AMERICAN ACADEMY: Parent eHandbook

Office hours at American Academy are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The school office is closed on all holidays listed on the school calendar and during weather-related school closures.

Contact Information

Attendance Line: 720-292-5252

Main Office: 720-292-5200

Fax: 720-733-2641

Email: info@americanacademyk8.org

Messages for Students

Messages for students must be called into the school office and should only be emergencies. Parents are not allowed to call directly into the student’s classroom to speak with their student. Students are not allowed to use cell phones during school hours. Messages received after 3:15 p.m. may not be delivered before the end of the school day.

Early Student Pick-up

Early pick-up of students must be completed prior to 3:00 p.m. Parents must sign out their student in the American Academy office. The student will be called to come to the office for dismissal. For the safety and security of all students, parents must wait in the office for their child. No dismissals will occur through the front office after 3:00 p.m. All parents will be directed to the carpool line to pick up their student after 3:00 p.m.

Late Student Pick-up

Carpool is from 3:35 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. and all parents are expected to pick up their children during this time. Students not picked up by the end of carpool will be sent to Homework Club and parents will be charged at the current Homework Club tuition rate. Students must be picked up from Homework Club by 4:20 p.m. or Extra Curricular Activities late fees will apply.

Change of Information

Please notify the school office of any change in contact information including phone numbers, address, email and emergency contacts.

School Closures and Delays

If any feeder area of the Douglas County School District closes, American Academy will close. American Academy reserves the right to close, even if the school district remains open. Closures will be posted on the American Academy website and broadcast on local television and radio stations. This includes school delays (late start) or complete closure of the school. Should there be an early release due to weather, parents will be notified via email. Carpool will run as usual.

Security Procedures

All parents and visitors must check in at the front office before proceeding into the building. Upon entering the school, all visitors must provide a valid Driver’s License and will be issued a visitor’s badge. If you are volunteering, arrangements must be made in advance per the Volunteer Policy. The security door leading from the reception area into the school will remain locked at all times. For the safety of your children, only authorized, badge-wearing personnel and visitors are allowed beyond the security door.

School Hours

The following is a list of our daily school operations:

Elementary and Middle School Hours

Regular School hours: 8:05 am – 3:35pm

Morning Kindergarten: 8:05 am – 11:15 am

Afternoon Kindergarten 12:15 pm – 3:35 pm

Carpool Hours

Morning carpool drop-off: 7:35 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.

Afternoon carpool pick-up: 3:35 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Kindergarten Carpool Hours (Half-Day)

Morning Kindergarten pick-up: 11:15 a.m.

Afternoon Kindergarten drop-off: 12:15 p.m.

School Day Schedule

Please refer to the school day schedule for a more detailed breakdown of the school day for your student's grade.

Attendance Procedures

Attendance Line

Please call this number to report an excused absence: 720-292-5252.

Student Absences

Parents must contact American Academy via email, or phone the Attendance Line, before 8:05 a.m. each day a child is not attending school. If the child will be absent for a planned period of time, the parent needs to contact the school on the first day of the absence, specifying the exact dates of the absence and the date the student will return to school.

Please refer to the Attendance Policy for specifics around when and how students will be allowed to make up work due to absences as well as tardiness.

Attendance Policy

Carpool Procedures

Carpool Policy

Carpool Map

Weather-Related Concerns

In the event of severe weather at carpool pick up time, the American Academy Flag Communication System will be used.

Lunch

All students are responsible for bringing a lunch to school everyday with an ice-pack as needed. Please do not send soft drinks or red drinks in your child’s lunch. Please pack healthy lunches for your children so their bodies will be well-equipped for learning! American Academy offers a hot lunch option. Orders are placed on a monthly basis and paid for in advance. Milk is also available for purchase.

Lunch Periods

Refer to the school day schedule for lunch times by grade.

School Supplies

American Academy uses EduKit for school supplies. Parents may purchase an EduKit online that will be delivered to the school and placed in your child’s classroom for the first day. If you would rather shop for supplies or you missed the ordering deadline, you may print the list from the American Academy home page.

Fees

Textbooks and Instructional Resources

All textbooks (including CD-ROM’s and other forms of instructional resources) are the property of American Academy and are on loan to students for their use during the school year. Students are responsible for the proper care of textbooks and must maintain them in good condition. Textbooks must be covered as instructed by the teacher. At the end of the year or unit of study, students must return the exact numbered copy they were issued to get credit for turning in the book. Excessive damage will be noted at this time and students may be charged for damages beyond typical wear and tear. Students/parents will be responsible for the replacement cost of textbooks that are damaged beyond repair or not returned for any reason. If a textbook is lost during the school year, a duplicate textbook will not be issued until the cost of replacing the lost textbook is paid. All replacement textbooks will be purchased by American Academy.

If a parent pays for a book and that book is later returned, a full refund will be made only if the book is returned within two weeks after the end of the academic school year in which it was checked out. An overdue fine will be charged for all books returned after this time.

Failure to pay these fees may result in withholding report cards, transcripts, and Portal privileges, denying participation in graduation/end of year party activities and loss of library privileges for the student. Any outstanding fees for lost/damaged textbooks at the end of an academic year will automatically be added to a student’s registration fees the following year. If a student graduates or ends their enrollment, but has siblings at American Academy, these fees will be added to the oldest student’s account for billing purposes.

American Academy Student Fees, 2010-2011

Grades K-5 = $194.00 per student:

Workbooks (consumable) = $15.00

Technology = $55.00

STEM = $110.00

Textbook Fees = $10.00

Student Planner = $4.00

Grades 6-8 = $220.00 per student:

Music = $10.00

Workbooks (consumable) = $10.00

Technology = $65.00

STEM = $120.00

Textbook Fees = $11.00

Student Planner = $4.00

Note: Final report cards are withheld until any outstanding fees are paid.

Birthday Parties

The birthday student may bring a small treat to distribute at the end of the school day or at a time set by the teacher. Individual classroom teachers will send home notices of any student allergies in their class. Please be sensitive to these needs and send in treats accordingly. Invitations to birthday parties for children must be extended outside the school day. Parents are not allowed to bring in lunches for a small group of students to celebrate birthdays. Any treats must be brought for the entire class.

Health Care

Allergies or Other Health Issues

If your student has an allergy or other serious health issue, please contact the school office. If necessary, the HOS, district Health Services personnel and your child’s teacher(s) will meet with you to discuss a plan.

Medication

If medication must be administered during school, the parent must fill out the necessary DCSD Medication Form. Medication will be kept in the front office and will be administered by American Academy office staff.

Illness and Injury

Students who verbalize symptoms of illness are sent to the school’s health room. It is the policy of the school district to send children home who have a temperature of 100 degrees or more, or who have vomited. If your child’s temperature is less than 100 degrees, but he/she appears unable to participate in classroom instruction, you will be contacted. Children should be kept home until they are fever free and/or have not vomited for 24 hours.

Most injuries that occur at school require minimal assistance administered in the school’s health room. In the event of more serious illness or accidents, we will first attempt to reach you at home or work. If we are unable to reach you, we will call the emergency numbers listed on your child’s enrollment form. If neither you nor your emergency contacts can be reached within a reasonable amount of time, school authorities will take the necessary steps to ensure the welfare of your child.

Communicable Illness

If your child has a communicable illness, please notify the American Academy office.

Safety

Fire Drills

On the advice of the South Metro Fire Department, American Academy will hold monthly fire drills.

Crisis and Emergency Response Plan

The administration and staff of American Academy have taken significant steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children while at school. The school has created a School Crisis and Emergency Plan in accordance with Douglas County School District (DCSD). This plan takes into consideration a variety of situations that could potentially arise in our school or our neighborhood and plans have been created should an emergency or crisis arise.

In the event of an emergency situation, parents will be contacted via email and phone by the Douglas County Infinite Campus system.

Additionally, it is important to note the following:

Please avoid coming to the school until you’ve been instructed to do so. It is possible that, during a crisis in the neighborhood, you may not be able to enter the school building if it compromises the safety of the children during a lockdown (see American Academy Flag Communication System).
Please DO NOT call the school directly during an emergency as this ties up phone lines and prevents important inbound or outbound calls with emergency personnel.

Parent and Administration Communications

American Academy Parent Communication Policy

Flag Communication System

American Academy has a flag mount on the exterior wall of the cafeteria so that a flag would be visible from the road. Appropriately colored paper covering the front door may also be used in an emergency. American Academy staff will place the flags into position as conditions change:

Flag Color	Conditions	Actions Required
No flag/American flag	Operating as normal	No action required
Red flag	- Severe weather - Lock down (shelter-in-place) - Serious situation	- During lightening conditions parent/guardian should remain in a vehicle until students are released. Students will be released normally when safe. - In other situations the Parent/guardian may come into the school and sign-out the child under assumption of risk.
Black flag	Full lock down (e.g. criminal in area, crime scene in the area)	- Parent/guardian cannot take the child until conditions have improved and all clear to release has been given by Incident Commander. - Parents are to remain outside of the building—doors will not be opened. - Communications officer will explain situation to parents, when conditions allow.

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SECTION 2: ACADEMIC PROGRAM

General Curriculum Information

Curriculum Description

Curriculum Policy

STEM Program

Grading and Report Cards

Report Cards

This traditional method of reporting to parents will be issued to all students at all grade levels each trimester. Grades for all students will be reported as percent with the correlating letter grade (see grading scale below). You will notice that our grading scale is consistent with other high achieving schools throughout the state. By raising the bar higher for our students, we stay consistent with our goal of high academic standards with goals for continuous improvement. Students are challenged at all ability levels. The level of instruction that the student is receiving will be noted on the report card.

Report cards will reflect a combination of homework and curriculum testing grades. Saxon, Open Court, and Core Knowledge all provide diagnostic and ongoing assessments to determine the student’s performance.

Parents may access their student's grades at any time using the Infinite Campus Parent Portal interface with your username and password. This information will be provided to you via the procedures and policies set forth by American Academy. Your username and password will remain the same from year to year.

Grading Policy

The Grading Policy specifies the rules around late and missing homework.

Grading Scale

American Academy Grading Scale

Ability Grouping

Ability Grouping Information

Ability Group Placement

Parents will be notified within the first few weeks of school of your student's placement.

Class Assignments

Class lists will be announced prior to the first day of school.

Teacher Communication

Communication between parent and teacher is paramount to student success. Parents can communicate with their child’s teacher via email or phone and expect a response within one or two business days. Teachers are available to meet with parents by appointment. Parents are requested not to ask the teacher about their child’s progress at impromptu moments during school, drop-off or pick-up, while volunteering, or at other activities. Information regarding another student’s progress is strictly confidential and will not be shared.

Classroom Email Addresses

Parents may not use the email addresses of other families in the classroom to send mass messages to parents. These addresses may only be used if authorized by the teacher to send information about class parties, field trips, etc. These emails must be sent through the Homeroom Parent.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Two official parent/teacher conference sessions are scheduled at the end of the first trimester and during the second trimester on the American Academy Calendar. Parents will be notified when sign-ups are available for scheduling conferences. Middle school conferences are arena-style and do not require advance sign up. Parent/Teacher Conferences are a critical vehicle for communication between the parent and teacher. This allows an opportunity to discuss your child’s strengths as well as areas of concern.

Parent Portal

American Academy parents are required to check the Infinite Campus Parent Portal and the teachers' web pages (through the American Academy website) regularly for updates on grades, assignments and news. Students are responsible for checking the website for assignments as required.

Field Trips

Field Trips are an important component of the American Academy curriculum. Curriculum-related field trips are considered a required, not optional, activity for students. While enjoyable as well as a tremendous learning experience for students, field trips take a lot of time to organize. Parent cooperation is expected in returning permission forms and fees by specified deadlines. Much planning is dependent upon the number of participants; for example, either busses are ordered or parent transportation is arranged based on the number of students attending, and adult supervision is organized on the basis of per pupil ratio.

Because American Academy is required to make advance, non-refundable payments for field trips costs, fees cannot be returned to students who, due to extenuating circumstances, are unable to attend.

Students should plan to dress in their school uniform for any field trip unless instructed differently by the organizing teacher. Behavioral expectations for everyone are greater during field trips.

Field Trip Policy

Back-to-School Night

We will have a “Back-To-School” night for parents only at the beginning of each school year. This will be the time for teachers to discuss specific information about our curriculum, their classroom requirements and other important information, as well as to answer questions. It is very important for parents to attend the Back-to-School night for each of their students.

Assessment Plan

I. MAP Testing

This online, norm-referenced assessment program (Measures of Academic Progress) will be used in the fall and spring to assess 2nd – 8th grade students’ progress in Reading, Language Usage, Mathematics, and Science. This program maintains student assessment data over time to obtain an accurate measure of a student’s academic growth. By providing immediate feedback to the teacher and parent, MAP allows the use of data when it matters most. Reports are sent to parents shortly after the test.

II. Placement Testing

Math and Reading placement tests will be used at the beginning of the school year and on an ongoing basis to determine student placement for flexible grouping.

III. CSAP Testing

State legislation has identified model content standards for students in Colorado and has stipulated CSAP testing of students in several grades and content areas. Grade 3 – 8 students at American Academy will participate in mathematics, reading, writing, and science (Grade 5 and 8 only) CSAP tests. These assessments will be given in the spring.

The statewide assessment is considered an assessment comparing all students in Colorado. In late summer, the state will report assessment results at the school, district, and state levels. Individual students will receive a score report that describes their performance on this assessment as advanced, proficient, partially proficient, or unsatisfactory.

Response to Intervention (RTI)

The Response To Intervention (RTI) Team is a school based problem-solving group of teachers, school staff, and administrators whose mission is to assist colleagues and parents with intervention strategies for dealing with the academic and social-emotional behavioral needs of our regular education students. This group seeks creative ways to maximize the use of available resources. Any teacher or parent may request an RTI meeting.

An RTI meeting will be held for a student before referring a student for special education testing or retention.

Retention

Grade Promotion and Retention Policy

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SECTION 3: SCHOOL RULES

Student Uniforms

Student Uniform Policy

Dress-of-Choice Day

Dress-of-Choice Days will be designated by the school administration as appropriate. The guidelines for allowable dress for these days are consistent with the general standards, style of dress, and grooming sections of the Uniform Policy. Casual clothing should always be in good repair. The length of shorts and skirts will be the same for Dress-of-Choice days as it is for any other day. Good taste is always an issue and parents should monitor students’ clothing selection on these days to ensure their children are within the spirit of the school policy.

Students should remember that Dress-of-Choice days are a privilege, not a right, and could be eliminated if casual dress becomes distracting to the learning environment.

If a student's dress of choice on these days is deemed inappropriate by the American Academy administration, that student will be kept out of class until suitable clothing can be brought to school.

Discipline

Student Discipline Policy

Please read the American Academy Student Discipline Policy to find out how to address any questions or concerns regarding student discipline.

AA Consequence Matrix

Please read the Consequence Matrix to a list of violations and consequences.

General Discipline Guidelines

The objective of maintaining discipline is to ensure a learning environment that is free of disruption and safe for all students. Good conduct is expected of all students and will be actively recognized and rewarded. Bullying of any kind will not be tolerated. The classroom teacher is responsible for establishing a classroom management that fosters appropriate student behavior.

Recess and Playground Rules

Recess

Students will receive a 20-minute recess during the lunch period.
Additional recesses may also be scheduled on an individual classroom basis.
Outdoor recess will be held every day unless it is raining, snowing, or below 22 degrees. Student should come prepared with appropriate coats, hats and gloves for the variable Colorado weather.
If students wear snow boots to school, they need to bring shoes that conform to the Uniform Policy to wear in the classroom.

Playground

Consideration of others is a priority when playing any games on the playground.
The playground equipment is to be used the way it was intended.
Students must wear appropriate shoes at all times on the playground.
Fighting/wrestling of any kind is prohibited.
Toy guns or weapons of any kind including laser pointers are not allowed on the school grounds.
Students may not throw snow, rocks, wood chips, or sand.
Students must stay in the playground boundaries.
Students may not go outside of playground boundaries to retrieve a piece of equipment (ball, Frisbee, etc.). Students should notify the playground supervisor.
Students are not to participate in overly aggressive, tackle games of any kind.
A pass is required from the playground supervisor if a student needs to come back into the school building during recess times.
Students are encouraged to work through their own disagreements during recess times but may consult with the playground supervisor when necessary.

Code of Conduct

The American Academy Parent Student Code of Conduct Agreement is a contract between the parents, the student, the teacher, and the administration, committing each to the mission of the school and to a partnership for the student’s education. Parents and students signed the Agreement as part of registration.

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SECTION 4: PARENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Preparation for School

Parents are responsible for ensuring their child has a good breakfast, is appropriately dressed in his or her approved uniform clothing, and is on time to school each day, ready to learn.

Academic Help

Parents may need to assist their children with homework assignments from time to time. It is important for parents to assist in drill assignments and oral reading at home. The responsibility for good academic behavior rests on the individual student and his/her parents. It is critically imperative that parents assist the school in promoting, developing and maintaining that good academic behavior.

Volunteering

Visitor and Volunteer Policy

If you plan to volunteer at school, please read the American Academy Visitor and Volunteer Policy. Parents are responsible for completing the family volunteer hour commitment of 40 hours per year. There will be multiple opportunities throughout the year to get involved. Please contact the PTO for details.

Parent University

American Academy may offer seminars/information nights from time to time on a variety of topics. Watch the website and School Newsletters for details.