Do you have a plan?
When students are dismissed early because of an unexpected emergency, there are procedures in place to transport students home. Every attempt will be made to contact the parent and/or guardian.
Parents are encouraged to develop a plan for their children in the event of an emergency or weather related school closing.
Parent Pick-Up and Student Early Departure
For everyone’s safety ~ Parents are required to come to the school office to sign out their child. Students will not be allowed to leave with anyone other than their parent and/or guardian or those designated on the emergency list, unless a written note by the parent is received that day. A student may be released to either parent unless a custodial parent supplies the Principal with a copy of a court order.
If you plan to pick up your child, who normally takes the bus, please send a written note with your child in the morning. Walkers will be dismissed at 2:50 pm daily.
EARLY DISMISSAL
On days when schools dismiss students early (11:31 am), the common practice is that there will be No After-School Programming. Only breakfast will be provided.
FIRE DRILL
All AMBE schools practice fire drills at least three times per year. This is a time to evaluate the effectiveness of the fire escape routes to ensure the utmost safety of all students. In an effort to keep all students calm, teachers discuss the reason and importance for fire drills.
Further, there are emergency evacuation drills every year as well.
STUDENT INFORMATION MUST BE CURRENT AND UP-TO-DATE
School administration needs to be kept informed of address and telephone changes at all times. Please notify them immediately if you move or change your telephone number during the school year. Emergency numbers must be provided, and updated when required, at school to ensure your child’s safety.
PROGRESS REPORTS
Do you know how your child is progressing in school?
Progress reports are the opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher to find out how well your child is doing.
Your attendance at the progress reports session encourages early and ongoing communication between parents and your child’s teacher. It will provide information on how well your child is developing the learning skills and work habits that are essential for success.
INCLEMENT WEATHER
AMBE’s goal is to ensure the safe and efficient transportation of students and recognizes that it may be necessary to cancel a bus runs, close schools, or delay school opening to ensure students are not endangered by hazards brought on by poor weather or road conditions. Decisions must be made prior to 5:30 am and are based on the forecasts at the time and information collected on road conditions.
The following options are considered when deciding what to do during inclement weather situations:
· Schools are open as usual in which case no announcement will be made.
· Transportation and/or school delay.
All schools are closed for the day with an appropriate announcement being relayed to:
· The local radio stations prior to 6:30am.
· The AMBE website (www.ambe.ca)
· The AMBE and MCA Facebook page.
Parents are encouraged to access the above-noted methods early in the morning, particularly on days when the weather is inclement.
The office may close under extreme weather conditions or power outages. Schools and buses may delayed one or two hours. On these occasions students cannot be dropped off before the announced opening time (i.e., 9 am or 10 am), as staff will not be available to receive students. The delay is meant to provide time for roads to be cleared and safe for travel for all staff and students.
Iohahi:io Adult Learning Center transportation will follow the AMBE announcement, however the facility will remain open except in extreme weather following all MCA offices’ delay or closure.
While the loss of valuable instruction time is always a concern, the safety of students is paramount. The decision to close schools is always made with this in mind.
If schools remain open, and as a parent and/or guardian you feel that conditions in your area are not safe for your child to go to school. Then ultimately you have the final decision whether or not to send your child to school. Absences on these days will not be a factor in a student’s attendance record.
School Delays ~ School may be delayed by one or two hours. For example, if school is delayed for one hour, then the bus will arrive at their regular stop approximately one hour later than usual. If your child is picked up at 7:15 am, then expect that the bus will be picking them up at 8:15 am. If you normally drop your child off at school at 8:05 am and school is delayed by two hours, then the school will not be open until 10:05 am. Please do not drop off your child earlier, as there will be no supervision for them until all staff arrives.
Closures ~ In cases of severe weather, the Director of Education may close school for the day. In that case, both the schools and all bus transportation will be cancelled.
Bus Transportation Cancelled ~ There will be instances when bus transportation is cancelled but the schools will remain open. In this instance, parents will be responsible for transporting their children to and from school.
Student Code of Conduct
In order to establish and maintain a safe, respectful and caring learning environment, by coming to school, students agree to follow these expectations:
· Respect themselves, others and school property.
· Attend school regularly and be punctual for all classes.
· Engage in purposeful learning activities and set high standards for personal achievement.
· Show consideration for diversity; the thoughts and feelings of others.
· Use electronic systems in a respectful, responsible and co-operative manner.
· Conduct themselves in a polite, respectful and co-operative manner.
· Dress in a manner that appropriately reflects a school environment.
It is expected that AMBE students will be respectful, responsible, self-monitoring citizens of the community. It is also expected that students will interact with others including peers, parents, visitors or staff, in a responsible, considerate and respectful manner.
Discipline
Students are expected to conduct themselves in a safe and considerate manner at all times. When students are having serious or persistent problems, parents are contacted and alternate arrangements for these students may have to be made.
All students participate in Getting Along Together, which is a social emotional learning program.
Students learn thinking and cognitive skills, emotional management as well as interpersonal/social skills. Collectively, these skills and strategies will help create a peaceful school environment where students are empowered to manage their behavior, decrease conflict and increase receptivity to learning.
PARENT CONFERENCES AND REPORT CARDS
New to AMBE Students and Parents
AMBE will be implementing parent conference for the review of report cards. Parents will be have scheduled times to come in and discuss and review your child’s report cards. The Report Cards in Enníska/February and Ohiarí:ha/June (distributed at the end of the school year) will provide information on your child’s progress toward meeting the curriculum expectations.
Some Questions to Ask During Parent Conferences
It’s parent teacher conference time! Did you know that parental involvement is a strong predictor of academic success? Teachers want you to attend conferences and be involved in your children’s school lives. This is an exciting opportunity for both you and the teacher!
To make the most of this opportunity, here are six important questions to ask during a parent teacher conference. You will get a better understanding of how your child is doing in school and the values and beliefs of your child’s teacher, which will both be extremely valuable as the school year continues.
1. How do you best prefer to communicate with me? (Email? Phone? Text? Notes?)
2. What do you see as my child’s strengths?
3. What do you think are the academic challenges for my child?
4. How is my child doing socially?
5. Is my child on grade level for reading? What about math, science and writing?
6. What can I do at home to support what you’re doing in the classroom?
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
AMBE believes that all students should attend school regularly and punctually throughout the school year. Furthermore, AMBE believes that attendance at school is the joint responsibility of students, parents, teachers, school principal and the Director of Education.
In order to promote a better rate of attendance in our schools, AMBE school staff will:
1. Take attendance in each class within the first 15 minutes of the school day.
2. Forward lists of absent students to the office by 9:30 a.m. each day.
3. Assign a staff member to review lists of absentee students, and cross reference those whose parents have reported them sick/absent by telephone.
4. Call any students not in school whose parents have not reported them absent by 10 a.m. If parents are not home, they must call an emergency number in order to speak to one of the parents to check on the student.
5. Make a notation of such when a parent reports a sick child or child with an acceptable reason for not being in school. If the parent is not concerned about the absence and the child is not reportedly absent with an acceptable excuse, the AMBE staff member should document the conversation in case of future referral to Akwesasne Child and Family Services (ACFS).
Progressive interventions for chronic absenteeism ~ Any child missing school must bring in a written excuse from parents stating the reasons for the absence. Any unacceptable excuse shall be investigated. If a child is missing from school for more than three consecutive days, the child must bring in a note from a medical clinic/CHN/CHR.
“Akwekon Ken Iakwes ~ We Are All Here Perfect Attendance Program”
The goal is to promote attendance at school, encourage punctuality, and discourage tardiness.
For each day that a class has perfect attendance at the start of the school day (when the first class begins), the classroom teacher will put up a letter outside of their classroom. For instance, on the first day that the class has perfect attendance, the teacher will put up the letter A.
This continues until a class has spelled out AKWE:KON KEN IÁKWES.
The first class (or multiple classes) that spells out the phrase will receive a class pizza party, consisting of two large pizzas delivered at the end of the week in which the class won.
IMPORTANCE OF ATTENDANCE
Why is attendance important! The attendance rate is important because students are more likely to succeed in academics when they attend school consistently. It's difficult for the teacher and the class to build their skills and progress if a large number of students are frequently absent.