Guiding Principles

Albemarle County Public Schools is committed to providing a safe, engaging and caring place for students and staff to learn, work and play. The need for disciplinary policies and procedures comes from a desire to treat all people in our school community with fairness and dignity as they face everyday challenges in our schools. One of the main purposes of this handbook is to promote the idea that we can all improve. We can learn to use more responsible behavior while supporting students learning to do the same. Being responsible in Albemarle County Schools is getting our needs met, while respecting and allowing others around us to get their needs met at the same time. This is accomplished by first understanding that all behavior is purposeful and then allowing interactions to become teachable moments. Establishing clear definitions of who we are and how we want our communities, schools and classrooms to be, we can work with children to define who they are and who they want to become. Utilizing restorative practices, problem solving and most importantly, relationship building, we can support their growth by coaching them on their journey to be the best that they aspire to be within the context of our schools’ communities, families at home and within our neighborhoods. Our school communities will strive to operate under common principles, helping to ensure that each person is given fair treatment that is mindful of students’ level of development and need for continuing education.

This content is designed to help provide guidance to all administrators, from novices to seasoned veterans, and is not to be construed to be a list of mandates. Rather, this handbook is created using the guiding principle of relationships, justice, and problem solving that our division employs daily, respecting professional judgement.  Like education, it is a process. For families and students this guidance expects professionals to be at different stages of their development to be masters of classroom management, crisis intervention and restorative responses to challenging behaviors exhibited by those in our community. 

School administrators will consider all incidents on a case-by-case basis when considering how best to address challenging issues that arise during (and sometimes outside) of the school day. Working in partnership with students, parents, school staff, and county administration, we will strive to make decisions based on the belief that all students are capable of owning their future and while they have the right to safety, mutual respect, and learning, we recognize that every other student and staff does as well. When considering an appropriate course of action when presented with behaviors that a student exhibits that violates our classroom and/ or school norms, there are three questions to keep in mind:

• • Is our response likely to have a meaningful impact on the long-term development of the student?

  • Is our response to this event fostering continued academic and social-emotional growth for everyone involved?

  • Does my response include interventions and educational services as we work through this process? 

This handbook, like all of us, is a work in progress. It serves as documentation as to where we are as a division in this moment, today. It should be considered a starting point for further discussion, reflection and growth, for tomorrow.