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| Lynch Middle School Parent Corner | |
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Parent Information Guide 2006-07 This document contains basic information concerning: Homework serves an important purpose in your child’s life. It is a means of reviewing and reinforcing skills taught in school or preparing lessons to come. Homework is also a way to help your child develop a sense of responsibility and the study habits necessary to be successful learners. You can help your child to develop the routines that will be of assistance is successfully completing homework assignments. The following suggestions are offered for this purpose: 1. Ask your child if he or she has homework each day. Be cognizant that homework is usually assigned every day and on weekends as well. Your child’s teacher will be providing more specific information about his/her homework practices. By asking your child about homework, you are helping him or her to remember that there is an assignment to be completed. 2. Become interested in your child’s homework. Ask him or her to show the homework to you and to explain what the completed work is about. Sharing in your child’s work reinforces the importance of homework and helps the child to understand that you are interested in his or her progress. Looking at your child’s homework also keeps you informed of his or her progress, as well as their needs and strengths. 3. Remember that homework is your child’s work, not yours. You should not take the responsibility for doing the work. Instead, you should encourage your child to take responsibility for completing all assignments. If your child has trouble with a homework assignment and cannot complete it, you can of course offer a reasonable amount of assistance. If additional instruction seems to be needed, please call or write the teacher to inform them of the problem. It is the teacher’s responsibility to make the homework assignment clearly understood by each student and to offer re-teaching if necessary. Your child’s teacher wants to know if difficulties are occurring with homework assignments so they can help your child. Open and on-going communication between the home and school is desirable and necessary. 4. Help your child set a regular time for homework each day. Encourage your child to develop time management skills for long and short-term assignments. Maintain a balance between school and recreational activities. If homework time consistently exceeds recommended time guidelines, please make the teacher aware. 5. Provide your child with a quiet place to work and study where he or she will not be distracted by radio, TV, or other family members. When necessary, parents will be asked to please provide resources and reference materials to help their children to conduct research or to complete projects outside of school. This may require access to the Internet and/or needed material when long-range projects or reports are assigned. As with daily homework tasks, projects should be done by the students and not the parents. If you experience difficulty obtaining needed materials, please contact your child’s teacher so they can offer assistance. 6. Parents requests for Homework Assignments. Your child must be absent a minimum of 3 days to request homework. Please call the guidance office early in the morning to request homework for the days your child has been absent from school. These calls are appreciated before 9:00 a.m. Please be prepared to tell us who will be taking the assignment home or if you want it kept in the Guidance Office for pick-up after dismissal. PLEASE NOTE:
School absences due to family vacations are considered 7. Students will be provided with a Student Agenda. This assignment notebook is intended to provide a sound foundation for the development of organizational skills and a measure of consistency and continuity for all students. Assignment notebooks will help students and families keep track of daily and long-term assignments. Parents are encouraged to check their child’s assignment notebooks on a daily basis to be sure assignments are being completed. This will also be a reliable vehicle to facilitate notes and communications between parents and teachers. Agendas will be provided to students, free of charge, on the first day of school, September 6, 2006. Homework will help your child grow and develop. Studies have shown that when homework assignments are frequently late, incomplete or missing, those students are at greater risk for failure in the school system. We want your child to be successful at Lynch Middle School and in his or her future years. You are an essential element in helping your child to establish positive attitudes about homework and school. The whole school staff appreciates your involvement and support in this matter. These suggestions are provided to amplify open communication and to promote success for all students. Please feel free to contact the school if you have any questions on the issue of homework. We thank you for your support and hope you and your child have a great school year. As your child enters Lynch Middle School, we would like to familiarize you with the district policy regarding administration of medication during the school day. If your child must be on medication at any time during the school day, check with your doctor and see if you can make arrangements for him/her to receive medication when not in school. If your child must take medication in school, this is the procedure that must be followed:
To avoid accidents and other problems, we ask that under no circumstances should a child bring in his own medicine. It is the parent’s responsibility to bring the medicine to school. No more than a two-week supply of the medication should be brought in at a time. The medicine must be in the original container, properly marked by the pharmacist with your child’s name, name of the medication and the directions on the label. The Form for Steps 1 and 2 are available in the Health Office. We ask you to follow the above procedure so that your child may not only receive the best education for him/her, but also the best health and safety care. Please make the Health Office aware of any communicable diseases, surgery, hospitalization, immunizations or any other pertinent health information regarding your child. Physical examinations will be conducted at our school in the fall. The students required to receive examinations are as follows: ALL 7th graders, new entrants to the school district, classified students, and those participating in winter sports. If you do not wish to have your child examined by the school physician, he/she must be examined by their own physician. All physical forms from private physicians must be in the Health Office by September 29, 2006. If a form from your private physician is not received, your child will be examined by our school physician in accordance to the State Education Department guidelines. Those students who attended LMS in the 2005-2006 school year and who received a physical examination in June by the school physician have met the requirement for Fall physicals. Please be informed that as part of our regular state required screenings for each student, all students will receive a simple urine test for diabetes. This test is not a drug test and should not be confused with the consent for drug testing. This test is a simple "dip stick" test for diabetes and requires no parental consent. Contact the school nurse for a school physical form. Please direct any questions you may have to the Lynch Middle School Health Office at 843-4510. To ensure the safety of all of our students and staff members, we have instituted the following policy for all visitors:
Visitors will enter the entrance by the
Attendance Office and sign in with the staff member on duty.
They will wear a badge that indicates they are a Visitor and
then wait for an escort to their intended
We are all interested in safety inside of the school building, but safety is also important as our children come to and leave school. Therefore, please be reminded of the procedure if you drive your child to school. The Student Drop Off-Pick Up Point at the Lynch Middle School is located at the top of the fire lane. When students are dropped off, they are to walk down the fire lane to the school. They will walk up the fire lane to be picked up at dismissal. Students who have medical concerns that necessitate drop off nearest to the school building must obtain a Vehicle Authorization Request Form from the school nurse. This waiver will allow parents/guardians access to the parking lot so that they will be able to drop their children off at a point nearest to school entrances. Some examples of qualifying medical reasons include students with leg casts, students on crutches, students carrying required medical equipment, etc. A doctor’s signature on this form is a necessity. Parents/guardians will be required to either visibly display or physically produce this waiver form in order to verify access to the school parking lot. Please be advised that these procedures, in conjunction with the following actions, will begin on Wednesday, September 6, 2006. I have contacted the Amsterdam Police Department and they will be patrolling the parking lot. Third, the lane behind the school is for bus transportation only and is closed to traffic bringing students to school. Although you may find these procedures to be inconvenient, be assured that these steps are being taken to improve student safety. We know that you will do everything in your power to deal in a meaningful and effective manner with these procedures to help maintain the orderly and safe arrival of students at school. We are providing a brief overview of our district's code of conduct, which has been developed to follow state and federal laws relating to all students. Please note that a complete copy of the code of conduct will be distributed at the beginning of the school year to each student. The consequences assigned for improper behavior at the Lynch Middle School include lunch detention, after school detention, In-School Suspension, Out-of-School Suspension and the possibility of a Superintendent's Hearing. The severity of a student's conduct determines his/her consequence. Dress Code - The individual dress of the student must not interrupt or distract from the learning process or endanger the safety of the student(s). No visible undergarments are allowed, no vulgar language or insulting language is allowed on any clothing garment. Violent Behavior - Students must not engage in physical exchanges with others. They must keep their hands to themselves. We must all respect each other's space. Disruption of Class/Hallways - Students are expected to behave in a respectful manner at all times. They are not to cause loud noises that detract from the learning environment, or create dangerous situations for others. Tardiness to School/Class - All students are expected to be on time to school and to all of their classes Students will receive a referral after being tardy to class three times, resulting in an after school detention. Continued tardiness to school will result in further action. Electronic Devices - No electronic devices should be brought to school. Electronic devices include, but are not limited to the following: Cell phones, beepers, lasers, walkie-talkies, CD/tape/MP3 Players, Electronic Games or radios. Students will have the items confiscated at the risk of losing them. Lockers - All lockers must bee kept locked at all times. Students are not allowed to share lockers or their combinations for any reasons. Insubordination - Students are expected to cooperate fully with all of the adults in our school. When a student refuses to follow adult directives, disciplinary action resulting in I-School Suspension or Oul-of-School Suspension may result. Harassment - Students are expected to be polite and well mannered at all times. No name calling, put-downs, profanity towards any one in the building will be tolerated. A student who feels that they have been the victim of any such action should report the incident to their Guidance Counselor immediately. Our main telephone number is 843-3716. Use extension numbers to leave a message for the appropriate teacher or office and they will return your call. For a directory of Lynch extensions, click here. |
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