Family Guide for Healthy, Safe, and Successful Children

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Parent Involvement

Blythe Academy of Languages has a long history of strong parent involvement.  PTA and School Improvement Council are both active functioning groups focused on school improvement and student needs.  Each group meets monthly and has shared a common goal this year of increasing opportunities for parental involvement in school and learning activities. 

PTA has worked with the school to sponsor Red Ribbon Week activities, bimonthly 3M Lunches (Men Who Matter the Most), Honor Roll Celebrations, B.U.G. Club (Bringing Up Grades), and the Blythe Blast, our annual fund raiser.  Red Ribbon Week activities included special events for students at all grade levels.  The 3M Lunches give the men in our students’ lives opportunities to be involved in school.  The SIC sponsored the B.U.G. Club this year.  The B.U.G. Club recognizes students who improve any subject by a letter grade, while maintaining their grades in all of the other subjects.  Students were recognized for their accomplishments with a special treat and a certificate.  PTA recruits volunteers each year to assist classroom teachers and to work with under-achieving students.  These volunteers contributed nearly 15,000 hours of their time last school year.  Our PTA and SIC are a vital part of the school environment.  Their financial contributions and physical support make a direct impact on student achievement.

Community and business partners provide a wide range of services and goods to our school.  Many businesses offer student rewards and incentives for such things as perfect attendance and honor roll.  Each year our students participate in many charitable and service-oriented projects. Some of these include: Jump Rope for Heart, The Giving Tree for various charities, and the Great Paper Caper for recycling with the City of Greenville. 

Visitation During School

The staff at Blythe welcomes visits from parents since it increases the spirit of teamwork between the school and home.  Classroom visits are a time for observation only or volunteer activities.  Parents are asked to limit a visit to a 30 minute session.  (Since state guidelines require that classes be interrupted in emergency situations only, parents will not be able to visit a class to speak with a teacher.  Any disruption to the instruction of students creates a loss in learning time for the class.)  The beginning and end of the school day are crucial.  Parents are asked to refrain from interrupting a class during these times.  If there is a concern, please leave a message at the office for your child’s teacher.  The teacher will contact the parent as soon as possible.  If you have not heard from the teacher by the next school day,  please call the office again to let them know you have not been contacted.

All visitors in the building, including parents and school volunteers, must stop by the office first and SIGN-IN so that their presence in the building is known and pick up a visitor’s badge.  The staff feels a responsibility to parents to insure the safety and well-being of students while they are at school.  For that reason, visitors are asked to display the badge conspicuously so that any intruder in the building may be quickly noted.  Parents who are not wearing a badge may be asked by a staff member or student to report to the office.  All doors will be locked after 8:00 a.m.  The only access into the building will be through the reception area doors in the front of the building. 

General Communication with the School

1.      Send a note or call the school office if you need for your child to go home a different way than usual.  This is for your child’s protection.

2.      Listen to your radio or television for information about school closings due to inclement weather.  This is how we get our information.  Many times our lines are so busy with calls from parents that district personnel cannot get through to give us more information.

3.      Read the school newsletter and the handbook for information about holidays, conferences and teacher workdays.

4.      Parents need to bring any messages, money, books, or assignments by the office during the school day.  Please do not take them directly to your child’s room.  The office will deliver to your child what is needed during appropriate intervals in the school day.

5.      Please do not ask your child’s teacher for class rolls, addresses, or telephone numbers.  We are not permitted to release this information.  You may receive this information in the Student Directory when it is available.

Arrival, Departure, and Transportation Procedures

Arrivals

1. Car riders should not arrive before 7:25 a.m. each morning. Adult supervision is not provided until this time.

2. All students should be at school by 8:00 a.m. Anyone arriving to school after this time will be considered tardy and will need to be signed in by a parent in the main office.

3. Students should be dropped off at the front of the building in the car line. Students are not permitted to walk across the parking lot.

4. Student carpools may use the bus line from 7:45–8:00 a.m. only!

Parents should enter from Augusta Road and follow the car traffic in the circle to leave their child at the drop-off point at the front of the school.   Parents are not allowed to drop-off their children from the teacher parking lots at the side of the building facing Long Hill before 7:45 am.  Please remember that teachers need access to all parking spaces until 7:45 a.m. so they may be able to be on time for work.  Teachers will come into Blythe Drive from Long Hill and park in the teacher parking lot.  All buses and vans will also use this entrance for arrival and departures.  Handicapped car riders will be dropped off in the front at the left door.  Fifteen cars at a time should be able to be unloaded and loaded. 

Departures

1. Students should be picked up between 2:30 and 2:45 p.m. Parents arriving after 2:50 p.m. will need to sign their student out in the main office.

2. Parents MUST have a car number for their children displayed on the rearview mirror or dashboard of the vehicle. Please practice this number at home with your children so they will be sure to leave the building when you arrive. To protect our children, you will not be permitted to pick up a child in the car line without a car number. If you do
   not have a car number, you will be required to park your car and report to the main office.

3. We DO NOT grant early dismissals after 1:30 p.m. Anyone who needs to pick up a child after this time must go through the car line. Please share this information with anyone authorized to pick up your child for an early dismissal.

4. All children must be dismissed through the FRONT door. Parents are not permitted to walk to the building to pickup a child or allow their child to be a “walker” if they do not live in the neighborhood. EVERYONE MUST USE THE CAR LINE.

Cars will be doubled stacked until they get to the curve at the front of the building.  Your child will receive a car number at the beginning of school. Students will be called to the front by way of computer and television. Parents will arrive at the front of the school in two lines and put their cars in PARK. Students are then escorted to their car by an adult.

Car Riders/Dismissals

There will be staff members and patrols in front of the building to welcome and dismiss students.  Staff members will be strategically placed to keep things moving in an orderly fashion.  Students will be picked up by 2:50 p.m.  After 3:00 p.m., parents must come in the building to pick up their child and sign to release them.

Early Dismissals

Early dismissals are excused and classified according to the explanations given for attendance and absences according to the school district policy as outlined in the handbook.  Students who need to leave school early must present a note written by a parent or legal guardian to the office by 8:30 a.m.   Notes must contain the following information:   date, student’s full name, reason and time of dismissal, name of person transporting student and telephone number of a parent who can be reached to verify dismissal, if needed.  The parent, guardian, or designee must come into the office to sign the early dismissal list before the student leaves school.  If anyone other than the parent or guardian picks up the student, identification will be required before the student is permitted to leave.  To ensure safety, the school administration reserves the right to disallow any request for dismissal that cannot be properly verified.  Dismissals need to be made before 1:30 p.m. unless there has been administrative approval.  Unless there is an extreme emergency, parents may not call the school after 1:30 p.m. to change dismissal of a student.