Parent and Student Handbook - Ada Merritt K-8 Center - Miami ...

Guidelines for Effective Parent-Teacher Conferences1. Please contact the teacher and schedule a conference time. Remember teachers arecontractually with us from 8:15 a.m. – 3:20 p.m. Although the majority of our dedicatedteachers spend many additional and long hours at school, please be mindful of officialteacher hours.2. Familiarize yourself with your child’s teacher’s conference guidelines and hours, as wellas the best way to reach the teacher.3. Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate parents in their primary language or inthe language they feel most comfortable.4. Parents and students will be treated with respect and courtesy by school personnel.Likewise, parents will treat school personnel courteously and respectfully. This includesthe maintenance of appropriate voice tones and language while engaging in cooperativeconversations with school personnel. If at anytime, any of the parties involved are notrespectful of each other or feel threatened, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) Police may be contacted.5. Our school building is a welcoming place and clearly accessible to parents. However,the rights of students and teachers to an orderly instructional and safe environment areparamount. Parents may enter a classroom within the school only after properauthorization from office personnel has been secured. Request for classroom visitsrequire a 24-hour notice. Visitors must first register with security at the mainentrance, sign-in and produce photo identification, and then proceed to register inthe main office.It is extremely important that we have your support in adhering to the procedures outlined aboveand assist the school with this implementation.CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCTMiami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is committed to providing a safe teaching andlearning environment for students, staff, and members of the community. On March 12, 2008,the School Board approved a newly revised Code of Student Conduct (COSC). The revisedCOSC identifies, recognizes, and rewards model student behavior within a framework of clearlyestablished and enforceable rules and policies. It advocates a holistic approach to promotingand maintaining a safe learning environment and requires active participation from students,parents/guardians, and school staff. Students and parents/guardians can access the Englishand Haitian/Creole versions of the document on the M-DCPS Website located at:http://ehandbooks.dadeschools.net/policies/90/indes.htm or you may request a copy from yourchild’s school. The Spanish version of this document will be forthcoming.Additionally, M-DCPS is proud to launch SPOTsuccess, an initiative that enhances the COSC. Itsupports civic, moral and ethical values, encourages a positive and supportive school climate,and allows all school personnel to recognize and reward students for exemplifying modelstudent behavior. Parents/guardians can check to see if their children are recognized throughthe SPOT success system by creating a Parent Account. For instructions, log on to M-DCPSWebsite at http://www2dadeschools.net/parents/parents.htm, click on Parent Portal and followthe directions on the screen. If you need additional assistance, you may contact your children’sschool(s).A model student who is responsible and practices positive behavior daily becomes a successfulstudent and a mature adult who is worthy of being emulated. Students need an environmentthat is safe and conducive to learning. To help provide and maintain that environment, theCode of Student Conduct:• describes that positive environment• describes that conduct which is disruptive of such an environment• strives to standardize those procedures which the school will use in responding toconduct problems• assures the rights of students when disciplinary action is taken• specifies the rights and responsibilities of students- 18 -