ASD | MIDDLE SCHOOL HANDBOOK
ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL PROCEDURES Advisory class begins promptly at 8:00am. Students must arrive between 7:45 - 7:55 am in order to have adequate time to prepare for the school day. Students can enter the building when they arrive at school to access their lockers and go to advisory. Students may use the library at 7:45am to print or work before school begins. Students, teachers are flexible to assist you if you need help before school, but please, plan ahead and schedule a time to meet with them the day before as teachers need time to prepare for the school day. Lunch is from 10:50am to 11:30am. Students are permitted to be in the Cafeteria, the Cafeteria Patio, the Library, the Field House, designated fields, or the supervised study area on the first floor of the Middle School building. All other areas are out of bounds unless under the direct supervision of a teacher. The school day ends at 3:00pm. Middle school students must exit the building and be in the care of their parents, an afterschool program or independent library study (available until 4:45pm) by 3:30pm. Middle school students who are on campus unsupervised outside of school hours will be subject to a discipline infraction and will be asked to leave the campus. Parents are responsible for supervision of students remaining on campus after the school day or prior to and after ASD sponsored events. Students may participate in any ASD Middle School activity if they have attended one half-day of school and have not been suspended. This same rule would apply to all athletic, academic and arts activities.
ATTENDANCE Regular school attendance is essential for successful learning. Student attendance is recorded using PowerSchool at the beginning of each block during the school day by teachers. All absences will be tracked by the Middle School Office. Parents and students can monitor this information and should contact the MS office with questions or concerns.
LATE ARRIVAL AND OTHER TARDIES (T) Arriving to class on time is important for the overall education of the student. Students arriving late to any class, including advisory, will be marked tardy. Tardies are recorded using PowerSchool at the beginning of each block during the school day. Parents and students can monitor this information and should contact the MS office with questions or concerns. A student is tardy when he or she is not physically in the classroom when class begins. When a student arrives to class more than 20 minutes late, the tardy will be changed to an absence. If students have been released late from their previous class, the teachers will notify affected teachers. Students arriving after 8:00 am must sign in in the Middle School Office and receive a pass for admission into class. Morning tardies will be monitored by the student’s Advisory teacher. If, after an initial redirect from the teacher a student demonstrates continued tardiness, each subsequent tardy will be recorded as an infraction. Three infractions will result in a detention as per our behavior policy. Parents will also be contacted by the counselor to identify any potential underlying cause and develop a plan for changing the student behavior in order for the student to arrive in school and/or classes on time.
ABSENCE (A) In the case of an unexpected absence, parents are to notify the Middle School Office and their child’s teachers on the morning of any unexpected absence either by email or by phone. A doctor’s note is necessary for 3 or more consecutive absences due to illness.
Early Dismissal (A) In the case of an absence during the school day, students leaving campus will need to be signed out by an adult in the MS office and will receive a pass to exit campus. Security will not allow students to leave campus without a pass and the supervision of an adult.
Pre-arranging Absences (A) In the case of a planned absence, planned absences carry the following responsibilities: (1) Parents are to notify the Middle School office and teachers of the dates of the absences, and (2) The student is responsible for communicating with his or her teachers two days prior to the absence in order to obtain any assignments he or she will miss. Teachers will determine due dates based on when the student returns to school. Students should also make arrangements (agreement with teacher for date and time) for any make-up tests or assignments in advance of their absence. A planned extended absence of more than four days needs to be approved by MS Administration. Parents are to notify the MS office more than one week in advance of the absence.
Excused Absence (E) Students who are not present for class due to a counseling or administrative issue will have their absence from class excused (E). Students are expected to take responsibility for any work missed during this absence.
School Related Absence (S) Students may be absent from school for a variety of school related reasons, including athletic events or other co-curricular events. The student is responsible for communicating with his or her teachers two days prior to the absence in order to obtain any assignments he or she will miss. Students are allowed one day for each of the days absent from school to make up missing work and assessments. See the Athletic Handbook for more details regarding the responsibility of student athletes.
Absences and Assignments As a general rule for planned absences as well as absences due to illness, students should take two days for each day missed to make up work. For further information please see the Grading Policy
Absences and Course Credit If a student is absent for more than seven (7) class periods during a semester and cannot make up the work (determined by school personnel) the student will receive a “DND” in the report card strands for the course. Students with 4 or more absences at each quarter will receive notification of their situation.
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