ask you to review the following guidelines when you place a direct call to any teacher:

Teacher hours are 8:15 until 3:45 daily. You may be able to reach teachers in their classrooms between 8:15 A.M. and 8:45 A.M. In the event that the teacher is not available to answer the phone, your call will go to the teacher’s voice mail box and you may leave a message. You may also choose to push the O (operator) button to be redirected to the principal’s secretary.
Be careful NOT to leave any urgent or timely message on the teacher’s voice mail as staff members may not have an opportunity to check messages until after school or late in the day. For example, I would not suggest that you call at 1:00 P.M. and leave a message such as, "Please tell Billy not to take the bus tonight and I will pick him up on Redfield Road after school." If Billy's teacher is not able to check voice mail until after school, Billy will be on his way home on the school bus and mom will be waiting at the curb.
If you choose to call a teacher directly while class is in session, please feel free to do so. The phones will not ring in the classroom but you will be able to leave a direct message in the teacher’s voice mail box.


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