Beginning at 7:30 use the rear (not the main) driveway for unloading. Students cannot exit your vehicle until you are in the unloading zone and signaled to unload by duty personnel. Families cannot park or leave their cars unattended at any time. All visitors must report to the office for a visitor’s badge and temperature screening before entering the school building.
The tardy bell rings at 8:00 AM, and students must be checked in through the office after that time. Students not in the classroom by 8:00 will be marked tardy for the day. If a bus is late getting to school, the students on that bus will not be marked tardy.
Students are welcome to get breakfast from the cafeteria prior to 8:00 AM. Because the tardy bell rings at 8:00, late students are not permitted to purchase breakfast. This does not apply to bus students. Students must go directly to the cafeteria, pick up a "grab and go" breakfast, and eat in the classroom. This allows your student to ensure that he/she is not late to class, and that he/she is ready to go when the day starts. We are very busy in third grade! Students who choose to eat breakfast at school will be required to complete their morning work and eat breakfast simultaneously. I enforce the rule that breakfast must be cleaned up by 8:05 so we can get our day started. If your child prefers a leisurely breakfast, please make sure he or she eats at home.
Any student arriving to the classroom after 8:00 AM will be tardy. Leaving school prior to 2:45 PM will be considered an early dismissal. A child will be considered absent if he or she arrives after or leaves prior to 11:30 AM. A written note must be received no later than 3 days after the child has been tardy, checked out early, or absent. Spoken conversation shall be accompanied by a written note. For more information about Hahira Elementary School's attendance policy, click here.
Additionally, students with excused absences will have 5 days to complete their make-up work, and students with unexcused absences will have 3 days to complete theirs. All make-up work will be completed during a student's recess, and in his/her free time (if he/she finishes an assignment early). Parents/Guardians can request that make up work be sent home. Requests may or may not be honored depending on the circumstances. I am willing to work with the student and parents/guardians to meet the child's needs, so please let me know what I can do!
A homework packet will be sent home each week on Monday in your child's blue homework folder. Please be sure to look over the included agenda for the week that will cover what we are learning this week, how to help with homework, spelling/vocabulary words, and important dates. Helpful hints and tips for each math unit are also included.
Your child has all week to complete the homework packet. This is to be returned Friday morning upon arriving at school, and will be checked for completion and correctness. Do not turn in the homework folder early, unless previously arranged. As homework is a review of what we are learning, your child should be able to complete the vast majority independently. I do ask that you sit with your child and review any study guide with him or her. This is the first year students are assigned letter grades, so they need help learning how to review material and study.
Repetitive failure to turn in completed homework in a timely manner will result in a loss of free time to complete the homework. It is the student's responsibility to make sure his or her homework folder is completed and turned in every Friday morning.
In addition to the homework packet, students are expected to read at least 20 minutes each night. This can be done in the car on the way to/from school or sports practice, right after getting home from school, before bed, or whenever your child can find the time. Reading at home will be monitored through Book Taco. Along with repetitively practicing multiplication facts at home, reading with your child is the best thing you can do to help your child succeed in third grade!
The best way to stay involved is to check your child's progress folder every Friday. Friday Folders will also keep you well-informed about what we are learning, as well as how your child is progressing. You'll usually find it filled with tests and classwork assignments, letters from school, flyers, notices from the office, as well as notes from me. Please take a few moments to review your child’s work and asking them about what they have done. Learning from mistakes is very powerful, so going over missed questions on tests and assignments at home is one of the best things you can do to help your child learn. If you aren't sure of a question or answer, feel free to email me or message me on the Lowndes County Schools (One Lowndes) app. I would love to help you help your student! Please be aware that questions sent on Friday afternoon will not be answered over the weekend nor outside of school hours.
Please take the completed assignments out (right inside pocket), sign the communication log, and sign and return any papers in the "bring back" section (left inside pocket) the following Monday. In addition, please make sure your child has his/her bookbag at school each day for transporting library books and in case of an important mid-week note. It is the student's responsibility to make sure his or her Friday Folder is signed by a parent or guardian on a weekly basis.
Please talk to your child about using polite table manners such as cleaning up after oneself, chewing with a closed mouth, keeping hands to his/herself, using utensils, and not trading or eating other's food.
Additionally, please send child-friendly containers to school if you choose to send a lunchbox to school. This will help the lunchroom workers out when helping the students get situated with their lunches and will cut down on spreading germs. Please have your child practice opening drinks, containers, etc. before sending them to school! It is school policy that students do not drink soda at school.
I highly encourage you to send a refillable water bottle to school each day, as the drinking fountains have goose neck fittings on them to easily fill water bottles. Because of this, students will not be able to drink from the fountains.
To view the school's breakfast and lunch menus, click here.
To add money to your child's breakfast/lunch account, click here.
Parents may come occasionally to have lunch with their child as long as it does not interfere with the regular traffic flow in the lunchroom. Unfortunately, it is school policy that parents only eat with their own child. Other children (neighbors, relatives, friends, etc.) will not be allowed to join them. Parents eating with their child must sit at the guest area. This is the red room that is to the right of the serving line. When students are eating with their parents, they must still observe the entrance and exit times for their class. At all times, students must observe the rules of the lunchroom and follow the direction of the lunchroom monitors! If the number of parents exceeds the parent tables’ seating, it may become necessary to offer alternative areas outside. Remember, the main purpose of the lunchroom is for student lunches. Failure to follow the rules may result in loss of guest privileges.
Per LCS Handbook, If you would like to bring a special lunch for your child (Subway, Chick-fil-A, etc.), it is requested that the meal be placed in a sack or container that does not identify the restaurant to encourage better nutrition and develop healthy eating habits. If you prefer not to change the wrappers, you and your child will enjoy a picnic lunch outside on the art patio. Of course, lunches sent with students when they come to school in the morning in lunch boxes, pails, or plain bags are allowed.
To view more information about lunchroom policies, click here to view the Lowndes County Student and Parent Handbook.
Recess is very important to a student’s health and social development. However, school work is equally important. If a child fails to complete an assignment due to absences, a lack of effort, or not following directions they will lose their recess until the assignment(s) is/are complete. A student may also lose all or part of their recess if they need remediation. We do not have extra time in the day for your student to complete assignments at another time, except on Fridays during Exploratory. When students are working hard and putting their best effort in, this is typically not a problem.
Students may bring a snack from home to eat during our morning recess. The student is responsible for cleaning up his or her trash after eating their snack. Failure to do so may result in the student losing the privilege to have a snack at recess. Students may also not get to eat their snacks if they have make-up work that takes them all recess to complete.
Birthdays are very important to students! On their birthday the students will receive a large Pixie Stick and cards from their classmates. Parents may send in a birthday treat with their child in the morning for the class to enjoy at recess. Please plan on sending in 24 birthday treats for our class. If you decide to send in a treat, please send in cupcakes, cookies, or other individual treats in order to be more efficient and sanitary. I will send any extras home.
Treats that are not sent in by 9:30 AM will be distributed the next day.
It is school policy that any invitations brought to school must be handed out to the entire class. Students cannot go from room to room to pass out invitations to friends in other classes. If there is not an invitation for each child in the classroom, all invitations will be sent home for the parent to mail.
Per LCS policy, I am unable to give out phone numbers and addresses of other students.
The dismissal bell rings at 2:45. Students are dismissed by grade level. A student cannot be checked out after 2:15.
Parents/Guardians must have a car rider sign prior to the first day of car rider pickup. To do this, call the school and request a car rider sign before the first day of car rider pickup. The signs will be sent home with your child.
For the safety of your child, all visitors must report to the office in the front of the school for a visitor’s badge and temperature check before entering the school building at any time. Always enter through the main front doors of the school, where the office staff will be happy to greet you.
In the event that a family member is inside the building when school is dismissed and would like to take his or her child home, please leave your child in the classroom and walk to the front office. At the front office, a staff member will use the intercom to notify the teacher to release the child to the office. We have a large number of students who have non-traditional families and students who have restrictions on who can pick them up from school. By following these procedures, you are helping us to ensure the safety of all students. Thank you for your cooperation.