General School Policies and Procedures

General School Policies and Procedures

Birthday Parties

If parents wish to pass out birthday party invitations at school, they must include all the students in the child’s class. If it is an all-girl or all-boy party, then just make sure that all of that gender is included. If parents choose to be more selective, they must mail out invitations and be careful not to allow the child to announce the selectivity at school. Not being invited to these parties and knowing it can be a very hurtful thing for other children.

Classroom Parties

The social life of students is an important aspect of the educational process here at Stoneybrooke, and parties are a part of that social interaction that bring us together as a community. There are parameters to the planning, so parties don’t become more sophisticated than they need to be. These guidelines are in place to make the teacher’s job and the parent planning easier.

The following guidelines must be adhered to for all class parties (end of the year, birthday, etc.):

• Parties are to be NO LONGER than 90 minutes long TOTAL (party days and times may be assigned to grade levels during “peak” party times). Parties may not be tied into lunch times or recess periods. Birthday parties are to be held at the end of the school day for the last 20 or so minutes at the picnic tables, weather permitting.
• Accouterments should be SIMPLE. Snow cone machines, clowns, tiki torches, elaborate games or carnival booth type activities should not be a part of the celebration.
• Teachers MUST ALWAYS preview party plans and okay activities in light of these guidelines. Parent party committees need to abide by the printed guidelines.
• Siblings are discouraged from attending class parties.
• Classes (other than 6th and 8th grade for their Activity Days) are not allowed to go off campus for parties during school hours.
• Students should never be asked/required to bring gifts to give to other students.
• The teacher should not be involved in any organized collection of money that may be given to him/her as a gift. If parents wish to collect money for a teacher, they may solicit parents but NO amounts may be suggested at any time and the teacher may not have a collection container in the classroom.

The goal is to have fun but not to be overly elaborate with the planning.

Chewing Gum

Students are not to chew gum on campus or on school trips unless otherwise allowed.

Disaster Preparedness Plan

The school’s disaster preparedness plan provides for the welfare and safety of the students and staff of Stoneybrooke in the event of a severe earthquake or other major disaster. Stoneybrooke has established a method of evacuation of the school following such an occurrence and has stockpiled sufficient supplies to care for the entire school family for three days should there be a need to stay at school. The plan is the result of a continuing commitment to the need for readiness and meets the legal requirements of state law.

Emergencies Defined

An emergency is an unforeseen happening or state of affairs requiring prompt action such as: fires, earthquakes, advanced stage smog alerts, bomb threats, active shooter, hazardous spills/dumpsites, winds, floods, prolonged rains, civil disturbances, utility failures, airplane crashes and train derailments, nuclear power plant accident, enemy or nuclear attack.

Preparation of the School

The school has a comprehensive Disaster Plan manual which is maintained both in the emergency storage container and in the school office. Emergency supplies are stored in the emergency storage container on-site, within the administration building, and individual supply backpacks are in each classroom. The school will practice several drills throughout the course of the year including: Monthly Fire Drills, Evacuation Drills, “Duck and Cover” Drills, Active-Shooter Drills, and Lockdown Drills. Hazard assessments of interior and exterior portions of all buildings and grounds include: proximity of toxic, flammable, corrosive, chemically reactive or radioactive material, proximity of high voltage power lines and gas lines, interior fixtures (windows, bookcases, shelving, pictures, etc.), and stability of water heaters.

On an annual basis, parents will be given a small card to carry in their wallets that contains the name, address and phone number of our sister schools to which we would evacuate in certain circumstances.

Following an earthquake, all systems of communication that are dependent on electrical power or telephone lines may be partially or totally disrupted for several hours or days. If phones are operative, the office staff will monitor the release of children and have updated information available to parents. If local calls and/or cellular phones are not available, but outgoing long-distance calls are possible, we will set up and out-of-state message center through:

For a more detailed procedural version of Stoneybrooke’s Disaster Preparedness plan, please visit the school’s website at www.stoneybrooke.com under My SB, Downloads.

Exchange of Gifts

There is to be no student-to-student gift exchange during Christmas nor should students of the opposite sex exchange or give gifts at any time.

Extended Day Care

An extended day care program is available to our students in grades K through 8th. The program is supervised by qualified personnel and provides a morning quiet time and an afternoon recreation time and study hall for older children. Day care hours are:

Mornings: 7:30 am - 7:45 am and 7:30 am - 8:45 am on Late Start Days

Afternoons: 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm, Monday through Thursday and 2:30 pm - 5:00 pm on Friday

There is no charge for morning daycare, 7:30 – 7:45 am, Monday through Friday, on a regular school day.

Daycare is charged at the rate of $9 per hour or any portion thereof on Late Start Days (7:30 – 8:45 am), 3:30 – 5:00 pm Monday thru Thursday, and 2:30 – 5:00 pm on Friday. Students must be signed out by a parent or guardian. Daycare charges will be added to the next month’s statement. The daycare clock will be considered the official time for check-in and check-out procedures and charged calculated based on that time.

Charges will be calculated and assessed according to our tuition and fee schedule.

We must insist that children be picked up no later than the end of day care (5:00 pm). There is a penalty charge of $1.00 per minute for pick-ups after the designated end time.

Important: For the safety and security of all children, each child entered into day care must be signed “out” on a daily basis by the parent or accompanying adult with a signature and time of departure. If a child in day care is not signed out in this manner, the charge for that afternoon will be calculated until the designated end time of day care.

Guidelines for Relating to Divorced or Separated Parents

Under normal circumstances Stoneybrooke communicates with one set of parents. If, however, because of divorce or separation, the school needs to extend its communication to more interested parties, the following guidelines should be helpful:

• Whenever possible the school encourages all interested parties to attend the same Parent/Teacher Conferences in the fall and spring.
• In cases of separation or divorce, each parent is solely responsible for any and all charges incurred for the benefit of his or her child(ren). Should the parents desire to split payments to that account, they may do so between themselves and then remit payment in full to Stoneybrooke. One account will be opened for each family.
• The school will send only one bill to the “enrolling parent” who is fiscally responsible for the student’s tuition and fees. (The “enrolling parent” is defined to be the person who enrolled the student and is responsible for all bills).
• Additional copies of school-wide materials are available online.
• Requests can be made to your child’s teacher to be added to his/her electronic newsletter list.
• In lieu of a specific court order, the “enrolling parent” stipulates who may or may not pick up their child(ren) on all appropriate forms.
• Assuming there are no legal restrictions, divorced and/or separated parents are welcome to attend field trips and spring trips provided their names are selected through the normal Stoneybrooke procedures.
• In the event of a separation or divorce, the “enrolling parent” will need to provide the school with a copy of the latest court order to ensure that we do not inadvertently release the student to the other parent at the wrong time. Student “authorized pick up” cards and emergency cards will need to be filled out by the new enrolling parent and only those persons whose names appear on the cards will be allowed to take the child from the premises. Every effort will be made to abide by the court order.
• Any points of contention between separated or divorced parents need to be worked out by the parents without involving the teachers or administration.

Home/Mobile Phone Numbers

The school will release home/mobile phone numbers to other parents if they have opted to share this information.

Lost and Found Articles

Articles found by teachers and pupils should be turned in to the “Lost and Found” (check with the office for the location). Articles not claimed within a reasonable period of time will be donated to Uniform Exchange or disposed of.

Lunch and Snacks: Grades K-8

Generally, students may either bring their own lunch or purchase lunch provided through the hot lunch program sponsored by our parent organization. Order directly from their website at Choicelunch.com. Please pack a healthy lunch with a nutritious snack for morning break and/or afternoon day care. Avoid sweets and chips for snack times. On rainy days the children will eat in their classrooms and their lunch recess will be shortened so teacher assistants may cover all the classes.

If a child forgets a lunch, the teacher will ask other students in the class to share with them that day. The office will not call home.

Our Facilities

We are proud of our school buildings and property and strive to maintain them with excellent care. Should a child damage or destroy furniture, fixtures or any school property, above and beyond normal wear and tear, his or her parents will be financially responsible for repairing or replacing the damaged item.

Parental Involvement

The school strongly encourages parents to be involved in their child’s classroom. Formal conferences are held in the fall and optional conferences are held in the spring. Please feel free to make an appointment to see your child’s teacher any time before or after school during the year.

Stoneybrooke has a parent organization (SPO), and parents may get involved on a volunteer basis. SPO organizes and runs an annual carnival as well as other school events and activities. They also facilitate the Meet the Masters art program.

The school also provides an enjoyable family atmosphere and has planned several family events throughout the year. Please make plans to attend.

Personal Items Brought to School

The school does not assume responsibility for any personal items brought to school in the event of loss or damage.

Toys, collectibles, cards, cars or games may not be brought to school for playing, giving away, trading or selling. Students in daycare may bring appropriate personal items for play past 4:00 pm.

Pledge to the Bible

Each morning all students will repeat the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and the Pledge to the Bible, which is “I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word. I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.”