Policies
BULLYING POLICY
The Saint Bridget School
Bullying and Cyberbullying Intervention Plan is now
available for viewing. You may send questions or comments to
Mrs. Simon at
SBSSimon@aol.com. We are also including an
example of the Saint Bridget School Bullying and
Cyberbullying Reporting Form for your convenience. Thank you
in advance for your feedback and attention regarding this
matter.
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TARDY
POLICY
Excessive Tardiness disrupts classroom procedures and may cause
loss of learning to a class. The first bell is rung at 8:00
a.m. and classes begin promptly at 8:15 a.m. For excessive
tardiness the following procedures are set in place:
·
After 5 tardies a call from the classroom teacher and notification
that an additional tardy will warrant a detention.
·
If not resolved a referral will be sent to the Vice Principal
who will contact the parents to set up a conference to determine
further action.
·
If Tardiness is still not resolved the parents will meet with
the Principal.
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Notifying School
of Student Absence
A parent must notify
the school before 8:30AM on the day of expected student absence.
Calls from students regarding their own expected absence or
that of a peer are not acceptable. The parent must briefly explain
the student’s absence in a note, which the student will provide
to the teacher upon return to school.
Based on individual
teacher requirements, the student will complete and the teacher
will approve all missed assignments.
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Extended Absenteeism
Massachusetts’ law
requires that a parent provide the school a doctor’s certificate
if a student is (a) absent due to a contagious disease, or (b)
absent for five or more consecutive days.
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Excessive Absenteeism
Mastering the content
of sequential curriculum requires that students attend classes
with as few absences as possible. Missed school days are counter-productive.
The school requires 85% attendance for promotion or graduation
unless mitigating medical documentation is on file at the school.
The school will report excessive absenteeism to the proper authorities
for legal action.
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Truancy
Defined as the act
of missing school without the knowledge of a parent, truancy
is a serious infraction of school policy and is grounds for
suspension. A student may not make up schoolwork during the
unauthorized absence and will accept the academic consequences.
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Snow Days
In the event of
bad weather, parents/guardians should listen to major television
and radio stations for the announcement for the closing of the
Abington public schools. Whatever the Abington schools
do shall determine what Saint Bridget School shall do.
On delayed openings, our full day kindergarten will be in session.
Parents/guardians should not call the school. If weather
conditions will be very poor, parents/guardians should follow
their own best judgment.
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POSTING WEB SITE ITEMS
THIS POLICY
IS IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
1.
IN GENERAL, ANYTHING
TO BE POSTED MUST COME THROUGH MISS COTTER THERE ARE ONE/TWO
OTHERS WHO HAVE BEEN AUTHORIZED TO ADD POSTING BY E-MAILING
INFORMATION DIRECTLY TO THE WEB MASTER. PLEASE TRY TO
SEND IN INFORMATION ON TUESDAYS AS THAT’S WHEN MISS COTTER HAS
THE MOST TIME TO REVIEW ITEMS FOR POSTING.
2.
ONCE SOMETHING HAS
BEEN APPROVED FOR POSTING, IT WILL BE SENT TO THE WEB MASTER
FOR POSTING. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A VOLUNTEER
POSITION AND ON OCCASION THERE IS A SMALL LAG IN GETTING THINGS
POSTED.
3.
ONCE SPORTS TEAMS
START THEIR SEASONS, COACHES MAY SEND ONLY SCORES AND
CALENDARS DIRECTLY TO THE WEB MASTER. ALL OTHER INFORMATION
TO BE POSTED MUST FOLLOW THE FIRST GUIDELINE.
4.
ANY TEACHER INTERESTED IN POSTING
INFORMATION ON THEIR CLASS PAGE SHOULD SEND IT DIRECTLY TO THE
WEB MASTER. THIS IS TO ENSURE THAT THE TEACHER KNOWS WHAT
IS GOING ON THEIR CLASS PAGE. PARENTS WISHING TO ADD SOMETHING
TO A CLASS PAGE MUST SEND THE INFORMATION TO THE HOMEROOM TEACHER.
HE/SHE WILL GIVE WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION TO POST IT. ANY
INFORMATION FOR INCLUSION ELSEWHERE ON THE SITE MUST FOLLOW
THE FIRST GUIDELINE.
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Photos on web site
This Saint
Bridget School Handbook, under the section dealing with newspaper
articles, speaks of giving permission for student photographs
to be used for publicity as well as the mechanism to rescind
this permission. The policy as stated in the Handbook
will apply to photographs posted on the web site as well.
The Handbook has been read and the appropriate page has already
been signed and returned to the school, by the appropriate family
members.
At this
time, we want to remind you that we are posting photographs
on the web site. This is to notify you that any child’s
picture taken at a school event may be used on the school web
site. Your child may or may not be identified by his/her
first name and/or first name with a last initial, depending
on the photograph. At no time will any child’s last name
be used. As these photographs will be updated frequently,
you must understand that you will not receive a specific notice
that your child’s photograph may be used on the web site.
This year
we’ve tried to add another layer of protection for our students
with regard to photographs. Photographs on the St. Bridget
School web site are copy write protected and will not be available
for downloading.
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ACCEPTABLE USE
As we all
know, there are a lot of great web sites available in the Internet,
many of which are educational in nature. Unfortunately, there
are also sites which are not appropriate for elementary/middle
school students. At Saint Bridget School, the primary purpose
of the Internet connection shall be education. It is vital that
everyone who uses this connection understand that purpose.
Because
of its enormous size, the Internet's potential for research/education
is great. With such potential for academics also comes potential
for abuse. Online safety will be taught and stressed. Our goal
is to promote intelligent use of computer/media technology.
To that end, it is necessary to implement policies/practices
designed to teach the appropriate use of media and information
sources on the computer.
A copy of
our basic policy will be kept in the homerooms of grades K-8.
The most recent written policy will be kept in the computer
room, for your perusal. Consequences for misuse of the Internet
or disregard for school policies may range from immediate removal
from the Internet to suspension/revocation of all Internet privileges.
Depending on the severity of the infraction, the principal may
determine a suspension and/or an expulsion is necessary.
Saint Bridget School
respects and supports the right of each family to decide whether
or not their child should have access to the Internet at school.
Parent/Guardian permission, through a signed acceptable use
policy (A.U.P.), is required prior to access. Every student
will need to return the last page of this form, even if the
student is to be denied access by his/her parent. An A.U.P.
which is not returned or is left unsigned shall have the same
effect as an A.U.P. which denies access. Parent/Guardian signatures
shall be checked with those on file; serious consequences will
apply to students who choose to sign for their parents. Access
will only be given to those students who have a current, signed
A.U.P. and who agree to follow the rules as laid out in the
A.U.P. as well as basic classroom rules. Access is a privilege,
not a right, and as such entails responsibility.
All users
of the Internet at Saint Bridget School, whether they be students,
staff, or volunteers, must sign the A.U.P. and agree to abide
by its rules prior to the granting of access. Communications
on the Internet are often public in nature. Users are therefore
expected to remember to act in a considerate and responsible
manner as they are representing the school. Users should not
expect privacy for files stored on school computers.
Individual
student/adult users of any school computer, especially those
with Internet access, are themselves responsible for the use/abuse
of the computer and its programs or software. The use of information
obtained via the Internet is at the user's own risk. The school
is not responsible for any damages suffered while on the computer.
These damages may include, but are not limited to, loss of data,
non-deliveries or misdeliveries of information.
Parents/guardians
must understand that it is expected students will only have
the use of the Internet at school with the explicit permission
of the teacher. Every effort will be made to provide adequate
supervision, including the use of appropriate filtering software.
Internet access can not be gained "by accident." Students who
access, or attempt to access, the Internet at Saint Bridget
School without the explicit permission of the teacher risk losing
Internet privileges. For older students, computer room access
outside of scheduled computer class time may also be lost. Repeated
or severe infractions may result in a loss of user privileges.
There are some uses of the internet, used by students on their
home computers, which are not acceptable in a school setting.
The principal is the final determiner of the appropriateness
of any computer activity while on a school computer as well
as the consequence for the misuse of this resource.
Students
are responsible for good behavior on school computers, just
as they are in the classroom, the hallway, the lunch room or
the playground. In addition to general behavior rules, there
are other areas of concern which will be addressed in this document.
These areas are roughly organized into the following categories
of Online safety, computer ethics, and "netiquette”:
Behavior:
§
general school rules for behavior apply.
§
access is available for
users who agree to act in a responsible, considerate manner,
and only for the purpose(s) outlined by the teacher of the class.
§
individual users are responsible
for their actions and the consequences of those actions.
§
users are responsible for
familiarizing themselves and following St. Bridget's policies
regarding Internet use; computer teacher(s) will clarify these
policies with the students prior to use.
§
users will use proper netiquette
as posted.
§
users recognize there are
consequences for the misuse of the computer/internet.
§
users will not engage in
plagiarism.
§
users will not engage in
cyberbullying behaviors such as harassing, insulting, attacking
or arguing with others on the Internet.
§
users will not engage in
vandalism of the network, system, components, or data.
§
users who accidentally access
any objectionable material must report it immediately to the
teacher/principal.
§
users will not utilize the
school's/parish's name/photograph/logo without permission; refer
to the current school handbook for further information.
§
users will not engage in
any behavior while Online which may damage the reputation of
the school; refer to the current handbook for further information.
§
Online safety:
§
users will only have access
to sites deemed appropriate for elementary/middle school students
§
students needing access
to web sites not available within the filtered sites, for research
purposes, will need prior explicit permission from Saint Bridget
faculty or the principal.
§
students will not be allowed
to sign onto a school computer under the "guest" privilege,
even if they have AOL/other provider access at home. They may
be requested to leave that computer immediately if they do this.
Netiquette:
§
do use appropriate language at
all times.
§
do answer E-mail promptly, if
E-mail access is needed for a school project.
§
do remember E-mail may be easily
forwarded, so be careful what you write.
§
don't use capital letters except
to emphasize a word - this is called "shouting."
§
don't send chain letters.
If you don't
know how to do something on our computers, ask for help; don't
guess at how to do things. You are responsible for what you
do on the computer!
Do remember
your actions will reflect on the school as a whole and act accordingly.
Other policies
will be added as necessary.
Classroom Internet
assignments
From time
to time, students may be assigned a specific assignment which
is to be done on the school computer. Regardless of which teacher,
classroom or computer, is assigning the work, students are expected
to complete the assignment to the best of their ability without
intentionally wasting the limited resources of the computer/Internet.
Students who can not do this may be forfeiting their use of
the Internet. Students may be required to complete a worksheet
based on a specific web site or series of sites. They may need
to do a search of possible web sites centered on a specific
topic. They may need to use the Internet as part of their research
for a term paper for a classroom teacher.
Keypals projects
If an individual
teacher chooses to use the Internet for a keypals (i.e. pen
pal) project, the following rules shall apply unless further
parental permission is sought. Students are reminded that they
should not expect that work stored on school network/computers
will always be private.
§
all keypal letters will follow the posted "netiquette" rules.
§
all keypal letters will be SENT from the school computer and ONLY
to the keypal address chosen by the teacher.
§
no student will request (from) or give (to) an individual E-mail
address for correspondence outside of school time.
§
no student will respond Online to any message that uses bad language
or words that are scary, threatening, or just feel weird.
Each student
is reminded to never give out his/her whole name, address, telephone
number or other identifying information while on the Internet.
§
students will not check E-mail/other accounts
available from home at school
§
students will not enter a "CHAT ROOM" or send/receive
an "INSTANT MESSAGE" on a school computer.
§
students will not create/access/email, etc. a
profile, even their own, while on the Internet from a school
computer under any circumstances.
§
students are not to sign on under a school account
from a computer off of the school grounds; this is a very serious
violation of policy and will be dealt with accordingly.
§
students will tell an adult immediately
if something seems scary or threatening. students will ask an
adult if something seems confusing or isn't working correctly.
§
users must safeguard their passwords, if one is
given/chosen. students will never give out their whole name,
address, telephone number or other identifying information while
on the Internet. The safety and privacy of their peers will
be respected in the same manner.
§
students will never make arrangements to meet
someone face-to-face they may have met Online.
§
students will not send a photograph over the Internet
or via regular mail without prior, specific written permission
from both their teacher and their parent/guardian.
Computer ethics:
§
users will never go into an Online area that is going to cost additional
money.
§
users will not be allowed to install unlicensed ("pirated") software.
users will not knowingly load/access a program containing a
virus; if they are unsure, they should ask the teacher for help.
§
users will not install any item or use any software brought in from
home without explicit, prior approval. users will not use the
Internet for commercial purposes or to perform an illegal or
inappropriate act.
§
users will be forbidden from removing or copying any of the school's
applications.
§
users will use their time wisely so other users have access. users
will respect the privacy of others.
§
users will not send/display/ask to receive information, messages,
or pictures which others may find offensive.
§
students will not enter areas requesting a password unless they check
it with an adult first. users will not ask the passwords of
others and will not use the password of others if they know
it.
§
users will not violate copyright laws.
§
users will not read, alter, delete, or destroy any files, folders,
data, etc. which do not belong to them.
§
users who identify a problem with a computer, the network, or a security
issue are to report it immediately to the teacher/principal;
they should not demonstrate the problem to others.
§
users will not destroy, delete, modify, or abuse hardware or software
in any way.
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