School Day, Entry/Exit, Duty, & Dismissal Procedures

School Day

• Students:  8:10am- 3:20 pm. Students may enter the school beginning at 7:40 a.m. Students arriving between 7:40-8:00am  should report directly to the cafeteria (if eating breakfast) or the gym (if not eating breakfast(. Students will be released to the classrooms at 8:00 am. The grade level teachers that are on morning duty (between 7:40-8:00 am will supervise students walking to their lockers.  By 8:05 all students should have gone to their lockers, be seated in their homeroom class, and ready to watch morning announcements. If students arrive after 8:10, they should go to lockers after announcements. Teachers should stand by door around 8:00 to remind students to quickly place items and lockers and get to class for announcements.

• K-5 teacher minimum contract time: 7:40 am– 3:50 pm 

  • Wednesday Faculty ,Vertical, PLC Team Meetings – 3:50-4:50p.m.

  •  Team Leader Meeting 3:r50-4:50p.m. 

  • Committee Meetings-3:50-4:30

• Para-professionals: 7:35 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. or 7:40 a.m. – 3:50 p.m.  Para teacher must click out and in prior and after they take a 30 minute lunch. 

• Tutoring: See TUTORING and/or TRANSPORTING STUDENTS for more information.

• Club 360: 3:20 p.m.-6:30 p.m. for enrolled students.

Entry/Exit Procedures

• ENTRY:  Our building will be open for student entry at 7:40 a.m. It is imperative that all teachers on morning duty are on time to their duty stations to ensure an orderly start to the day.  It is the teacher's responsibility to arrange duty coverage on days they will be absent or unable to cover their duty. 

• Car drop-offs will enter through the front door. Students who arrive prior to 8:00 AM will go to the cafeteria for breakfast or the gym. All students will be dismissed to their grade level morning duty classrooms at 8:00. The gate will not open until 8:00 am. If students are attending morning tutoring, they must have a pass to go through the doors. A list of tutoring students for before and after school should be submitted to Silvia Key & Kim Luyster.

• Students eating breakfast will be prompted to go to the cafeteria upon arrival at 7:40 am.

• Staff Children: Staff children may remain in their parent’s classroom until 8:00 AM with supervision.  At 8:00 AM  staff children can go to their classrooms with other students.  See CHILDREN OF STAFF for more information. 

• EXIT:  Our school day ends at 3:20 p.m.  Students must be supervised until they have been released from the building at the end of the day.  See duty procedures for detailed information on dismissal.

• TEACHERS - ENTRY AND EXIT PROCEDURES

  • Badge Access – Monday-Friday from 6:30am-6:30pm.  See the principal if you require additional access to the building.  After hours and on weekends, enter through the front entrance only and sign in (then out) on the clipboard nearby.

  • Leaving Early - Please see the principal in advance if there is a need to leave early for an emergency situation. 

Duty Procedures

• In order to ensure a safe and orderly environment, everyone must do their part for assigned morning and/or afternoon duties.  Be mindful of maximizing instructional time. Teachers should not pack up for dismissal until 3:10.

• Para Professionals should only have either a morning or afternoon duty.  It is the responsibility of the para professional's teacher to help monitor their para's  weekly comp time hours. Paras can manage their comp time within the current week. For example, if a para needs to stay late one day for a late SPED bus, that para should clock out early another day that week to avoid comp time hours. Paras must have prior approval from an administrator to receive comp time. 

• Please make sure you have made arrangements with your team for your duty to be covered in the event you are absent. When classes have to split, we will do our best to provide coverage when available. Please adjust duty schedules so that at least one certified McGowen teacher is on duty for lunch and recess.

• All faculty members are expected to participate in duty supervision as assigned and requested by the principal. It is imperative that you are on time for your duty.  Duty times range from 7:40 – 8:00 a.m. for morning duties and 3:50 pm until all of your students have been dismissed. 

• Rain during dismissal could require the office staff to make an announcement for additional support-"All Hands on Deck." 

Breakfast Duty

• Breakfast will be served between 7:40-8:00 AM  Between 7:50-8:00 AM Teacher on duty may prompt the student to get a dry cereal to take to class as a snack.  Students should not go through hot breakfast line after 7:55 AM. Exceptions to extend breakfast will be made only by an administrator. (Examples: Bus arrives late, Individual student need, RTI, 504 or SPED plan)

• Cafeteria tables will be labeled by grade level. Students should sit with at their labeled grade level table during breakfast. 

• Students will go to the gym by 7:58 am when they finish eating breakfast.

• Administration will have a presence in the cafeteria/gym in the morning- as their schedule allows. There are times when one administrator may be covering for a teacher who is absent or organizing substitutes.

• Student backpacks can be kept with the student and should be placed under their seat at all times. Students should be asked to put their cell phone away during breakfast to focus on eating and getting to class on time.  

• Cell phones should not be taken away from a student who does not comply. Email teacher and copy administrator if a student refuses to comply to the teacher on duty's directive.  Administrators have the authority to take away a student's cell phone if they are not using it for instructional purposes. 

Dismissal Procedures

• Teachers should practice dismissal with students. All hands on deck the first week of dismissal.

• Administrators will be on call to support front carpool and bus dismissal spots. Please use channel 2 on the radio  if you need back up administrator support. 

 Dismissal Default & Change of Dismissal Procedures

• Parents will communicate their child's "Default Dismissal" at Meet the Teacher. It is the teacher's responsibility to make sure they know how each of their students are going home the first day of school & the routine "Default Dismissal".  Teachers who are unsure of how a child is going home on the first day of school should email the office clerk and administrators by 9:00am. On the first day of school, administrators will make phone calls to parents and create a dismissal list prior to the dismissal time.

• By 2:00pm each day, classroom teachers will need to check the "Change of Dismissal Google Form" and notify any student of a dismissal change.  Parents who are requesting a change for more than one day, should also email their child's change of dismissal to their child's homeroom teacher.  

• The Change of Dismissal form will be cleared daily. Parents must input their child's change of dismissal on the form by 1:30 pm each day. Due to safety, parents will not be allowed to change their child's dismissal over the phone. Office staff will remind parents to utilize the QR code link to add their dismissal change. Only in an extreme emergency will we allow a parent to email the office email for their change in dismissal, and office staff will contact teacher by phone.

• Office clerk will not call teachers to inform daily changes in dismissal. It is the teachers' responsibility to make sure they check the "Dismissal Change Google Form" at 2:00pm and inform any students of a dismissal change.  K-2 students should have a sticky note added to their back pack tag noting the daily change of dismissal.  It is the grade-level teachers responsibility to notify substitutes about the students who are on the change of dismissal form.

• The directions for changing dismissal and a QR code to the "Daily Change of Dismissal  Form" link will be attached to each of our student's card stock dismissal number. The QR code or link should also be added to grade level weekly newsletter/emails.

• Please do not rely on the personal testimony of a child for changes in transportation.  If you are ever in doubt about how a child is to get home, please call the parent.

Staggered Daily Dismissal:

• • 3:15  Daycare and Bus leave their rooms (escorted by a teacher) and walk into the gym (3rd-5th)/cafeteria (K-2nd).

  • 3:18 Walk Away students are escorted by a teacher and released out the Kinder door that opens to the front parking lot sidewalk.

  • 3:20: Walk Away Students cross the crosswalk prior to carpool starting

  • 3:20-All carpool & walker parent pick up students are held in the afternoon duty locations and exit the building when their dismissal number is posted on the Daily Dismissal Google Form.

Parent Pick-Up:

• Parent Pick-Up students are dismissed from afternoon duty grade level locations when their dismissal number is posted on the Google form.

Carpool

• • Carpool students dismissal begins at 3:20. Students are dismissed from afternoon duty grade level locations when their dismissal number is posted on the Google form.

Bus/Daycare 

• • Bus and Daycare students  leave their rooms at 3;15 (escorted by a teacher) and walk into the gym.

  • Daycare busses begin loading at 3:20 in order to clear parking lot out for MISD busses.

Club 360 Dismissal

• • Club 360 dismissal information changes each year. Specific details for how to dismiss students going to Club 360 will be shared prior to the first day of school.

Parent Communication Regarding Dismissal

• If you don’t want your child to WALK home independently, please do not set their default to “Walk Away”.  They need to be “ Parent Pick-Up”. All students with a "Walk Away" default dismissal will walk out the kinder door and guided to the crosswalk. All "Walk Away" students will cross at the crosswalk prior to the carpool line moving.