Policies and Procedures

Rolling Hills Middle School

Mrs. Carey’s 6th Grade Policies

Binder Reminder: Your child is required to write all assignments, due dates, and important information in their binder reminder daily during the first 5 minutes of each class. As a courtesy to parents, assignments and due dates are posted online to help monitor if your child is writing the homework down correctly. Your child should not rely on this online resource for their homework since changes are made all the time based on student needs.

Home Practice Policy: Assigned work due the next day unless otherwise noted. Home practice is an essential component to learning. Students develop responsible habits while independently practicing and/or extending what was learned in preparation for what is next. When students do not complete home practice, their learning and their grades are usually negatively affected. The time required to finish home practice depends on the individual student. Please contact us if your child’s actual time spent focused on home practice is taking longer than you feel is necessary.

Late Work Policy: The work being completed by students is not intended as busy work. It is pertinent to their learning. Therefore, late assignments should be avoided. Maximum learning takes place when practice/assignments are being completed when a concept is being learned. Late work will be accepted up until the end of a concept, unit, and/or assessment. Until late work is turned in, it shows as a zero in the gradebook.

Absences: Absences should be avoided unless your child is sick. It is difficult for your child to get caught up when he/she is absent since there is little time during the school day to work on missing assignments. Additionally, student processing and learning of material happens during class through discussion, group work, technology, etc. and CANNOT be duplicated or made up with a handout.

Absent Work: When a student is absent, it is the student’s responsibility to obtain, complete, and turn in work missed. This is a school policy. During an absence, students should check the classroom website daily for any assignments that can be completed at home. There are textbooks and resources online. It is the student’s responsibility to contact their teachers during Focus Period about makeup work at the beginning of the day. When students miss assessments, they will need to make arrangements with the teacher to take them.

Grades: Grades are based on student demonstration of mastery of grade level standards. Please see below for breakdown of grade configurations by subject:

Language Arts: Assessments = 70%

Class/Home Practice = 20%

Independent Reading = 10%

Social Studies: Assessments = 70%

Class/Home Practice = 30%

Exploratory: Pass/Fail based on work completion, effort, and participation.

Focus Period: Pass/Fail based on reading, effort, and participation.

Retaking Assessments: Retaking assessments allows students to relearn the material and demonstrate higher levels of mastery. Students that score below 79% will be able to retake that assessment. Retaking an assessment is optional for all other students at the teacher’s discretion. To retake an assessment, students must fill out a Retake Request form which helps them plan how they will relearn the material. All retakes must be completed in a timely manner.

E-School: Students and parents should check grades often by going to eSchoolPlus using their unique username and password. Students are given class time to check eSchool during the week. Grades are updated weekly and assignments and assessments (excluding essays, reports, and projects) will be scored and returned within a week. It is important to check all assignment scores to be sure the scores have been entered correctly. Errors sometimes happen and can usually be corrected easily. If there is a discrepancy, the student should bring it to the teacher’s attention via email or during Focus Period.

Returned Work: When papers are returned to your child, make sure that he/she keeps them at least through the end of the trimester. If there is a question about a grade in eSchoolPlus your child must present their original paper as evidence.

Independent Reading Book (IDR): Students are required to have an book in their backpack at all times. Also, sustained reading is required during Focus Period for a pass/fail grade. Students need to read 20 min everyday at home.

Tuesday Tutorial: Students will be provided access to after school work time with both teachers. This work time will be offered on Tuesdays from 2:15-3:00 p.m. starting August 20th, unless otherwise notified. The purpose of this work time is to reinforce specific skills and concepts, receive help, study for tests, and retake quizzes/tests. Students can also make arrangements with teachers for extra help on other days as well.

Behavioral and Academic Expectations:

Organizational Skills: Writes daily in binder reminder, has supplies daily, completes assignments on time, arrives to class on time and is ready to work.

Citizenship/Teamwork: Participates well in class or group activities, respects the rights of other students to learn and feel safe at school, follows school rules.

Interpersonal Skills: Communicates appropriately, resolves conflicts respectfully.

Personal Skills: Takes personal responsibility for behavior and learning, puts

forth best effort, exercises self-control.

Discipline Plan: Students are expected to behave in a manner that allows teachers to teach and students to learn. If they are not meeting these expectations they will receive a warning. If poor behavior continues, the student fills out a Refocus Form which requires a parent signature. Failure to return a Refocus Form in a timely manner will result in a referral to the assistant principal. Depending on the degree of behavior, this plan will be modified.

Student Self-Advocacy: Together, we can help encourage your child to self-advocate when he/she has questions/concerns. If we have a question/concern, we will discuss it with your child first. If we are unable to resolve it, we will contact you. If you have a question, please ask your child about it before you contact us and then have your child talk to us directly. This reinforces self-advocacy. This being said, there may be times you need to contact us. Email allows us to correspond with parents privately and gives us flexibility in responding. In all email communication, be sure to include all three teachers. Sometimes the best avenue of communication is phone, but please realize that we are only able to speak with parents on the phone before school, after school, or during our advising time. Please allow a 24-hour response time. We look forward to working with you and your child for a successful sixth grade year!