School Handbook - Jefferson Elementary School (2024)

Good attendance is critical for steady academic growth, and, by law, children are required to attend school.

Please call the school office any time your child will not be in school.

If you are asked to leave a voice mail, please give the following information:

• Name of the parent or guardian calling
• Student's name and grade
• Date(s) of absence
• Reason for absence; please be specific

Absences will only be excused for the following reasons:

• Illness
• Medical or dental appointment
• A family death or serious illness
• Court/judicial appearance
• Religious observations
• School-sponsored activities

Students who are late to school will be considered tardy. Please make every effort to have your student at school on time.

Students who become truant (inexcusably absent three consecutive days or five school days in any semester or seven days in a school year) will be reported to the Kansas Department for Children and Families in accordance with Board of Education Policy 1461.

Early check-out

Parents should call the school office to make arrangements for an early pick up.

Parents will wait outside for student to be brought to door #1.

Parent/caregiver should be prepared to show identification to school staff to ensure safe pick.

Students who have a dental or doctor appointment need to be checked out through the office.

Persons checking out students must be on the student’s Pupil Information Form and 18 years of age or older.

Students who are checked out before 2:30 p.m. will receive an absence for the afternoon.

Afternoon absences are excused with a note from the medical facility in which the appointment occurred (per BOE Policy 5314-Pupil Appointment for Health Reason).

Students who are checked out after 2:30 p.m. receive an early out for the afternoon.

Parents are discouraged from constant early checkout without a valid reason (doctor or dentist).

Students who are constantly checked out early may have additional outside intervention assigned. Students will not be checked out after 3:45 p.m.

Students must live 2.5 miles or more from their assigned school to qualify for transportation to that school.

For questions about WPS transportation and busing, call 316-973-2190.

The district does offer the FirstView app that helps families track their student's school bus. Families will need a security code from the school office to use the app.

Before School

The parking lot closest to the main doors (Door #1) should not be used before school or after school.

If your child is tardy/late (arrives after 9 a.m.)you are able to park in the parking lot and walk your student inside to sign them in.

Handicap parking is reserved for visitors who have a handicap placard or tag and have an appointment inside the school building.

We are asking parents who are using Pershing or Orme to please stay in their cars - students in grades 2nd-5th will come to you.

Kdg and 1st grade parents can park on Dellrose or on the neighborhood side streets to walk and pick up your student from his/her teacher.

Students will arrive at 8:50 a.m. and line up by their designated grade level/classroom cone outside.

Students will transition inside with their classroom teacher as soon as most students have arrived.

Remember there is no supervision prior to 8:50 a.m. outside.

Students should be dropped off on Orme, Dellrose or Pershing and allowed to walk to their designated cone/door.

Students who are tardy (arrive after 9 a.m.) must be signed in by their parent/guardian in the office.

After School

Students who are chronically left in the office after 4:20 will be considered Child In Need of Care.

School security and 911 will be contacted to secure the students delivery home.

Jefferson does not have an official code of standardized dress, but the following should be considered to outline students dress while at school:

• Jeans/pants/shorts that are too large will be expected to be held up at the waist with a belt. If no belt is present, string will be issued to assist in keeping the student’s pants/shorts from sagging.
• Shirts should be free from any profanity, advertising of tobacco, alcohol, violent images/weapons.
• Girls are expected to wear leggings under short skirts/shorts.
• No spaghetti strap shirts (3rd – 5th grade).
• Shirts should always cover the entire front area of a student’s body.
• No baseball caps/bandanas of any kind are worn at school.
• Button down shirts are expected to remain buttoned at all times.
• Hoodie sweatshirt hoods are not worn inside the building at anytime.

Thank you for working with us to ensure our students are dressed appropriately for the school setting.

If your child’s dress violates one of the above or is distracting as determined by school administration, a phone call will be made home and a change of clothes will be requested for the student.

If no adult can bring up a change of clothing, students will be given clothing from our donation tub to wear for the remainder of the day.

Parents should notify the school nurse if there are any health conditions that may require medical attention, such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.

If a student becomes ill during the school day, they should request a pass to see the nurse.

Students who exhibit fever, sore throat or tonsillitis, any eruption of the skin or rash, any respiratory symptoms accompanied by a fever, severe cough or cold, or any eruption of the scalp, will be sent home.

Parents will be notified to pick up their student and must do so in a timely manner to limit exposure to other students and school staff.

Please keep your emergency contact information up to date with both the teacher and office staff.

School board policy (BOE P5316) restricts school personnel from giving students any medication, including over-the-counter medication.

Medication is given only upon written request from both the parent/guardian and the student's physician.

Students must also have received one dose of medication without an adverse reaction prior to any doses being given at school.

All medicine must be in the original container and be presented by a parent to the school nurse for safe keeping and scheduled administration. The container should be labelled with the following:

• Name of student
• Name of medication
• Directions for use
• Name of physician
• Name and address of pharmacy
• Date of prescription

The district uses the ParentVUE online portal to give parents to access information about their student's attendance, assignments and grades.

ParentVUE allows parents to quickly and easily update their family contact information, which is vital in order to maintain strong home-to-school connections.

Students learn best in an environment that is free from constant behavior outbursts. Jefferson students are expected to follow the character traits of:

• Respectful
• Responsible
• Caring
• Hardworking
• Honest

In many instances we work to use Restorative Practices with students, which means helping them understand how their behavior has caused harm for others.

Many times the issues can be resolved through this practice.

However, parents will still be contacted for students who display disruptive behavior.

If the behavior is such that it endangers the safety of other pupils, suspension may be one consequence enacted.

If a student is suspended, an adult will be required to come and pick the student up.
We want our students to handle their disagreements in a way that does not result in physical aggression.

Physical altercations will be investigated and could result in an out of school suspension.

Suspension may also be enacted for the following, but not limited to: defiance, disrespectful/rude behavior toward adults, bullying, harassment (of any kind), stealing, destroying school property or extreme/dangerous behavior that is disruptive to the classroom.

Please reference Board of Education Policies: 1464, 1465, 5113 for further detailed information on student behavior/Student Code of Conduct brochure.

• Bullying
• Sexual Harassment
• Cell Phone Policy

We provide breakfast for all students free of charge.

Lunch fees can depend on family income.

Complete the Free and Reduced Meal Application annually to qualify for free lunch and adjustments to school fees.

The district uses an app called School Cafe to allow families to see menus.

The district uses LINQ Connect to pay for meals.

For special dietary restrictions, please contact the school nurse.

Field trips with our city and nearby sites of interest are scheduled by classroom teachers throughout the school year.

These trips are designed to supplement different aspects of the classroom curriculum and introduce students to resources within the community.

Parents will be notified of the planned trip at least five days in advance and must sign a trip waiver for students to attend.

If a student does not have a signed permission slip to attend the trip, they will not go.

We will not accept verbal permission over the phone.

If there is a fee for the field trip, the money needs to be submitted at least three days prior to the scheduled trip.

All field trips require the use of school buses.

Parents are not able to transport students on field trips.

If a parent serves as a chaperone, they will need to complete the school district's volunteer registration process prior to the field trip.

The safety of students, staff and parents is the Wichita Public Schools' greatest priority during the threat of dangerous conditions.

Emergency plans are in place should tornadoes, lightning, hail, snow or other dangerous circumstances present a safety concern.

If schools are to be closed or activities cancelled or rescheduled due to weather conditions, the information will be posted on the Wichita Public Schools' main webpage and displayed on all school websites.

Parent-Teacher Conferences are a great way to stay involved in your child's education.

Parents have the opportunity to discuss their child's progress, review assignments, learn about future projects and to strengthen the connection between home and school.

Parent-Teacher Conferences are held twice a year in October and February.

Progress reports are provided to parents every quarter.

Reviewing these reports is an essential component of parent involvement in their child's education.

Please look for these reports and discuss them with your student.

You may also log on to ParentVue for an ongoing list of grades provided by the teacher.

If you have any concerns about these reports, contact your student's teacher.

All visitors to the building, including parents, must sign in through our visitor management system HallPass.

Parents, caregivers and other relatives wanting to volunteer in the school or for field trips are required to register every year as a volunteer.

Visit the Volunteer Registration page to complete your annual registration.

Jefferson will set aside one day/month to celebrate monthly birthdays.

This means parents will not be able to bring treats on the specific birth date of their child.

For example, if your child’s birthday is October 15, the date to bring treats will be determined by the school’s calendar planning team.

Those dates are listed below.

Healthy, store bought, packaged snacks/treats should be brought.

We have many students with food allergies so only store bought, packaged items will be allowed.

Teachers may decide to send some items home if there is an abundance of sugary items.

• 9/11 (for August and September birthdays)
• 10/2 (October)
• 11/6 (November)
• 12/4 (December)
• 1/8 (January)
• 2/5 (February)
• 3/5 (March)
• 4/2 (April)
• 5/7 (May/June/July)