School Policy Updates and Expectations

Liberty Magnet High

Student Policy Updates

Effective 1/5/21

Tardy Policy Reminders & Update

What constitutes tardy?
- Students must be in the classroom by the sound of the tardy bell or they are tardy.
- Students must be dropped off in the morning with enough time to be IN THE CLASSROOM before 7:15.
Procedure for students who are tardy
- Immediately report for an admit slip to class.
  - Students who report for a tardy more than 3 minutes after the tardy bell will be considered skipping.
- CURRENT PROCEDURE: Admit slips are issued in C Building Lobby.
- FUTURE PROCEDURE (implementation timeline To Be Announced):
  - Admit slips will be issued at the lobby welcome desk of each building
  - Morning check-ins will take place in the Main Office (A Building)
Tardiness is a disciplinary infraction with a standard set of consequences.
- Morning late check-ins are considered tardies and are included in determining consequences applied.

Class Change Stairs Use Update

Students are not permitted to use closed stairwells at any time.
All students must use the open stairwells in the center of the building.
Students caught using the closed stairwells will be referred for discipline consequences.

Student ID Enforcement Update and Clarification

All students must wear school-issued IDs from the current year.
Student IDs must be worn at all times except during physical activity in PE or JROTC.
Student IDs must be visible at all times, worn on the upper body, and facing forward.
Students must wear their own ID. Wearing another student’s ID will result in both students being referred for discipline infractions.
Students who forget their ID or do not have their ID must purchase a daily temporary ID for $1.00 in the library BEFORE school.
- Purchasing a temporary ID is not an excuse to be tardy to class.
Students must have their 2021 student ID or temporary ID to be admitted to class.

Student Cell Phone Use Policy Updates & Clarifications

Effective January 5, students will be permitted to use their cell phones only at designated times of the day.
Student Cell Phone Allowances (ONLY during times specified below):
- Breakfast (6:45 - 7:05)
  - Cell phones must be turned off and put away at the sound of the 7:05 bell.
- Lunch Shift (Student’s designated shift)
  - Cell phones must be turned off and put away at the sound of the bell that ends lunch shift and sends students to class.
- Dismissal (2:25)
Student Cell Phone Restrictions:
- Students are not allowed to use or check cell phones during class or class change.
- Students are not allowed to charge cell phone devices during class.
- Students may only use one earbud (wired or wireless) device at a time.
  - One ear must be open to allow staff to verbally get a student’s attention without added effort.
  - Over-ear headphones (such as Beats) are not allowed.
Cell Phone Policy Clarifications
- Students caught with a cell phone out (even to “check the time”) will have the phone confiscated, according to the policy in the EBR Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.
  - 1st Offense: Parent allowed to Pick-up Device
  - 2nd Offense: School Keeps Phone until May 20th.
  - 3rd + Offense: Suspension
  - Refusal to turn phone over to a staff member: Suspension
- Students caught with a cell phone during an assignment, quiz, or test will be considered to be cheating, regardless of the phone’s use.
- The recipient or sender of the message/call does not factor into a disciplinary response for cell phone use.
  - Parents -- Please do not call or text your student during class. If you have an emergency, please call the main office.

Liberty Magnet High

Stakeholder Expectations for

Student Success

Events and circumstances of the 1st 9 Weeks of the 2020-2021 school year were unprecedented. The last-minute shift to virtual-only instruction for the 1st Quarter had a lasting impact on students’ grades, content acquisition, and sometimes probationary status.

Moving into the second semester, both teachers and students have the experience of hybrid, virtual, and in-person instruction. This is our reality, presumably for the remainder of the 2021 school year. While we have documented a drop in some grades during this transition, it is important to understand that in almost all cases of D’s or F’s that will appear on the report card and transcript, the student has multiple assignments that were never turned in or were turned in blank. In considering this, the administrative team at Liberty Magnet commits to reemphasize and recommit to our school-wide stakeholder expectations.

Liberty Magnet Minimum Classroom Expectations: In order for students to find success, the chart below details the minimum daily expectations a student and teacher must meet. Academic success comes with consistent, not intermittent, adherence to these expectations.

Student Expectations	Teacher Expectations
Present, On Time, & Prepared to Learn	Thoroughly Planned and Prepared
Awake & Alert	Requires students to be awake & active
Engaged & Active	Provides Engaging Instruction
Makes Genuine Effort	Relevant Instruction & Assignments
Completes & Turns in Work on Time	Meaningful & Reasonable Work

Liberty Magnet Staff Areas of Emphasis: In the second semester, these are the areas we, as a staff, are committed to consistently focusing on.

Consistent Parent Outreach
- D/F calls to parents (these should not substitute for checking the Parent Portal)
- 24 hour (work day) response time to parent emails
Timeliness of grading assignments and updating online gradebook
Clarified and consistent make-up and late work policies

Communication with Concerns or Questions

All communications regarding questions or concerns should start at the point of origin.
Student Concerns/Questions
- All students have a school-issued email address. Student communications with staff must be conducted using the official school account, NOT a personal email account.
- Each school email must be set-up by the student to receive messages, otherwise responses will be denied. Students should follow the Student Email Setup Steps.
- Students with questions or concerns should email their teacher or counselor, directly.
Parent Concerns/Questions

Concern	Individual	Position	Email Address
Concerns with student progress, assignments, grades	Student’s Teacher	Teacher
General School Business, Learning Environment changes	Ms. Johnson	Front Office Clerk	[email protected]
Attendance or Bus Questions	Mr. Seals	Parent Liaison	[email protected]
Magnet Status, Admissions, Probation, Concerns	Ms. Baker	Magnet Coordinator	[email protected]
Academic Concerns, Scheduling, Support, College/Scholarship Applications, etc.	Ms. Cart	Counselor (A-F)	[email protected]
	Ms. Mason	Counselor (G-M)	[email protected]
	Ms. Duvall	Counselor (N-Z)	[email protected]
ESS/504 Concerns	Ms. Kelly	ESS/504 Coordinator	[email protected]
Athletics	Mr. White	Athletic Director	[email protected]
Unresolved concerns with classroom instruction	Ms. Albert	Assistant Principal	[email protected]
Concerns with students or classroom	Mr. Daigre	Assistant Principal	[email protected]
Unresolved concerns addressed with staff or confidential situations	Mr. Levatino	Principal	[email protected]

Important Reminders for Parents:

Google Applications for instructional purposes have been used by students for years.
1. All students understand how to use Google Classroom. (Including how to find assignments, attach assignments, and turn in assignments on time.)
In order to have maximum impact, any concerns with student grades should be addressed in a timely manner throughout the semester.
1. Grades will start over “fresh” on January 5th. Every student has an opportunity to establish a new pattern and expectation for the second semester.
Grades, attendance, discipline, and transcripts are readily accessible to parents through the Parent Portal.
1. Parents can get access to the PSN to set up your account by calling the main office or emailing the student’s counselor.
2. Parents should check the Parent Portal weekly to track student progress.
Learning environment changes (in-person/virtual) are made for at least a 9 week period.
1. In-person students who are absent may log in to their classes to avoid falling behind, but will be marked absent from school. (They cannot be changed back and forth from in-person to virtual to avoid absence codes.) Students may turn in appropriate documentation to have the absence excused.
2. Requests to alter current learning environment must be made by a parent/guardian in writing to Ms. L. Johnson ([email protected]) by 5:00 pm on January 4th.
It is important to balance healthy expectations for student-teacher and parent-teacher communications.
1. Our committed goal is to return emails within a 24 hour work-day period.
2. Please ensure that communications with teachers are concise and direct. These qualities of a communication help to ensure teachers are able to read through and address concerns in a timely manner while also grading, planning, and teaching.
Weekly Information Updates are sent to families by text on active cell phone numbers and email addresses each Sunday afternoon. The website linked has access to all updates.
1. Please read through these updates each week and make sure the school has updated contact information on file.

“Virtual-only” Learners have made a choice to continue in a 100% virtual environment. Please be mindful in selecting this learning environment and ensure that it is effective for your student. In selecting this method, please realize that the family assumes responsibilities of:

ensuring the student is logged in to class on time
monitoring the student to make sure they are in a distraction-free learning environment and turning in their assignments.
making sure the student’s access to the internet is reliable
- Technology failures during tests are not grounds for retaking an assessment.

DMU Timestamp: November 12, 2020 20:50