IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Arrival
The school will be unlocked at 8:00 AM. Upon arrival, all students should report to the lunchroom. Please do not send your students before 8:15 AM. Supervision will not be available before this time. During bad weather, students will stay in the lunchroom area of the building.
Dismissal
Dismissal is at 3:30 PM. Beginning August 22nd every Wednesday students will be released at 2:00 p.m. If you pick your child up after school, please park in the designated parking area. Our students’ safety is a priority at Van Buren. Please obey bus supervisors and watch for children who may be crossing streets.
If a child’s usual routine is altered - he/she is to leave with a friend, ride a different bus, or walk when usually they ride the bus – a note or phone call from the parent is required. Notification of changes need to be made before 3:00 PM each day or we are unable to make changes. We can not guarantee changes can be made after 3:00 PM. If the office receives no notification from the legal guardian, the child will follow the usual routine.
Food Services
Breakfast and Lunch are free to all students. You are welcome to join your students for lunch. Please call prior to 9:00 AM of the day you plan to join us so that the proper number of meals can be prepared. Please bring the exact cost of the meal as we have limited resources to make change. Milk is 50 cents. Breakfast is $2.50 for adults and Lunch is $3.75 for adults
Student Check Out
Students must check out of school through the office if they are leaving at any time other than the usual dismissal schedule. If it becomes necessary to take your student out of school during the day, report to the office and the student will be summoned from the room. Teachers are not to release students unless the office instructs them to do so. Only individuals listed on the enrollment form will be allowed to sign a student out of school.
Visitors
All visitors to the school are required to report to the office before going anywhere else in the building. Each person is issued a visitor’s pass that will provide access to classrooms.
Daily Schedule
Classes meet from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM. (AM Kindergarten meets 9:00 – 12:00 PM, PM Kindergarten meets 12:30 – 3:30 PM Wednesday Kindergarten schedule is as follows: AM 9:00-11:10, PM 11:45-2:00) Specific grade-level schedules will be provided by your student’s teacher at the beginning of the school year. Every minute counts
Attendance
Good attendance is essential. Every effort should be made by students, parents, and the school to ensure that students are in attendance and punctual every day. Absences from class may result in serious disruption of a student’s mastery of the instructional concepts. Please avoid making doctor and dentist appointments during school hours whenever possible. If students have excessive absences they will be referred to Family Court (per District Policy 501, Section 6.2.3) and may be considered for retention if they have 3 or more truancies.
If your student must be absent, please call the school immediately and send a note to the school the next day explaining the reason for the absence. If we do not hear from the parent/guardian, your student will be considered truant.
Tardies are another habit that is easy to start and hard to stop. Three tardies a quarter will be considered excessive and a conference will be scheduled. Students are considered tardy if they are not in their classroom when the bell sounds at 9:00 AM.
Personal Items
Personal items such as cell phones, game boys, CD players, and toys of any kind are a distraction to learning. They will be confiscated and returned at the end of the day. If this becomes a chronic problem, the toys will be kept until the parent can come pick them up.