Student/Parent Handbook 2022-2023

AASA and AzSci: State Testing - All students in grades 3-8 are required to take Arizona’s state assessment AASA. It evaluates performance on grade level standards in the areas of Reading, Writing and Math each year. ATI-Galileo Grades K-6- ATI-Galileo, commonly referred to as Galileo, is a standards-based assessment aligned to the Arizona College and Career Readiness Standards and state content standards. It evaluates students’ performance on grade level standards in Reading, Math, and Science (only 4 th grade) four times each year. These four benchmarks are designed to evaluate a student’s growth and identify areas for reteach or intervention. Galileo is a predictor for how students in 3 rd -6th grades are likely to score on AASA. Individual Standardized or Norm-referenced Tests- These tests are given when more specific information is needed for the diagnosis of individual learning problems. These are given by support personnel such as counselors, special education teachers, psychologists and therapists. 504 Plans A 504 Plan is developed to assist a child with identified needs so they may access the curriculum to fully participate in school. 504 Plans list accommodations related to the child’s disability so that he or she may participate in the general classroom setting and educational programs. GENERAL SCHOOL INFORMATION Attendance Regular attendance and being on time to school are two habits that significantly impact student achievement. Absences When students reach a total of 19 excused or unexcused absences, they may be reported to the County Attorney's Office as truant and the student’s parent may be cited (A.R.S. 15-803). Parents will be notified by the school about student absences. To ensure that each child has the best opportunity to be a successful learner all students should be in class every day unless they are ill. It is very important that the school be notified of any absence before the start of the school day. Voicemails may be recorded 24-hours a day. When reporting an absence, the parent must identify the child’s name, grade, reason, and date of the absence along with a phone number where the parent can be reached should additional information be needed. If notification is not received the absence will be marked as unexcused until a parent calls in or sends a signed note with all of the aforementioned information. To reinforce the importance of learning and encourage students to keep up in their assignments, pa rents are urged to schedule doctor, dentist, and other appointments at times that do not conflict with the school schedule. It is the responsibility of the student to make up all missed assignments after an absence in a timely manner. If a student is unable to attend school and seeks his or her assignments, the parent should email the teacher before 10:00 am. All effort will be made to honor requests in a timely manner. Each teacher will have an established makeup policy, including appropriate deadlines, for missed work. Revised Jan 25, 2023

Extended Absences Parents must contact the school if their child will be absent for an extended time period. Unauthorized absence from school is considered truancy and will be treated as such. After 10 consecutive unexcused absences, the student will be withdrawn. Legal action may be taken in the case of excessive absences, which is defined as absent for more than 10% of the school year. Arrival & Dismissal Procedures Students may arrive no earlier than 7:45am unless prior arrangements have been made with beforeschool care. The front office closes at 2:30pm Mon-Thur and 12:00pm on early release days including Fridays. If early pick up is needed, you must arrive prior to these times. Students who arrive after 8:00am will be required to sign in at the front office. Parents are required to notify the front office regarding any student absence. Please notify the office before 8:00am. Doctor notes and appointment confirmations are accepted in the office. Students must be picked up within 10 minutes of dismissal. Drop-Off Please pull into the driveway and drive around to the north side of the building. There will be staff members present to direct students to the multipurpose room from 7:45 -8:00 am. Students will walk directly to their classes via driveline. Parents are asked to say goodbye in the car or at the outside of the door, before entering campus. Dismissal If you must pick your child up early, please make arrangements to pick up before 2:30 pm. Also, any changes to transportation must be called in to the front office by 2:30 pm. This will help ensure the safety of students and reduce confusion during dismissal. Calls coming in after 2:30 pm may be missed. Please notify the front office of any last-minute changes in the dismissal of your student as teachers may not receive the message in a timely manner. Walkers/Bicycles Students who are walking or riding bikes or scooters will be dismissed to the student commons area and will be met by a staff member. The staff member will lead the students out of the side door, walk the students to the cross walk, and cross the students. Students must follow all crosswalk rules and adult instructions. Bike riders and scooter riders must walk their bikes and scooters in the crosswalk. All students must stay within the boundaries of the crosswalk when crossing. Bikes and scooters should be locked in the designated area. The school is not responsible for any lost or stolen items. Walking/Bike Riding is a privilege that may be revoked at the discretion of administration if a student chooses to not follow safety guidelines. The Dismissal Permission Form must be completed annually by the parent/guardian. Bicycles/Scooters Students may ride bicycles/scooters to school with parent consent. Helmets are strongly recommended. The bike/scooter should have a sturdy lock and be registered with the city. The school does not assume responsibility for stolen, damaged bicycles/scooters or injuries involving a student’s bicycle/scooter. Should a student not comply with safety rules, parents will be notified. If a student continues to not comply with safety protocol, the student may lose bike riding/walking privilege. Revised Jan 25, 2023

Parent Pick-up Parents will pull into the driveway in a single file line of cars. Parents will pull all the way around the driveway to the north doors. Parents must have the prepared card on the dashboard with the student’s dismissal number displayed. Staff members will escort students to the waiting cars. Parents will pull away as their children are picked up and a new set of cars may pull forward. Parent/Student Check Out For the school to keep students safe and to comply with state safety guidelines, a parent must sign their child out when he or she leaves school during the school day for any reason. If it is necessary for another adult to check out the student (in a non-emergency situation), parental permission must be received by the school office and the parent’s designee must have proper identification. The school will call the child to the office once the parent or their designee arrives at the school. Tardiness If a student is late for school (arriving after 8:00 am), he/she must report to the office before meeting with his/her class. Bell Schedule Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 8:00 pm – 3:00 pm Friday and Early Release Days 8:00 am -12:30 pm Birthday Celebrations We ask for your assistance in ensuring birthday celebrations at school are pre-arranged with the classroom teacher and that the celebration take minimal time away from learning. All food brought into the school to be shared with students must be store bought with ingredient labels. We thank you in advance for your consideration of all students and their needs. No homemade foods may be brought to school for celebrations. Cafeteria Expectations Teachers will ensure hand washing or sanitizing in the classroom prior to traveling. Lunch periods will be staggered to allow for transition and cleaning. Students will socially distance while in line. Students will keep their individual lunch cards. Students will receive a lunch with all items offered. Students will sit in assigned areas with proper spacing. Students will not share food or touch anyone else’s food. Students will be dismissed from the cafeteria by table. Tables will be sanitized after each use. Floors will be swept after each class dismissed from cafeteria. Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices In some cases, a parent may wish to send a cell phone with a child for emergency purposes. However, the school does not assume responsibility for the loss of or damage to personal property including but not limited to cellphones, iPods, mp3 players, electronic games, smart watches etc. Cell phones and other electronic devices, including smart watches, may be carried to school and used before and after school but must be turned off and stored in the student’s Revised Jan 25, 2023

backpack during school hours. They may not be used during school hours. If a student takes out a cell phone or electronic device during the school day, the student will be required to give the phone to a staff member. The teacher or principal will hold on to the cell phone and a parent will need to come to the school to pick up the device. Check Acceptance/Returned Check Policy Checks are accepted by the school. For any checks returned as unpaid to the school, the check writer's account may be electronically debited without further notice for the amount of the check, plus a 30 returned check fee. Communication with Teachers To facilitate good communication and ensure security, each teacher has a phone in his/her classroom. If parents would like to talk with their child's teacher, they should call the school office either before classes begin or after students are dismissed. During instructional hours, parents may leave a message for the teacher on voicemail to ensure that interruptions during class time are kept to a minimum. The teacher will make every effort to return the call on the same day or within 24 hours. Additionally, parents may reach their child’s teacher by email. If an emergency occurs during the school day, parents should call the school's main office. Counseling If you feel your student as a need for counseling services, please contact the principal for possible options available on campus. Custody In most cases, when parents are divorced, both parents continue to have equal rights concerning their children. Please ensure that disagreements about custodial issues are resolved outside of the school. Unless otherwise provided by a court order or law, both parents are entitled to equal access to information concerning the child’s education including school records provided directly by the custodian of the records or from the other parent. A.R.S. 25-403.06(A). It shall be the responsibility of the parents to provide school officials with a current copy of any custody and/or parenting time orders. In cases in which a person other than the parent has been granted guardianship, the legal guardian shall be responsible for notifying school officials of the conditions of the guardianship and for providing school officials with all pertinent written documentation of changes. Early Dismissal Fridays School dismisses every Friday at 12:30pm. Additionally, there are early dismissal days listed on the school calendar for parent-teacher conferences. The school will notify parents of these dates in advance. Additional days may be determined by administration and will be communicated in advance. Extra-Curricular Activities Tax Credit The state tax credit is available to all qualifying individual Arizona state taxpayers. You do not need to have a child enrolled in a school to take advantage of this state tax credit. It is always best to consult a tax adviser to see if you qualify for the dollar-for-dollar credit. All donations go to support our schools and programs and are not used for general operation or employee salaries. What is the Arizona state tax credit for public schools? Revised Jan 25, 2023

Arizona law provides a tax credit for contributions to public schools to support extracurricular activities or character education. You can help Sequoia School students and possibly lower your tax bill by making a donation. A tax credit is different from a deduction, because you may subtract the whole contribution from your Arizona state tax bill. An individual may contribute as much as 200, and a couple filing jointly may contribute as much as 400 to a public school and receive the money back in the form of a tax credit. For more information on our Extra-Curricular Tax Credit, please visit: http://eastmark.sequoiapathfinder.org/donate/ Field Trips Authorized field trips that have an expressed educational value enrich student experiences and learning. We plan these trips to supplement and extend our curriculum. School buses are usually provided for these trips. Permission slips are required for every child prior to leaving the school grounds. It will be necessary for permission slips to be signed and returned promptly to the school by parents/guardians. Parents/Guardians are often asked to serve as chaperones for various field trips and their assistance is truly appreciated. The purpose of a parent volunteer on a field trip is to actively supervise students assigned to them, so younger children of the chaperone may not attend. Chaperones are expected to maintain the highest level of decorum in their appearance and behavior. Fire Drills and Lock-Down Drills Fire drills are conducted each month. These drills teach the students the safest and quickest route from their classrooms and school buildings. Whenever a class leaves a room for an emergency, students stay with their teachers until they hear the signal to return to class. The school also practices lock-down procedures. These lockdown drills prepare staff and students to quickly take cover in a secure room should it be necessary. Food at School Due to several issues, such as food allergies, potential for illness, etc., serving home-baked foods to students is prohibited. Only store-bought treats that are properly packaged and labeled with ingredients may be brought in to the school for distribution. We thank you in advance for your donations and ask that you talk with the teacher prior to bringing in food and consider all students and their needs. Student Interviews School officials may interview students regarding incidents to school without limitation. Parents will be contacted if a student interviewed is then subject to discipline for a serious offense. If law enforcement is contacted the CEO will also be contacted. If law enforcement/CPS requests to interview a student, the school administrator shall be notified, and an attempt will be made to contact the student’s parent(s). If the interview is held at the school, a school administrator shall be present unless law enforcement requests that the administrator not be present. There may be times when law enforcement/CPS requests that parents are not notified. In all other cases, a parent, with the law enforcement officer’s permission, may be present during the interview except when interviews are Revised Jan 25, 2023

conducted by a child protective services’ worker (in the case of suspected abuse) pursuant to A.R.S. 8 -224 and 8564.01. Lost and Found Children’s clothing and other personal property brought to school should be clearly marked with the student’s name. Taking some time to do this before school begins may save the cost of buying replacements. There is a lost and found bin in the front office; if items are not claimed, they will be donated. Items are donated on a quarterly basis. Prohibited Items Students may not bring toys, games, radios, trading cards, etc. to school except with the teacher's permission. The following materials are not allowed at school at any time: knives, guns, weapons of any kind (real or simulated), any tobacco products, or drugs. These items and anything else that may cause disruption to the learning environment will be taken from the student. Any dangerous items brought to school, even after hours or on weekends, may result in serious consequences. Students are not permitted to bring pets to school without special permission. Special permission may be granted only with written authorization from the parent, teacher, and school administration. Parent Concern If you have any concerns regarding your child’s program or behavior in school, you should immediately contact your child’s teacher. In the event your concerns have not been answered to your satisfaction, then please contact the principal. NOTE: We do not guarantee parent request for a teacher placement, we make every effort to balance our classrooms and cannot always honor requests for grade level assignment to a particular teacher. Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) The home and the school are the two major factors in the complex educational life of children; therefore, the home and the school should have a relationship of understanding and co-operative spirit that establishes a mutual respect for the responsibility and duty they share in the well-being and educational growth of children. To achieve this, each parent is urged to become a participating member of our school’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). The PTO fundraises and sponsors many events and services to help improve education and the school experience of each child. If a parent wishes to be a member, please contact the front office for PTO contact information or you can find our PTO on Facebook through a search for Sequoia Pathfinder Academy at Eastmark PTO. For more information, please reach out to spaepto@gmail.com. Personal Goals Students, teachers and parents will work together to establish individual student goals. These may be related to any area a student wishes to increase his or her skills. It may be an academic goal or one related to interpersonal or selfmanagement skills. Once a goal is set the teacher will help the student determine a way to improve and measure growth. Once the student has met the goal, he or she will be recognized during our morning meeting. Playground Rules Be Safe – hands and feet to self; kind words Revised Jan 25, 2023

Little playground: Climb only where ladders or steps (not on outside of equipment) Only slide down the slide – no climbing up the slide Swing by hanging on with both hands, sitting on swing facing building Take turns by waiting on the bench – teacher will signal turns No one on the black area around the swing if anyone is on the swing Only one person at a time going down the slide No chasing students up and down the equipment Big Playground: Keep hands and feet to yourself No spying or physical tag games No running or chasing one another on the equipment. Only one person at a time going down the slide Balls stay on the court or grassy area No climbing up the basketball hoops Only adults can retrieve a ball if it goes over the fence Publicity Occasionally a student's photograph/image is used for official school publicity. Publicity may include the school's website, newsletter, social media or local newspaper. Unless a parent indicates to the contrary on the document in your enrollment packet then

The home and the school should be mutually informed about the progress of each child. Report cards alone are not sufficient to do this job, but report cards combined with parent conferences allow both the teacher and the parent, in a joint endeavor, to meet the individual needs of each student. A parent-teacher conference may be requested at