School Expectations

General Expectations

• Staff members should be in their room at all times unless there is a medical emergency or it is planning time.

• All staff members should check their emails daily and respond within 24-48 hours. (Follow CMS policy and refrain from chain letters, personal emails, etc.) 

• Bulletin boards should display student work, school spirit, or be a part of a school-sponsored contest or theme. 

• Regular staff attendance is crucial to student success. Staff attendance will be closely monitored -- particularly on Mondays and Fridays (high staff absences days). A doctor's excuse is required for three or more days and in cases of excessive absences or patterns of absences. Click here to read CMS Board Policy GCMB “Attendance by Employees” 

• Required assessments and related paperwork are to be completed and turned in within identified time frames. 

• Remember, we are continuing to use the skills and strategies from the “Mindfulness for Teachers” and “Growth Mindset” [click links for info] 

Ethical Practices & Professionalism

It is the legal, moral, and ethical responsibility of all staff members to maintain the confidentiality of all student information. Discussing a student with anyone other than the parent, legal guardian, another staff member responsible for the child's instructional program or welfare or persons with legal access to student identifiable information is considered a breach of confidentiality and is not allowed.

NC State Board of Education Code of Ethics  [click to read]

CMBE Policy Religion in Schools  [click to read]

NC Educator Standards - These are also the standards that teachers, mentors, academic support staff, technology facilitators, social workers, and therapists are evaluated on. 

As a CMS employee, we all work under the NC Code of Conduct and Ethics. We have specific responsibilities, as public school employees, including but not limited to how we are to interact with students and one another. Being engaged in rumor or gossiping will not be tolerated at our school; it diminishes the culture we have established of being focused on meeting the needs of the students and adding to a positive working environment and staff morale. It is everyone's responsibility to interact in a manner in support of our primary focus on meeting the needs of our students and contributing to a positive work environment for everyone. All staff are expected to read the NC Code of Ethics, CMS Board of Education policy entitled "Standards of Conduct" and "Religion in the Schools". 

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• It is expected that Metro staff conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times. The rule applies to ALL staff members; there are no exceptions. The task of providing our students with outstanding instruction is challenging and can be significantly undermined by negative and/or derogatory interactions among employees. Therefore, any disagreements bet(ween staff members should be resolved promptly and professionally. We will have a team of trained “mediators” for staff to reach out to for support. The administrative team is available to assist in any way possible. 

• Comments to students should always be positive and constructive, never sarcastic. Our students will follow the pattern of conduct we model. Therefore, we should always demonstrate appropriate patterns of behavior. This proper conduct code applies to conversations with other teachers and parents. 

• Spotlight Areas:  

• Language with students and peers, professional dress, and professional language. 

• P-STND and the Code of Ethics direct correlation to NCEES Standards for Teachers

• P-STND  (43) Any form of unwelcome or inappropriate physical contact with a student, except for the purpose of appropriate instruction, self-defense or necessary and appropriate physical restraint. 

• Gossiping will not be tolerated at our school

Cautionary Examples - Standards of Conduct (P-STND)

• Texting (or other private communication)

• Touching/hugging

• Private Spaces

  • Covered windows/doors

  • Car

  • House

  • Appearance of impropriety

Classroom Safety Procedures

"Rules for Classroom Operations from CMS Property Management"  [please click and read]

Frequently Asked Fire Safety Questions [please click and read]

***There are periodic, unannounced classroom inspections to ensure we are complying with these procedures by these agencies and by members of the admin team

Supervision of Students

• School personnel are responsible for students from 

• the time the students arrive until they leave in a bus, van or car

• Students MUST BE supervised at all times 

The entire staff is responsible for seeing that students are in their proper areas on campus, engaged in educational activities, and all actions on the playground are safe and well supervised. If a student goes “missing”, immediately call the front office to issue a building-wide “ALERT” (code red) call. Give the student’s name and last place the student was seen. All staff will actively assist to locate the student. 

              [click here to read the CMS Missing Student procedures] 

• Daily attendance must be entered in Infinite Campus by 9:00a.m. 

• It is the responsibility of the receiving staff to report to the classroom teacher if any student fails to show up on time to a designated area (e.g. art, music, PE, swimming, Homeliving, Media)

Walls

What to use on the walls: Please remember, do not use masking tape or "Velcro dots" on any classroom walls (damages the wall when removed). We supply "scotch tape", thumb tacks, push pins, or Command hooks that you can use to adhere items to walls. These products keep items on walls without putting large holes in the walls or pulling paint off walls. Our building is relatively new and we want to keep this building looking nice. All hallway bulletin boards should remain current and relevant. 

Ordering Food

• Ordering outside food should NOT disrupt the instructional day. Food should be consumed during staff member's lunch time and must NOT be consumed in front of students. All orders must be dropped off at the front of the school. No back door deliveries allowed. On occasion, the administrative team will determine if the PTO, etc. can purchase meals for all staff members. 

Email Signature

In an effort to remain consistent in our correspondence across all forms of communication throughout the district, all employees must format their email signature per Email Guidelines as found in the CMS Brand + Identity Guidelines. This publication can be found on the Intranet, under Communication Resources.

• CMS emails should NOT include inspirational quotes, religious

• CMS email signatures must be in black font.

• CMS email signatures must use Avenir Book, 11 pt. font size. If Avenir is unavailable, use Arial.

• CMS email signatures should NOT be italicized.

Social Media

(P-SOCM & P-SOCM/R)

• “As a public employee, use of social media is considered an extension of the workplace as it relates to employee conduct.”

• “...prohibited from utilizing their personal social media accounts for communicating with students and their families for official school purposes.”

“Fraternization between employees and students is prohibited...” 

Public Media

Only the Principal or principal’s designee is authorized to contact the media or respond to the media, which includes our school’s social media sites. The administration will work in conjunction with the CMS Public Information and CMS Communications offices to implement school system policies and procedures related to public relations. The FAX machine is not to be used for personal business. Our school's FAX number is (980) 343-5607 and is to be used for professional business only. You don't need to stand and wait for the confirmation notice. It will be put in your staff mailbox. 

Responsiveness to Public

It is district policy that phone calls or e-mails from the public (agencies, businesses, families, etc.) must be returned within 24-48 hours. Please see an administrator if you think the call, e-mail or text message will be contentious in any way so we can assist you in developing your response. 

Instructional Expectations

All Metro employees are considered to be "teachers" because we all interact with and help support our scholars. We also teach behavioral skills every day by being role models.... this means that scholars can learn our appropriate as well as our inappropriate actions. Please be sure you monitor your actions, tone of voice, volume, the words you select to use, etc. so that our scholars are exposed to positive, respectful and dignified adult interactions at all times. 

All Staff Teach 

Going along with the last statement, all staff members are expected to teach our scholars. Classroom teachers and their assigned instructional assistants make up the first level primary instructional team...note the emphasis on the term "instructional team" or Collaborative Team planning. That means that teachers and teacher assistants (TAs) must plan together and work out details of the classroom operations together. Teaching assistants are expected to be directly involved with the delivery of instruction, not just when the teacher is out of the room. TAs are also expected to assist with collecting individual scholar’s data to document progress → academic, IEP goals, behavior. Collaborative Teams need to look at student groupings, various strategies for running classroom centers, or other ways of organizing the classroom to maximize the time available for instruction. Classroom CTs are required to meet weekly, or bi-weekly, AND create Agendas to document those classroom meetings with the Teacher and TAs (see “sample” Agenda). [click here  roles/expectations of our EC instructional assistants] 

[click here  Tips and Strategies for Assistants] 

[click here Types of EC assistants]

Maximize Instructional Time

There is no "down time" in education. "Downtime" leads to student behavior problems. Have a variety of "sponge activities” readily available to students when they have completed their work, to keep them appropriately engaged in meaningful learning tasks, not just busy work. Keep in mind that having the SMARTBoard on and running in the background does not mean students are engaged in an instructional activity. Engagement means adults are interacting with students. There are many useful resources to help you prepare engaging lessons, including this important resource “Parts of a Lesson” (click title to view). 

Classroom Team Meetings

add expectations here

IEP Team Meetings

• All IEP meetings are to be scheduled well in advance of IEP expiration dates to assure that no IEPs expire without a new IEP in place. IEP meetings will be scheduled using the 25-26 Metro IEP Compliance Document .

  • Annual Review meetings are to be scheduled at least 30 days in advance of the IEP due date. 

  • Re-evaluation and Eligibility meetings are to be scheduled at least 45 days in advance of the IEP due date.  

  • Case Managers must submit a draft of the IEP at least 30 days in advance for Annual Reviews and 45 days in advance for Re-evaluation and Eligibility meetings. 

• All IEP meetings are to be held before school, after school or during a teacher’s individual planning period.

• Classroom staff Case Managers are responsible for knowing when the IEPs of the students in their class expire to ensure full compliance with IEP dates. 

• Case Managers should always be familiar with the latest ➡️ EC Policies, Procedures and Information ⬅️click for access. 

• Classroom staff must bring to the attention of the administrative team when IEP meetings are needed at least four (4) weeks in advance of anticipated meeting dates. 

• Provide sufficient time to get the name of the regular education teacher, unless the parent has specifically told you that they will "release" the regular education teacher and signs the proper Release form. 

  • Keep in mind that the administrative team cannot act as regular education teachers. 

  • Staff who can serve as regular education teachers: Art, Home Living, Media, Music, P.E. 

  • NOTE:  Case Managers must submit a "draft" IEP at least 30 days prior to the IEP expiration date. 

Click here to read "12 Things to Expect" at an IEP meeting 

Cultural Proficiency - - Diversity & Inclusion

Metro School will promote a celebration of culture, diversity and inclusion through training, team memberships, assemblies, classroom lessons and other opportunities intended to enhance an awareness and understanding of cultural proficiency. 

• • [click here for CMS answer ] 

  • [click here to read the CMS BOE Policy] 

{you must be logged into your CMS Intranet site for this link to work} 

Children in the Workplace

In short, the frequent, regular or extended presence of children during work hours on teacher workdays is not appropriate and will not be permitted because of the potential for interruption of work and health, safety, and liability issues. School- age students age 18 or older can volunteer during school hours with a note from the student's school principal or teacher. Click here for the CMS memo 

Parents Eating Lunch with Students

• Parents should meet their scholar’s teacher at the entrance of the cafeteria and wait to be escorted into the cafeteria by classroom staff. 

• A parent may not eat with or leave the cafeteria with another child, other than their own child. 

• Parents are not required to go through the CMS Volunteer Screening process when coming to eat lunch with their scholar. 

• For safety and special dietary order reasons, parents cannot assist with the feeding of any student(s).

Volunteers

• Parents are encouraged to volunteer in the classroom on a frequent basis, but only with an assigned time from the teacher. To see a copy of the Volunteer Request Form 2025-2026 click for English or Spanish. In your communication to parents, issue an invitation for them to spend time in the classroom (at an assigned time only) and plan to have work for the volunteer(s) to do. Explain to parents that we want to use their time productively. Therefore, assigned times are necessary. Parents are required to go through the CMS Volunteer Screening and be “approved” before coming to volunteer. Parent Volunteers need to sign in using the LobbyGuard computer in the main office. CMS Volunteer Registration - FAQ

• Parents are discouraged from bringing small children with them during the instructional day (8:00 am - 3:00 pm), it is important to remind them that our classrooms are not designed for toddlers. Be aware of keeping small objects that could be swallowed away from young children. We want to maintain a safe environment for everyone. 

Click here to read our school's Volunteer Policy

Visitations in the Classroom

Parents are encouraged to volunteer in the classroom on a frequent basis, but only with an assigned time from the teacher. To see a copy of the Volunteer Request Form 2025-2026 click for English or Spanish. In your communication to parents, issue an invitation for them to spend time in the classroom (at an assigned time only) and plan to have work for the volunteer(s) to do. Explain to parents that we want to use their time productively. Therefore, assigned times are necessary. Parents are required to go through the CMS Volunteer Screening and be “approved” before coming to volunteer. Parent Volunteers need to sign in using the LobbyGuard computer in the main office. CMS Volunteer Registration - FAQ

Parents are discouraged from bringing small children with them during the instructional day (8:00 am - 3:00 pm), it is important to remind them that our classrooms are not designed for toddlers. Be aware of keeping small objects that could be swallowed away from young children. We want to maintain a safe environment for everyone. 

Click here to read our school's Volunteer Policy

Classroom Observations

• Requests made by non-Metro School staff to observe in any instructional area, school area, or to see/visit a specific student other than by the student's parent/guardian/custodian must receive prior approval by an administrator. If such requests are presented to staff, staff must redirect the person making the request to the principal or grade level assistant principal. Click here to see the EC guidelines for Third Party Observations.   All observations are required to be scheduled with an administrator. 

Confidentiality

• All staff are expected to adhere to all pertinent regulations and policies related to safeguarding the confidentiality of student identifiable information. All staff are expected to read and adhere to FERPA [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act]. Administrative office staff will assist at any time you have a question or receive a request for student information. 

Click here to read about FERPA 

Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment MAY NOT be used at Metro under any circumstances. This includes practices as obvious as spanking, slapping hands, pinching, or squeezing hands or arms. This also includes less obvious practices such as jerking a student into place and physically re-directing him/her using excessive force. Neither verbal nor insinuated threats are allowed. Guard your tone of voice and vocabulary at all times while on school grounds and maintain the dignity of all students at all times. 

REMEMBER: Always maintain the dignity of the student under all circumstances