Student Expectations

Student Expectations

Attendance

Regular attendance at school is a key element of academic success. Parents are asked to plan outside activities (dental appointments, family trips, etc.) around the school schedule and calendar. Students are expected to arrive at school by 08:50 as classes start at 9:00 and run until 13:00 or 15:45 daily.

Tardiness

We expect students to be in their classrooms ready to learn at 09:00. Chronic tardiness interferes with classroom routines and causes children to miss important learning activities. Students coming to school at 09:15 or after will be marked as an unexcused tardy. For students who arrive after 11:00 will be marked as a half day absence.

Daily Absences

For any absence, please email the Citizenship Coordinator and the homeroom teacher. Include the nurse for any illness, and transportation if applicable.

Extended Absences

An extended absence severely disrupts a student’s learning program. However, we acknowledge that extended absences are sometimes unavoidable. Please inform the teacher and the principal well in advance of any anticipated extended absences (five days or more) by email. If a family decides to take additional vacation time, the Daily Learning Journey on Moodle reflects the daily lessons.  Please be aware that extended absences could prevent us from making a proper assessment or any assessment on your child’s report card. Many of the learning engagements require the student’s presence for completion and, thus, may have to be modified due to missed class time. If a child has accumulated many absences, the Child Study Team reserves the right not to promote him/her to the next grade level.

Early Dismissal from School

Parents who need to pick up their children early from school must inform via email the homeroom teacher and the citizenship & student life coordinator by 10:00. Parents must check-in at the guard’s booth at which point the students will be brought to the gate to meet their parent(s). If a child is picked up by a parent or other primary caregiver, out of the routine schedule (as in case of separation, divorce, or travel), the homeroom teacher and the citizenship coordinator must be notified via email.

Dress Code

Cleanliness, appropriate grooming, and proper dress are important in promoting a positive atmosphere for school and social conduct. The standards of dress for school should reflect proper hygiene. Students are always expected to dress in an appropriate manner. In particular, the following items are not allowed at school: any clothing with obscene or suggestive words or patterns; torn clothing. For safety reasons students should wear comfortable shoes to school. 

Parents should be sure all clothing and items worn or brought to school are labeled with the child’s name. Please check our Lost & Found located in the cafeteria periodically. Unclaimed clothing is given to charity throughout the school year.

Personal Devices and Items

Personal music players, cameras, cell phones and smart phones are not permitted for elementary students on campus or buses. Failure to respect this policy will result in the confiscation of the item. Students are not permitted to use any type of electronic signaling devices during class time, passing periods or breaks within the classroom. All communication between students and parents during the school day must go through the Main Office. Videotaping within the ACS Athens Campus is not only inappropriate but ILLEGAL. Students who act in violation of this policy shall be subject to ACS’s progressive discipline outlined below. If a school faculty or staff member finds it necessary to confiscate a device, parents will be notified, and the device will be returned in accordance with school rules after the Citizenship Coordinator has consulted with the student’s parent/guardian. The school is not responsible for lost or stolen devices that are brought to school.

Toys, playing cards, fidget spinners etc. are not allowed on campus either, unless recommended by a learning specialist.

For safety reasons and to ensure the protection of school property, rollerblades, Heelys, skateboards, etc. are not allowed on campus.

Selling of items during school hours is prohibited through any school accounts or hand to hand.

Parent Responsibilities

Parents Agree to:

Emergency Drills

Evacuation drills are conducted regularly and have undergone a review by the Regional Security Office of the U.S. Embassy. Students are taught to leave the buildings quickly and safely for any type of campus emergency. Students are expected to:

It is imperative that we have your current address and phone number/s (including cell phones) plus the number of someone else to reach, on file, in case of an emergency. If any of your numbers (home, work, emergency) change, please alert us immediately by email to the administrative assistant and your child/ren’s teachers.

Emergency Temporary School Closure

The obligations of the School under this Agreement may be suspended immediately without notice during the periods that the School must close of Force Majeure events including, but not limited to, fire, acts of God, war, governmental action, terrorism, epidemic, pandemic, outbreaks of infectious disease, any other public health crisis, or any other event beyond the School’s control. If such an event occurs, the School’s duties and obligations under this Agreement may be suspended or postponed until such time as the School, in its sole discretion, may safely re-open. A Force Majeure event will not entitle the parent(s), guardian(s), or other financially responsible party/parties to a tuition refund. The aforementioned explicitly waive their claims of unjustifiable enrichment.

Whenever possible, official announcements of school closure will be made in advance through email, SMS text, and/or on the school’s website. The Elementary School Office maintains an emergency phone tree, which will allow administration and faculty members to contact all Elementary School families in the case of an emergency closure.

In addition, parents can call the school at 210 6393 200 between 08:00 and 16:00, or the ACS Athens Security Office at 210 6393 555 before or after these hours for information. To this end, each parent should ensure that an up-to-date phone number and email address are accurate in their Skyward parent portal.

Administrative Decisions Affecting Students, Updated: September 24, 2021

ACS Athens operates based on its own set of procedures and policies, as defined by the school Board of Trustees, the school President and the USA Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools guidelines. The USA Middle States Associations also approves the school policies and procedures by accrediting ACS Athens.

Educational decisions affecting students are made by the school principal after consultation with the appropriate faculty and counseling personnel. For financial issues the applicable administrator will be involved. All such decisions must be approved by the ACS Athens President.

The ACS Athens Conscious Citizenship Model

Our citizenship model aims to further develop through reflection many attributes of our ACS Learner profile. We expect our students to be inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open - minded, caring individuals, risk- takers, balanced, reflective and decision makers. Students are expected to show responsibility, leadership, service and to lead by example.

 In a school community defined by a culture of respect:

The ACS Athens 3 R's

At ACS Athens Elementary School, we are committed to an ethic rooted in deep caring. It is our philosophy that any disciplinary actions or interventions should be grounded in the idea that the purpose of that intervention should be to hold students accountable for their behavior and ultimately change the behavior rather than administer "punishment".

 In this way, we work with students in a Positive Behavior Support model so that they may become managers of their own attitudes and actions.

This is taught and reinforced through the ACS Athens 3Rs:

 Be Respectful

 We discuss with students how they can become better students and cooperative members of our community through respect (of ourselves, each other, and the world around us), responsibility, and readiness. These characteristics are discussed within the classroom as well as in school-wide assemblies and reinforced daily within the context of a school-wide program.

 Research shows that positive relationships help children learn (American Psychological Association and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2014). When our homes, schools, and communities are free from fear, anger, and other distractions, students are more likely to succeed and develop as whole human beings.

 Classroom teachers and school community members use a variety of other strategies to promote the positive behaviors that set a scaffold for children to: care deeply, support each other and make good choices. This includes positive reinforcement, specific praise, class meetings, assemblies, reflective listening by adults on campus to let children know they are heard and understood, and timely communication and partnership with parents.

The ACS Athens 3 R's and Digital Citizenship

As Technology has started to play an increasing role in students’ life, in and out of school, Digital Citizenship skills are necessary for them to succeed as learners, leaders and citizens in the digital world.

At ACS Athens Elementary School we guide our students to develop those skills implementing the Digital Citizenship curriculum by CommonSense which is framed around the following six core themes: Media Balance, Privacy and Security, Digital Footprint and Identity, Cyberbullying, and Digital Relationships and Communication.

For more information, please visit the CommonSense website (linked here).

 We believe that access to technology equipment and resources (computers/laptops/ internet) is a privilege and not a right, so students are required to use the 3 R's in their digital life too.

 Be Respectful

Be Responsible

Be Ready

Ways Parents Can Support with the ACS Athens 3 R's

Education is a partnership. We work hard to create a harmonious, challenging, and positive learning environment. We are unable to accomplish this without parental support. Working together as members of a caring and concerned team, we can successfully guide your children / our students on the path to academic achievement and responsible citizenship in preparation for successful and meaningful lives.

Being Respectful. We can help our children be respectful of others face-to-face and online by modeling basic social interactions, saying “please”, “thank you”, and “excuse me” to each other, our children, and people we come in contact with physically and virtually. Also, modeling respect for others even when we disagree with them is a valuable way for children to successfully adopt respectful behaviors.

Being Responsible. Teaching responsibility makes your children more self-reliant and independent. Some ways you can do this is by assigning children some age-appropriate accountability including self-care such as dressing themselves or washing their hands, picking up after themselves, or having another age-appropriate “job” at home. Responsible online behavior should also be encouraged through discussions about online communication, privacy and security, digital footprints, media balance. Certainly, modeling any skill, in this case that of responsibility, is the best way to teach it. By the upper elementary level, students should be encouraged to discuss their concerns with their teacher themselves rather than rely on parent intervention. We do this in order to build important self-advocacy skills from a young age.

Being Ready. This skill goes along with becoming more self-reliant. To promote readiness, please create opportunities for your child to practice this, such as packing their own backpack, signing out of their devices. You can also begin to use timers at home that give them clues for how much longer they have, for example, until it is time to get their shoes on, turn off their device, get in the car to go to school, or when homework time needs to begin. One very important way to help your child be ready is to get and keep them organized so they know where everything is and can easily “get ready” when it is time.

Using the Language of the 3 R's. Please reinforce these concepts by using the language we are using in school. Tell your child when they are doing a good job being Respectful, Responsible, or Ready. Please be specific in your praise for that praise to be most effective.

Giving Life to Learning through the Restorative Process

At ACS Athens Elementary School, we believe in restorative justice, meaning that anyone who engages in misconduct should be given the opportunity to "Make It Right" again.

For more information about this philosophy, please see the book "Kids are Worth it!" (Harper Collins, 2010).

 The four-step “Make It Right” process is followed: