Miss Carlton's Classroom Policies and Procedures

The policies and procedures posted here are the most current! If you see something in conflict with the D.O.T. Book, the policy listed here is the one to follow! :)

Each student is issued an assignment book where he/she will record his/her homework each day. Each day, please look at your child’s assignment book as well as homework and reminders. Parents are required to sign assignment books each Thursday night.

Since students in fourth grade are expected to develop a certain level of independence, I will not check all assignment books daily. I will do random checks to see if assignment books are being filled out correctly.

As you can see, assignment books are essential to a student’s personal organization, so I expect it to remain in the D.O.T. Book and brought to school daily. If it is left at home, your child will receive a check.

Georgia law (effective on July 1, 2005) requires all children between the ages of 6 and 16 to attend school each day.

Excused absences are absences from school due to illness, death in the immediate family, or doctor’s appointments. When a child is absent, he/she is expected to bring a signed note from the child’s parent or guardian upon his/her return to school.

If you would like make-up work for your child when he/she will be out for an extended illness, please call the office early in the day, so that I will be able to get it ready for you to pick up that afternoon.

When a student has 5 unexcused absences, the school will make contact by letter to notify you of these absences and the consequences.

Please see the Gwinnett County Public Schools Student/Parent Handbook for more information about the attendance policy.

Birthday parties are not allowed at school. You may send a "Special Snack" to celebrate on or near your child’s birthday. Write me a note to let me know when you like to send this "Special Snack." Please do not send a whole cake or cookie cake, which must be cut into individual pieces and divided among the students. Cupcakes, brownies, or cookies work best. The "Special Snack" may be sent in the morning with your child or dropped off at the front office.

The school policy is that no invitations for birthday parties are to be given out in school!

I will be sending home Scholastic book orders periodically throughout the year. Please look through these as they are a source of affordable books. Ordering books is voluntary. When you purchase through Scholastic, our classroom earns bonus points which can be used to add books to our classroom library. This year you will be able to order books online ( Class name: jcarlton Password: learn).

Each student can earn CYBG coins for displaying good behavior and random acts of kindness as part of our classroom economy. Students can also earn coins for their weekly conduct grade. A student will earn 2 coins for an “E”, and 1 coin for an “S”. No coins will be given for an “N” or a “U”. Students will also earn coins for the completion of their classroom jobs. There will be other opportunities for earning coins including: Cranium Club, Read to Succeed, etc.

Students get the opportunity to trade in their coins for prizes and privileges at the end of the nine weeks by ordering from the CYBG catalog. Coins are only good for trade-in from this catalog. Coins cannot be used for buying or selling between students. This will result in loss of coins and a check.

Please write a note if your child will go home in an alternate way. In the note, please let us know how he/she is to leave i.e. bus, car, walk. If he/she is going home with another student by bus, we need the name and address of the student with whom he/she is going home. If your child is already at school and this is a last minute change, please call the school office as early possible - 770-736-4360. The office staff will record the change and notify us in the classroom. I cannot send a child home another way without a note from you!

If you need to check out your child, please plan to pick him/her up before 2:50 pm. This is for your convenience as well as to avoid delays in our dismissal procedures.

It is important that your child is at school as much as possible. End-of-the-day school activities are as important as those at the beginning of the day. Please try to schedule appointments and travel plans after school hours as much as possible!

Communicate with me by sending a note, calling the school and leaving a message, emailing, or through the Parent Communication Portion of the D.O.T. Book, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held in the fall and early spring. Sign-up for conference times will be sent home prior to early release dates. These times will be scheduled on a first come, first serve basis.

If you wish to have a conference before the scheduled conferences on early release days, I will be happy to meet with you or schedule a telephone conference. I am not able to conduct unscheduled conferences during the school day.

Students get in the most trouble when they finish assignments early. It is for this reason that I created “Cranium Club”. “Cranium Club” is a list of trivia questions and other activities that students may complete in his/her spare time to earn “Caught You Being Good Coins” or points toward the “Cranium Club All-Stars”, and to learn fun facts at the same time! Students earning over 10 points get listed as a Cranium Club All Star, and those earning over 20 points are inducted in the “Cranium Club Hall of Fame”. “Cranium Club Challenges” may be accessed from the class website as well as being available in the classroom.

Fourth time - Complete a strip and time-out in another classroom/loss of privileges or recess or lunch with class.

Fifth time - Complete a strip and sent to the front office for timeout. Parents are called.

The D.O.T. Book (or Daily Organization Tool) is a notebook that each student uses every day to develop organizational skills and learn responsibility. It is important to teach fourth graders how to keep up with all the paperwork they are required to manage each day. This book is a way of maintaining effective communication between home and school. The D.O.T book helps to eliminate lost notes, newsletters, calendars, lunch money, and homework as well as keep parents and students informed of important events and academic progress.

Your child is to bring the D.O.T. book home and back to school each day. A student will receive a check if his/her D.O.T. book is forgotten at school or home.

If you drop off items in the office such as homework, projects, or books, Mrs. Gelsthorpe and Mrs. Brooks will not call your child up to the office to pick them up. They will place these items in my school mailbox. Students are called to the office for lunch, lunch money, and snacks.

If your student forgets something at school, please do not bring him/her back to school to get it. He/she may retrieve the item the next school day. Please follow these guidelines in order to teach your child responsibility.

The Friday Conduct Sheet must be signed and returned in the D.O.T. Book on Monday. Signing the Conduct Sheet means that you have looked at and discussed your child’s conduct grade. This also means that you have seen papers that have been sent home from school.

Your student will bring home his/her work for the week in the back pocket of his/her D.O.T. Book. Any work that is below a C must be signed, corrected, and returned. If an attempt was made to correct an assignment, I will grade the assignment again, and the put the average of the two grades in my grade book. This makes a big difference when report cards come around!

· The following grades will be used for Special Areas, Health, Conduct, and Effort:

Report Cards go home every nine weeks. If you don’t want to be surprised at your child’s grade, be sure you are looking at the papers your child brings home!

Homework will be assigned Monday – Thursday. All homework assignments are practice of strategies or concepts taught in class. If your child struggles with a homework assignment to the point that it cannot be completed, I ask that you write me a note on the assignment and sign it.

All homework will be recorded daily in the student assignment book. I expect parents to check their child’s assignment book daily. A parent signature is required in the assignment book on Thursday night. Unless otherwise stated, homework is due the following day.

A student who does not complete homework assignments will receive a check and will complete the assignment during recess or lunch. A conference will be scheduled with parents if a child frequently does not complete homework assignments in order to create a plan for improvement.

I understand that life happens, and sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that prevent a child from being able to complete assignments. Because of this, I allow one OOPS day every nine weeks. An OOPS day is when a parent writes a note for his/her child to turn in rather than the required assignment. The assignment must be completed and turned in the following day.

Students may purchase ice cream for snack ($.75 - $1.00). I cannot guarantee that students will be able to purchase ice cream on non-recess days.

Students that earn 5 checks or less during the nine weeks will be invited to join the I.C.M.M. Club also known as the I Can Manage Myself Club. Instead of going to the cafeteria to eat lunch, Miss Carlton will treat students to a lunch in the classroom with a video, special dessert, and soda.

Our newsletter, Miss Carlton’s Classroom News, will be sent home every Monday. This newsletter will keep you updated on what is happening at school. Each Monday, your child has the assignment of making sure you read the newsletter and returning the signed strip on Tuesday. Signing the strip at the bottom of the newsletter means that you have read the letter and discussed it with your child. Failure to return this portion of the newsletter will result in a check.

We are allowed 2 parties per year. One will take place before winter break, and the other with take place on our Field Day. Our Room Parent(s) will contact parents about any help needed with these parties.

From time to time, we may have educational social experiences and celebrations of learning (i.e. food item, craft). I will send home requests for supply donations or classroom help for these occasions.

Students who read daily above and beyond the required 20 minutes of independent reading can earn extra Caught You Being Good Coins. Students who read an extra 20 minutes or more on Monday through Thursday and has his/her parent Sign the Read to Succeed bookmark will earn 1 CYBG coin for each week day. A students who reads 20 minutes or more on Friday, Saturday or Sunday will receive 2 CYBG coins for each weekend day. Bookmarks can be found in the classroom or the class website. Bookmarks can be found in the classroom or here.

Snack is a privilege at Brookwood Elementary. We have snack in the afternoon. Students may bring one nutritional snack from home. Candy is NOT allowed as a snack.

Our morning routines are an important part of starting our day. Anyone who arrives in the classroom after 8:50 A.M. is considered tardy and must go to the office for a tardy note.

Excused tardies are absences from school due to illness or a doctor’s appointment.

When a child has 4 unexcused tardies during a semester then he/she will be given a school consequence. The consequences for frequent unexcused tardies include but are not limited to after school detention, isolated lunch, loss of recess privileges, Saturday School, or suspension from school.

Please see the Gwinnett County Public Schools Student/Parent Handbook for more information about the tardy policy.

If you are coming to eat lunch with your child, work in the classroom, or checking out your child for an appointment, you must go to the main office first to sign-in. We have established this policy for the safety and well-being of all the children in our school. Thank you for complying with this rule.

I would be happy to have you volunteer in our classroom. I can always use help with copying or other projects. Please schedule a time with me, so I will be prepared for your visit.

If you are unable to come into the classroom, I also have projects and other tasks that can be completed at home. If you would like to do this, simply send me a note or an email to let me know!

I encourage students to bring in water bottles to keep on their desks. Students need to be well hydrated to remain focused in the classroom. No sports drinks or juices please!

I have put much time and effort into the class website. I hope you are able to use it as a valuable tool. Many forms can be downloaded from it, and there is much class information to be found on it. If there is something you would like to see on the website, please let me know! I am always looking for ways to make it more helpful and useful!