The New School Parent & Student Handbook

The main purpose of The New School Parent and Student Handbook is to make sure that all community members are clear as to what the rules, guidelines, and procedures are for the current school year. The New School seeks to involve staff, students, and parents as much as possible in forming school rules and procedures, and we encourage an open dialogue on all matters covered in this handbook.

School Hours, Arrival, and Pickup

• The school day is 9:00-3:55 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and 9:00-2:30 on Wednesday. Classes begin promptly at 9:00.

• Students should not arrive at school before 8:45. We cannot provide early morning supervision. However, students purchasing lunch must order before 8:55.

• Students should be picked up at school promptly when they are dismissed at 3:55 (or 2:30). Since the school is responsible for students as long as they are on campus, one or more staff members must remain on campus until the last student is picked up. Please be considerate of our staff as they have their own personal and family obligations to attend to after work.
  Parents who are chronically late picking up their children should be aware that the school will charge a fee of $25.00 for every quarter hour you are late.

NOTE:
Parents who arrive after 4:10 (2:40 on Wednesday) or parents who are chronically later than 3:55 (2:40) will be charged a late fee of $25.00 for each infraction.

• If you are not able to pick up your child on time on a regular basis, you should enroll your child (3rd-12th grade) in the after-school Homework Group. Parents of high school students are encouraged to make alternate arrangements for late pickup (e.g. meet your child at McDonalds) to avoid being assessed the late fee. Students who drive to school must leave school grounds at dismissal unless prearrangements have been made to stay after school (See "Rules and Respect" section.)

• Students are not allowed to leave the school campus once they arrive in the morning without permission from a parent or an administrator.

• Students who take the METRO to the Vienna stop will be picked up at 8:30 A.M. If a student does not arrive on time to catch the bus to school, he or she should call the school office to leave a message and then take a CUE bus (Green 1) to school.

• Students purchasing lunch must order and pay in the office before 8:55.

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Afternoon Pickup Procedure

To facilitate quick and easy afternoon pickup, please adhere to the following procedure:

• The first car arriving for pickup in the afternoon should pull around the corner and part way up the exit driveway, being careful not to block the driveway. Other cars should fill in behind as they arrive. Students belonging to these cars should use the sidewalk and grassy area to get to their cars, rather than cutting across the driveway.

• All cars waiting for students should pull as far to the right as possible to allow other cars to pass on the left. Do not block the driveway or the small bus that makes the METTRO run, or park in such a way as to impede the movement of the line.

• Students must wait for their ride outside the Lower School area or next to the courtyard between the buildings. Students are not allowed to congregate on the sidewalk past the Lower School area or ing the driveway above the school as doing so is disruptive to the neighboring businesses. Parents are not to park in front of the neighboring business offices. If you wish to park and walk over to pick up your child, you must park in the side lot next to the woods (on your left as you enter Silver King Court from Pickett Road).

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Absences

Parents (not students) should call the school office (703.691.3040) if their child will be absent or arrive late.

Parents should call or send in a note if their child will be leaving early, and must sign out their child in the office when they arrive to pick them up after school.

If parents will be out of town and have left their child, they must inform the school, leaving the name and telephone number of an appropriate guardian.

If a student becomes ill during the day, the OFFICE will call you. Please DO NOT come to pick up your child unless you have spoken to someone in the office or an administrator. Students may only call parents for early pickup with permission from the office.

Please note the policy for getting make-up work found in the next section.

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Absences and Make-up Work

Students cannot earn a failing grade in a course solely for being absent too much. However, absenteeism often results in lowered class participation grades, lowered grades on in-class assignments, and lowered grades because missed homework assignments were not done. It is these things that can result in a failing grade for a course.
Excessive absenteeism will result in a student being withdrawn from a class. The following schedule, requiring automatic withdrawal from a class, was calculated using an absenteeism rate of 25% and 30 hours of class time for each quarter-credit (which is 450 minutes missed from an 1800 minute course).

When the student has 10 absences from a Morning Module class

When the student has 10 absences from a quarter long A or B module class

When the student has 8 absences from a quarter long C, D, or E module

When the student has 16 absences from a semester long C, D, or E module class

A student in a yearlong course constitutes a special case. He will not be automatically withdrawn until he accrues 40 absences, which is a huge number. When a student exceeds the allotted number of absences per quarter, however, he will meet with the teacher to see whether it makes sense for the student to continue in the class.
If the student was in good standing and was passing the course prior to the withdrawal, then his or her transcript will show WP (withdrawn, passing). If the student was failing prior to the absences, and made little or no effort to make up missed assignments, his or her transcript will show WF (withdrawn, failing). In other words, if, after the teacher calculates the student’s grade, he or she cannot pass the course, the transcript will read WF.
A student earns an absence whenever he or she misses a class, with the following exception:

Students will not be recorded as absent when attending mandatory field trips sponsored by another class or the school.

All other absences will be recorded as such, regardless of the reason. Clearly, the school will review unique and unforeseen events that might cause a student to be absent from school. Students should be mindful of the number of absences they are accumulating. They should do everything in their power to avoid the sad situation of being withdrawn from a course when a true emergency puts them over the allowed number of absences.
Our experience strongly suggests that the new policy will rarely affect students who are conscientious about attendance. Our hope is that this policy will, through its clarity, help all students take full advantage of our uniquely collaborative environment.

Students are responsible for obtaining and making up assignments. Students should obtain assignments for make-up from their classmates for one or two day absences. For longer absences, students should contact their teacher for assignments. Students are expected to turn in long-term assignments(papers or projects) due during their absence immediately on their return. Please reference the long-term absences policy for further details.

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Lateness Policy

School starts at 9:00 a.m. Classes begin at 9:00, 10:40, 11:30, 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00. Teachers expect students in class, seated, with all necessary materials at these times.

Teachers incorporate participation credit into their grading structures and latenesses result in the loss of points off a student's final grade. Students may fail, or receive a lower grade on in-class work missed as a result of being late. Students who are excessively late for a class may be refused entrance to that class for the day.

Students are expected to come fully prepared to class. This means each student must bring writing utensils, paper, texts, other reading materials and homework assignments. Preparedness for class is a fundamental part of class participation, and coming to class without these basic items can result in a loss of points from a students final grade. In addition, students sign a contract, and students with chronic problems being prepared for class may be referred to the Academic Protocol for action.

Teachers will notify parents when latenesses or lack of preparation are becoming a problem, and will work with students and parents to come up with solutions to the problem.

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Inclement Weather Policy

Messages regarding school closing are put on the voice mail as soon as a decision is made. If in doubt, use your best judgement as to whether to bring your child. It is a good idea to delay leaving home until you know for sure whether school will be in session, as sometimes the bad weather does not begin until morning commute times. Be aware that the school driveway becomes slick very easily, even when the streets are not too bad.

Our inclement weather policy is as follows:

• If Fairfax County Schools are closed, we are closed.
• If Fairfax County opens late, regardless of how late, we open at 10:30.
• If weather becomes inclement during school hours, we will make every effort to contact you to let you know that school is being dismissed early. However, you are encouraged to call the school on your own to check the voice mail message or to pick up your child early as you see fit.

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Student Well-being and Medication Policy

State law requires that ALL STUDENTS have an emergency information form completed, signed by a parent or guardian, and filed in the school office. A student may be excluded from school until this requirement has been fulfilled.

If a child has an accident or becomes ill at school, the parents will be notified after school personnel have determined if it is serious enough to warrant a phone call. Students are not allowed to call home on their own to report illness.

A written request must be provided by the parent/guardian before school personnel may administer any long-term medication (more than one dose). Medications are kept locked in the office or in the Lower School Director's office. It is the responsibility of the student to obtain their medication from office personnel or the Lower School Director. The staff will not seek out the student.

If a student has a condition requiring the use of an inhaler, please inform the office. If your student is competent in the management of his/her respiratory condition he/she may keep the inhaler with their belongings. It is strongly encouraged that a back-up inhaler is left in the office.