Plaza Vista School K-8 - Irvine Unified School District
Plaza Vista School K-8 - Irvine Unified School District
Plaza Vista School K-8 - Irvine Unified School District
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New Family Orientation<br />
2010~2011
We at <strong>Plaza</strong> <strong>Vista</strong> are committed to ensuring<br />
all students experience individual successes<br />
regularly. Through the effective use of<br />
collaboration and dedicated time we will<br />
utilize all available resources for students to<br />
reach and exceed individual goals.
<strong>Plaza</strong> <strong>Vista</strong> <strong>School</strong> is a K-8 single-track, year-round<br />
calendar school located in the community of Westpark.<br />
Built in 1999, we are currently beginning our twelfth year.<br />
Over nine hundred students attend <strong>Plaza</strong> <strong>Vista</strong> <strong>School</strong> and<br />
they represent a diverse population of both ethnic and<br />
socio-economic groups. The building is a beautiful,<br />
modern single story facility encompassing 63,000 square<br />
feet. Kindergarten through fifth grade students are located<br />
in one half of the building and sixth through eighth grade<br />
students are in the other half. In 2010 we became a<br />
California Distinguished <strong>School</strong>, which honors some of the<br />
state’s most exemplary public schools.
<strong>Plaza</strong> <strong>Vista</strong> <strong>School</strong> maintains its own web site to<br />
provide information about the school, including<br />
school calendars, bell schedules, grade level supply<br />
lists, newsletters, school policies, staff contact<br />
information, classroom information, and parent<br />
involvement. Our website can be viewed at<br />
www.iusd.org/pv.
• Students may not be on campus prior to 15 minutes<br />
before their school day begins and all students must be<br />
picked up and/or must leave directly and go home<br />
after school as supervision is not provided.<br />
• The school grounds are for the sole use of <strong>Plaza</strong> <strong>Vista</strong><br />
students during the school day, and are not open to<br />
pre-schoolers or older/younger siblings during school<br />
hours.
• Absences: If your child is not in school for any reason,<br />
please telephone the attendance line before 9:00 a.m. at<br />
949-936-6951 to report your student’s absence.<br />
• Late Arrivals: Each student must sign in at the front office<br />
if he/she is tardy. Your student will receive a tardy slip to<br />
give to his/her teacher. We would appreciate you making<br />
dental or doctor appointments after school hours.<br />
However, if you find it necessary to schedule a medical<br />
appointment during your child’s class time, please “sign<br />
out” your child in the office. Do not go directly to the<br />
classroom for your child at any time. This minimizes the<br />
disruption to our instructional program.<br />
• Student Release: Students will be released only to persons<br />
designated on the emergency card.
Parents are urged to discuss safety rules and the<br />
responsibilities of good citizenship with their children in<br />
regard to walking to and from school. The City of <strong>Irvine</strong><br />
provides crossing guards at Warner/San Ynez and at Paseo<br />
Westpark/Festivo.<br />
Please:<br />
• Come directly to school from home.<br />
• Walk on the sidewalk and inside the crosswalks.<br />
• Cross the streets only at the corners and crosswalks and<br />
with the crossing guard who is on duty before and after<br />
school.<br />
• Go directly home after school.
• If you find it necessary to drive your child to school,<br />
we ask that you be aware of the safety of all children<br />
when driving in the vicinity of the school.<br />
• Due to the limited number of spaces, we ask that<br />
parents reserve the spots marked “STAFF” for staff<br />
members only.<br />
• The red curb in front of the school is identified as a<br />
“DROP-OFF ZONE” only. At no time can you leave<br />
your car unattended at the drop-off zone in the<br />
parking lot or on Paseo Westpark’s drop-off at the<br />
curb.<br />
• A parking variance is in place for school activities<br />
listed on the home page of our website. Please see<br />
the website for more details.
The following guidelines are established to prevent injury<br />
or loss of property:<br />
• Students riding bicycles to school must be in 3 rd -8 th grade.<br />
• All 3 rd through 8 th grade students who ride their bicycles to<br />
and from school must wear a bicycle helmet.<br />
• Bicycles should be licensed through the <strong>Irvine</strong> Police<br />
Department.<br />
• Each bicycle must be locked in the designated bike racks<br />
near the lunch area.<br />
• All bicycles must be walked while on school grounds and<br />
across the driveways to the parking lot.
• Children are sometimes asked by a staff member to remain at<br />
school after dismissal time. Parent notification will be made if<br />
students are asked to remain longer than 15 minutes in<br />
elementary or 30 minutes in middle school.<br />
• Children attending after school enrichment classes are requested<br />
to go directly to their designated area after school.<br />
• Children attending CDC will be picked up by CDC staff (K-2) or<br />
should proceed immediately to CDC once dismissed (3-6).<br />
• Children are not allowed to play on the playground after school.<br />
They should go directly home.<br />
• If a student leaves an item here at school, he/she needs to go to<br />
the outside door of the classroom and knock to see if the teacher<br />
is still present. If the teacher is not in the classroom, the student<br />
will need to wait until the following day to retrieve the item(s).
• The CDC childcare program at <strong>Plaza</strong> <strong>Vista</strong> <strong>School</strong><br />
provides affordable, quality childcare and day camps<br />
for elementary school-age children of working parents.<br />
Professional staff supervise children in a caring,<br />
nurturing environment.<br />
• The program operates Monday-Friday. For further<br />
information, please call 949-652-6405.
The school office staff works hard to provide the best<br />
quality services to children, staff and parents. We ask<br />
that you sign in with the office and pick up a visitor or<br />
volunteer badge before visiting the instructional area.<br />
The office is open from 7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Monday<br />
through Friday.
• In regards to forgotten items (not just lunches, but musical instruments and<br />
homework assignments), we are attempting to minimize classroom<br />
interruptions and encourage responsibility. At the same time, we also do our<br />
best to take the nutritional needs of our students into consideration.<br />
• K-3 – If a parent delivers lunch for a student in K-3, office staff will ensure that<br />
the lunch is delivered to the student or the teacher is notified so they can send<br />
the student to pick up his/her lunch in the office.<br />
• 4-5 – If a parent delivers lunch for a student in 4-5, office staff will notify the<br />
classroom teacher via email. Students are also informed by teachers at the<br />
beginning of the year that if they forget their lunch, they should check up in the<br />
office.<br />
• 6-8 – Students are informed by their teachers at the beginning of the school<br />
year that if they ever forget their lunch, they should check up in the office.<br />
• Of course, if there are extenuating circumstances in regards to the child’s<br />
health, exceptions can be made. We also encourage parents to place money<br />
into their child’s Lunch Box account in the event their child does not remember<br />
to bring lunch. Students who do not have lunch can go to the cafeteria and<br />
they are given milk and crackers.
• Parents are welcome on campus. For the protection of the<br />
children, and in respect for the teacher’s instructional<br />
responsibilities, please schedule your classroom visit in<br />
advance and always sign in with office personnel.<br />
• All adults (volunteers or visitors) on campus must sign in at<br />
the school office regardless of visit’s length, unless they are<br />
dropping off or picking up students. All adults must pick<br />
up a visitor/volunteer badge and wear it while at school.<br />
Consistent enforcement of this policy is necessary to<br />
ensure the safety of all children and staff and protect<br />
continuity of instruction. Any parent without a name<br />
badge will be asked to return to the office to sign in. Thank<br />
you for your cooperation.
• Lunches may be purchased in the cafeteria.<br />
Elementary lunch is $3.25 and middle school lunch is<br />
$4.25. Items may also be purchased ala carte.<br />
• Pre-payments may be made at school or online<br />
through the Lunch Box program.<br />
• Please see our website for the cafeteria menu and<br />
detailed information on our lunch line procedures<br />
and to make your online lunch payments.<br />
• Children may bring their own lunch if they desire.
• We will be establishing Family Lunch Days three times<br />
a year this school year. This is an opportunity for<br />
parents to bring a lunch to school and eat with their<br />
children.<br />
• Because we have now set aside this special time for you<br />
to join us on campus during lunch, we request that<br />
parents no longer visit their children during lunch<br />
outside of these scheduled days. This includes<br />
dropping off a child’s lunch at the lunch tables.
• The lost & found cart is located outside the media<br />
center facing the lunch tables. Students are welcome<br />
to check it for lost items.<br />
• Lost glasses, retainers, jewelry, etc. are kept in the<br />
office.<br />
• Please label your children’s belongings for easy<br />
identification.
• We ask that you take care of all arrangements for the day<br />
with your children before they leave for school.<br />
• We ask that only emergency messages be telephoned in to<br />
the office for children, since we strive to keep instructional<br />
interruptions to a minimum.<br />
• Arrangements with friends should be made prior to coming<br />
to school.<br />
• Cell phones are permitted at school, however, board policy<br />
requires that they be deactivated during the regular school<br />
day. The use of cell phones is prohibited during school<br />
hours. They are to be turned off and in the student’s<br />
backpack during school hours.
Anytime your child requires medication at school, the<br />
medication must be kept in the health office to be<br />
given by school personnel. Legally, the district<br />
requires:<br />
• Medication be in the original pharmacy bottle,<br />
properly labeled by the pharmacist.<br />
• Both the physician and a parent must sign a consent<br />
form prior to medication being administered at<br />
school.<br />
• Medication must be brought to school by a parent.
• A safe learning environment is our first priority.<br />
Bullying and other destructive behaviors will not be<br />
tolerated and will have appropriate consequences.<br />
• Please read the <strong>Plaza</strong> <strong>Vista</strong> K-5 “Code of Conduct” or<br />
the 6-8 Middle <strong>School</strong> handbook which will be sent<br />
home with your child at the beginning of the school<br />
year.<br />
• You and your child will be asked to provide your<br />
signatures verifying that you’ve both read the rules and<br />
regulations.
• Partnership – We agree to demonstrate team spirit and to work for<br />
the good of the group.<br />
• Respect – We agree to demonstrate consideration for the rights of<br />
others and to hold others in high regard. We agree to focus on the<br />
good in our lives and to let go of negative feelings.<br />
• Integrity - We agree to keep our word privately and publicly.<br />
• Determination – We agree to persist in what is right, regardless<br />
of the cost. We agree to demonstrate self-discipline and selfmotivation.<br />
• Empathy – We agree to treat everyone kindly and to help them in<br />
their time of need.
• Homework is the primary responsibility of the student, yet<br />
still shared with the parents and teacher. Homework<br />
strengthens school academics and builds student<br />
responsibility.<br />
• Homework is designed to reinforce concepts taught in<br />
class. Each child should get in the habit of doing<br />
homework at least four times a week. While an individual<br />
student’s learning pace will influence the amount of time<br />
spent doing assigned work, the average should be about 10<br />
minutes per grade level with a minimum of 20 minutes per<br />
day.<br />
• If you have any concerns about your child’s homework,<br />
please contact your child’s teacher.
• During the first month of school, we schedule a formal<br />
evening meeting for the teacher to present the<br />
curriculum, policies and procedures for the year. This<br />
is a night for parents only. The staff presents general<br />
information, not specific students progress.<br />
• Our 2010 Back-to-<strong>School</strong> Night dates are:<br />
• 5 th -8 th grade: Wednesday, August 4 th – Time TBD<br />
• Kinder-4 th grade: Thursday, August 5 th – Time TBD
Open House is scheduled in the spring to showcase<br />
students’ progress. This event is an acknowledgement<br />
of the commendable efforts our students made<br />
throughout the year. Family and friends are invited to<br />
experience this popular event with their student.
• Report Cards are issued three times a year.<br />
• Approximately one month after school begins, parents<br />
are formally invited to meet with their child’s teacher<br />
to mutually specify goals for their child for the year<br />
and to receive an initial progress update. Optional<br />
follow-up conferences are scheduled at the beginning<br />
of the third trimester.<br />
• We encourage parents to schedule a conference any<br />
time they feel there is a need during the year.<br />
• Progress reports may be sent home midway through<br />
each trimester to provide academic progress.
• Textbooks and library books are school property and<br />
are loaned to students.<br />
• Students are responsible for their safekeeping. It is the<br />
responsibility of the student to pay for lost or damaged<br />
books.
• Health Services<br />
• Psychological Services<br />
• Counseling Services<br />
• Specialized Academic Instruction<br />
• Speech and Language Pathologist<br />
• English Learners<br />
• Gifted and Talented Education
• Parent Volunteers<br />
• <strong>School</strong> Site Council<br />
• Parent Teacher Association<br />
• IUSD Board of Education<br />
• IUSD on the Web
We look forward<br />
to this coming year!