During the Day

When students arrive at school, they should go directly to their lockers, to get the necessary books and supplies needed until their first locker break. Students may sit quietly (without music and headphones) and talk with friends in any homeroom, but should get into their own homeroom by the 8:25 a.m. warning bell. First period class begins at 8:35, indicated by a second bell. If a student arrives late, he/she is to check-in in the Middle School Office.

Absences

All absences are to be verified by a call to the school, from a parent or guardian, on the first day of the absence.

Students planning to accompany their parents on a trip that will take them out of school, must notify the division director or advisor at least two weeks prior to the commencement of the trip. Lengthy trips that excuse the student from a significant amount of class time are not necessarily condoned, but are usually accommodated. Students and their family should not expect that teachers will be able to provide work prior to a student’s early exit. It is the middle school student's responsibility to make necessary arrangements with teachers for any missed assignments and/or alternate work. The student is responsible for work missed. Families should expect that an extended time away from classes will most probably impact on the student’s ability to completely learn the curriculum that the school seeks to teach.

If a student becomes ill during school, he/she should notify the classroom teacher and/or the advisor, who will help make appropriate arrangements with the Nurse, Middle School secretary or Division Director for the student's care and/or parent pick-up. Students will, under no circumstances, excuse themselves from class. All students are expected to sign-out from the main receptionist's desk, unless they are with the nurse, who will note the parent pick-up. If at all possible, students and/or families should utilize email and MyTrail to keep track of assignments and assessments during an absence. Students that have been ill and absent from school, should meet with all of their teachers upon their return to craft a plan to catch up on missed material.

If a student is enduring a death or terminal illness in the family, or similar traumatic situation, which will affect attendance, emotional well-being and level of concentration, the institution will react positively and supportively. Families should feel free to notify the student's advisor, or any member of the Old Trail community, so that information can be discreetly disseminated to assure that a student is given the kind of support and stability that will sustain academic growth with the least amount of emotional pressure.

Students who require an early dismissal should give a note from a parent indicating the time and date of that dismissal to their advisor. That information will be then published in the Daily Memo. Students who are to be dismissed from school early, for any reason, should sign-out at the Receptionist's Desk in Firestone Lobby.

Assembly

All students are to proceed, most Tuesdays to Community Assembly in the gym. All Middle Schoolers should exit the gym via the staircase that leads to Firestone Lobby.

Significant events in younger students’ lives may no longer seem important to all middle schoolers; but as the model of behavior that the Middle School is, students are expected to listen attentively and applaud politely, when appropriate. Students and faculty are encouraged to initiate any announcements that they may have by arrangement with the Head of School or Division Director.

The Schedule

All Middle School students receive a schedule, on the first day of school, detailing when and where classes begin and end.

Test and Exams

Students should not be expected to take more than two major tests (quizzes and project deadlines excluded) on any given day. Teachers place all major assessments on MyTrail.

The middle school faculty made a decision in 2000-2001 to no longer create a separate and discreet semester 7th and 8th grade exam schedule. However, teachers do recognize the need to give major examinations, and they also recognize the need to protect students from being unduly stressed at the end of each semester (or any other time). So, in lieu of our not publishing a separate exam schedule, teachers may intend to give a cumulative examination, that would have more weight and test a broader range of material than a regular unit test. Teachers have agreed that if another teacher makes that "Exam" notation, then no other teacher will schedule another Test or Exam on that same day. In other words, a student can have one or two tests on any day, but no student should have any other test or exam on a day noted with the Exam notation. As in the past, we will continue to consider the administration of quizzes as just another classroom activity that will not enter into the Test / Exam equation.

Test Retaking in the Middle School

We believe, generally, that giving select students the opportunity to re-take tests reinforces the idea that the acquisition of knowledge/skills is the overarching goal of the educational endeavor. The act of retaking a test reinforces the mastery-learning focus rather than the "you either know it or you don't” concept that we believe is counter to learning that seeks to inspire risk-taking. “Risking” is one of the middle school axioms of “risk, reach and reflect,” that is articulated in the middle school vision statement, Our 3 R’s: Risk, Reach and Reflect.

Allowing or encouraging students to re-take tests for a higher score makes the assumption that the body of information upon which the assessment is based is worth learning, and worth demonstrating mastery of/in. In spirit, we believe it to be pedagogically defensible and desirable to offer more than one chance to master and show that one has mastered (or come closer to mastering) a given skill set or knowledge area. And, since we believe that a test is a measurement of, not an end to learning, we also believe it to be defensible to reward eventual mastery with a better grade.

Of course, given time constraints, there is only so much re-taking a school can realistically provide. Therefore teachers may create thresholds that will select-out students who have not demonstrated adequate competence. Allowing re-takes gives these students opportunities to better master the content, as well provide them a safety net for their grades. In that the middle school never seeks to punish with grades, giving students the opportunity to better learn material and improve their grade is perceived to be a win-win.

The school allows relative autonomy to teachers to select students or grade thresholds which would indicate a test retake. Teachers are expected to be fair in providing this opportunity, and are encouraged to inform their respective academic departments or division as to their protocols and rules. It is understood that these parameters or rules may change over time because each student, teacher and school year is unique, so too is each and every situation--a core reason for our belief in providing this test retaking accommodation.

After Lunch Break

With the 2015-2016 schedule change, all Middle School students will have a 20 minute break following lunch (6th graders' break is before lunch). This is unstructured, un-programmed student free time and club time, with the following caveats. Sixth graders may use the play equipment, amphitheater and basketball court behind Noble Hall. Seventh and Eighth Graders may use the swings, tetherball court, grassy area on the north side of Noble Hall, and the HMAC during the winter. During Break, all students need to restrict their activities to these areas. All students may use the Library, or supervised Middle School classrooms. Rules apply for use of the Library, Lecture Room, Conference Rooms, Rest Rooms, and in any other classroom that students might want to be using. Students are not to use either the north (third grade) or east entrance to Noble or any of the recess areas. Firestone Hall, the HMAC, Bridgwater Gym, and the Performing Arts areas are out-of-bounds, unless supervised by faculty members.

Student should consider joining one of many clubs during this time period. Faculty members will act as supervisors of clubs, but the philosophy, frequency, leadership and content of clubs will be determined by students. Students are also encouraged to use this time to seek academic help, if needed, from a teacher or another student. Naturally, it is likely that many Middle Schoolers intermittently will be required to sacrifice some recess or break time to catch up on missed work, report to a rehearsal, or work individually with a teacher or another student. On any given day any Middle Schooler may engage in silent study during their break time in the Library. There will also be certain rooms, generally on the Sixth Grade Hall, and in Noble Hall allowed for group convocation and/or study, for seventh and eighth graders during break.

After lunch break is a time for conversation, study, enrichment, reflection, and organization. It is a time to use the bathroom, or talk peacefully with friends. Students are permitted, even encouraged, to go to their lockers to organize from their previous classes or for their next classes; but there exists an expectation that students make a decision on how they are going to spend this free time. Students have learned that having a break is an earned privilege, and one that requires self and peer discipline.

Outdoor Recess

It is understood that students need, and want, a time during the day to do what they want to do. Recess is provided for that breath of fresh air, a quiet moment of solitude, a private conversation, a quick study session, or a game of touch football. Like the classroom, the teacher supervising is the ultimate authority during recess. If playing games, students are expected to include anyone interested in participating. Games that, by their nature, single out an individual for abuse, or exclude an individual from participating, are forbidden.

Teacher Assistant Program

Most eighth graders are actively involved in the Teacher Assistant Program (TAP). This program promotes leadership and provides yet another opportunity for younger students to model older students. Eighth graders perform a myriad of instructional activities including reading and math remediation, reading aloud, swim instruction and support, library assistance, Preschool lunch supervision and the like. A specific schedule is created and disseminated to all faculty and eighth graders, as to when an eighth grader will be excusing him/herself from a regularly scheduled class.

Passing From Class To Class

There is no passing built into the schedule, so students must be vigilant not to be tardy when moving from class to class. Therefore, students should not regularly go to their lockers except:

• before & after school

• after Period 2

• before lunch

• during lunch break

• before & after electives (for which one may need special, specific supplies)

• before & after Phys. Ed.

At times, students are passing while other students are in class. Passing students are expected to maintain calm and decorum to avoid distracting students and teachers who are in class. Students should always make a special effort on the upper hall of Noble, adjacent to Art and Computer lab, on the Noble hall south stairwells, especially the south stairwell that ends at the fourth grade and on the Fifth Grade Hall adjacent to the Performing Arts area. That special effort is also needed, when students pass to and from the lunchroom and the gym. Group punishment, generally avoided, may have to be used to impact on a disruptive passing class.

Daily Dismissal from Middle School

At the 3:25 tone students who ride public or private buses or vans are to be dismissed to make their way, independently, to their transportation. At 3:30 the second tone indicates the conclusion of the school day. Last period teachers reserve the right to have students bring their coats and book bags to their classroom. If teachers direct students to leave them in the hall, they are to assure safe passage of other students using the hall. Seventh and Eighth graders, who are in physical education, are not to pack and take their bookbags to the gym unless they ride a public or contracted bus; all others are to report to their lockers after P.E. and exit from their hallway.

Students who are being picked-up by parents or car pools proceed, independently, to their ride, after the second tone. Students who are remaining for after-school programming or after-care will make their way with coats, book bags and materials to their specified study room for a snack. Students who are remaining for a practice or game will proceed to the practice area. They may return to their lockers after a practice or game.

There is an annually published duty roster that assigns teacher to specific crosswalks, public school buses, doors or hallways. At the 3:25-3:45 transition time, these duty assignments are designed to move students to their transportation or after-school activity and to assist in the accounting of all students.

Middle School students wait for their rides in the patio area directly outside Preston Lobby's doors. Drivers are encouraged to continue circulating around the Noble lot, until they can find a parking/standing spot either in the pull-through spaces, on the curb, in a spot in the far north lot, or on the passenger side of the exit drive. Students are encouraged to use the painted crosswalks to get to their rides. Drivers must remain in their automobiles, unless they are parked in a designated parking space. Double parking is prohibited, as is using a mobile phone while driving a moving vehicle. The posted speed limit is 5 MPH. Once students locate the appropriate vehicle, they may walk safely to the car, using designated crosswalks and sidewalks.

Students who are not picked-up by 3:40 are directed to sign-in in the after care space in the Library.

Lockers

Each Middle School student is assigned two lockers: one in Noble or Wilson Hall and one in the Physical Education locker room. Students are required to use their locking gym locker. A combination lock, on the classroom locker is allowed but optional. Any student locking their classroom locker is to register the combination with their homeroom teacher, who will share it with the middle school secretary. A locker is school space that an individual may treat as her/his private space. Violating that privacy can be construed as trespassing or stealing, and regardless of intent is considered a serious offense. In certain rare instances, the school does reserve the right to inspect a student’s locker without her/his permission.

Lockers should not be decorated (on the outside) with decals, stickers, etc. Internal decorations cannot alter or deface the locker, and should be appropriate for school. No offensive, sexually suggestive, violent, or otherwise adult materials may be used for locker decoration. Only objects too large to fit in the locker should be stored outside the locker. At the end of the year, all personal objects, and inside decorations must be removed. Periodically students will be required to clean and re-organize the contents of their lockers.

Using the Elevator

Old Trail is fortunate to have an elevator that can move people and freight from the ground floor to the top floor of Noble Hall. This elevator is not for casual use. Any student who has an injury or disability that makes climbing and descending the stairs difficult, can obtain permission from a teacher or administrator to use the elevator. In general, these students should travel solo, and send their classmates by the more preferred and quicker route--the stairs. Teachers and staff may also allow students who are helping move materials, like AV carts or computers to use the elevator, and should feel free to use it themselves as they see fit.

Lost And Found

Most items reported stolen are usually misplaced. There are book lost-and-founds in a variety of classroom spaces, and a clothing lost-and-found is in the pool hallway. Check these areas and retrace your steps, before making accusations.

Telephones, Mobile Phones and Texting (Updated for 2018-2019)

It is the School’s intention to help students to learn civilized protocols and professional etiquette around using technology, including mobile devices. In general we hope that students aspire to use any device relatively discreetly and privately. Yet, given that our students are still early adolescents and are in the "aspirational" stage of their development, we believe that it is better to keep our educational community mobile-phone free as much as possible.

It is understood that parents may give a student a mobile phone or smartphone for her/his safety and convenience. While on Old Trail’s campus, a student’s mobile device must be silenced and turned off. The phone may not be kept on the student’s person. It must be either in a backpack or in the student’s locker. Students may only use their phone during school hours if given permission by a faculty member. The only exception to having to ask permission to check their device (for text, voice message, email or the like) will be from 3:25 - 3:40 p.m. to communicate with parents.

Increasingly, children are also accessorizing with smartwatches. Because they also tend to be a distraction, both inside and outside of the classroom, they may not be worn. Activity trackers like FitBits are acceptable, provided that they are not actively syncing to a phone or are themselves connected to a network (receiving text messages, phone call alerts, news updates, etc.)

Students must always ask permission to use a cell phone; so for all intents and purposes they are useful mostly for making outgoing calls or texting after-school or after an extracurricular activity. However, it is understood that a parent may wish to text a child and receive a response, and, we prefer that does not happen surreptitiously in a restroom or stairwell, or on a bus. Because phones will be stored in students’ lockers or backpacks, and they are not to check the device, messages are best sent to the Middle School office. This will ensure that all communications are efficiently and properly shared. Students, as always, may use the School’s landline phone outside of the Director's office.

Parents should know that OTS always gives students easy access to a school phone, or if off-campus a teacher’s cell phone, if/when needed. OTS students can continue to seek permission to use School phones, and will be asked to log-in the call. We remind students that they should be using School phones only to pass on messages of an urgent nature. Social arrangements or family plans should be made outside of School.

These kinds of parent-to-student communications are not an adequate substitute for parental communication with the School, especially regarding logistics that affect our ability to provide a safe and secure environment for students.

Parents must communicate with the School about absences, late arrivals/early dismissals for outside appointments, and the like. Parents should make it routine practice to copy School personnel regarding family plans that impact our awareness of student’s comings and goings especially as they relate to our ability to supervise our students in a safe and structured environment.

Any student who violates the mobile phone policy is subject to having her/his device confiscated. Perhaps more importantly, students need to note that OTS does have policies about teasing, bullying, cyber-bullying, harassment and hazing. Students shall not use mobile devices - inside or outside of School - in a way that would violate the letter or spirit of our School’s Core Values, rules and culture as related to these harmful behaviors. Any failure to adhere to these policies by using a mobile device, subjects a student to the loss of mobile device privileges. Suspension and expulsion are potential consequences for bullying, aggressive or predatory transgressions.

In addition, so that we may maintain a healthy, social environment for all students, before-care and OTS+ activities will now be cellular phone-free. Faculty may use discretion with student athletes waiting for a game or match, or travelling on a bus to an event.

Headphones

Since the advent of Sony’s Walkman, a sublime device invented before current middle schoolers were even born, our rulebook has been relatively unsympathetic to the use of headphones in the school building. Our reasons are easily understood and not wrong-headed, because, in fact, we want students’ undivided attention to their teachers, to each other and to the task-at-hand. However, like everywhere else in the world, technology has helped to blur the lines and blunt our adamant posture about kids wearing headphones.

When kids are in the building after or before a ride to or from school, we expect them to stow their headphones. Some students wish to contend that in silent study situations, they learn better while listening to music. For the great majority of learners this argument is not supported by research. In fact the preponderance of research indicates that for most learners, listening to popular music while attempting to be engaged in most any kind of cognitively-demanding activity is counterproductive. That is, for most students the music is a distraction and, therefore, hinders learning.

For this reason, our School does not permit students to listen to their devices while engaged in solitary study, unless the student has garnered permission to do so. If a student wishes to gains such permission and be exempt from this rule, he/she needs to initiate discussion with his/her parent(s) and advisor, who will then consult with the Division Director. Our School Psychologist or an outside practitioner may be called on to support a student’s petition to be exempt from the general rule prohibiting “listening-while-studying.”

With technology’s inexorable march there exist other times when students need to be plugged-in and listening with headphones: A student may be editing an audio file or other audio-visual presentation, or may just be listening to a book or presentation. OTS teachers wish not to be challenging every student with headphones with, “What are you listening to?” Rather, there needs to exist a climate of trust which presumes that students will be doing what they imply they are doing. For the large majority of students, we expect that students will not be listening to popular music, while engaged in solitary study.

Restrooms

Middle School students have restrooms available to them near all their classrooms.

• They may use the restrooms across from the Library, on the top floor of Noble, and the locker rooms.

• Students should not use any the restrooms on the ground floor of Noble

• Students should only use the restrooms on the the Gym Hall when engaged in performing arts courses

Students should use rest rooms for the purpose they are intended, and refrain from congregating and socializing.

Thorough hand-washing with soap and water should happen at every use. If a student thinks about washing her/his hands, then do it. Hand-washing is one of the most effective ways that all school citizens can contribute to good public health.

We Live in a Park (updated 2016-2017)

All community members are asked to stay off outdoor grassy areas when saturated. It is fun to play or stroll on frozen and dry grass, but walking on wet and soggy grounds creates problems for those who clean the floors and those who tend the lawn. Faculty members on break supervisory duty will make daily decisions regarding the acceptability of play areas. The Library Courtyard is an ideal place for quiet conversation or contemplation, before and after school and during recess and its use is condoned.

It is so easy not to litter. Community members are to help to keep our property as tidy as our setting is beautiful. Cluttered and littered grounds speak volumes about our community esteem and self-discipline. Middle Schoolers are responsible to take the lead in not littering and reprimanding offenders, and in picking up for others.

Lunch

We are what (and to a larger degree how) we eat! Civilized behavior is a necessity of the entire Division's comfortable digestion. Lunchtime is a time for placid conversation and positive social interaction. Students are to walk into the lunchroom, select a chair in an area designated for their grade, eat, clean their spaces, and wait for announcements and dismissal by table. All students are expected to convene in the lunchroom and eat a lunch. One lunch period per cycle is set aside so that advisory groups have lunch as a group with its advisor.

The end of the lunch period is generally the time for announcements. All students are expected to direct their attention to the speaker and to sit quietly and attentively while announcements are made. Students and faculty are encouraged to use this time for necessary announcements that they want made or want to make.

Prepayment of lunch account is made in advance through the Business Office. Students key in their lunch code when queuing-up for lunch.

Carbonated beverages are not permitted for students who bring a packed lunch. Juice boxes, fruit drinks, iced teas and the like will be permitted, but any drink that is carbonated (except for carbonated water)—no matter the sugar or caffeine content—is not allowed. Energy drinks have proliferated in our market place but do not have place in the diet of a developing middle schooler. Under no circumstances are energy drinks permitted, for lunch, snack or even a special event. Milk—2%, skim and chocolate— and juice are available for sale by our food service on a daily or annual basis.

Snacks During School

A healthful snack, is allowed in school, so gum, candy, soda pop or energy drinks are not permitted. Period 2 and 3 are designated "snack periods" and students will be allowed to eat a small, healthy, and "quiet" snack if they have one. Students may pack a snack to take to an after school event or activity, but are not to eat in any instructional space (unless allowed by the instructor), lab, library or on a bus during the school day.

Text Purchases for English Courses (added for 2016-2017)

From time to time, English Department faculty members may request that students have their own copy of a book. In previous years, class sets of every text needed to be purchased by the school. This decision was made at the tail end of the 2014-2015 school year for the following reasons:

1. Faculty wanted students to have the ability to annotate their texts. Having an personal copy allows the possibility of this.

2. Young adult literature is constantly changing. By limiting the number of 50+ book purchases the school needs to make, we are more able to incorporate new literature into the courses.

3. By the time students enter middle school, the books that they are reading are no longer children's literature. Thus, the novels and collections that they purchase can be the first part of their "forever library."

4. Students will now have the option of choosing an e-book.

Obviously, there may be some books that families do not wish to purchase. Students may choose to borrow the book from a local library; the Old Trail library will also have additional copies. Finally, each faculty member will have a few copies of the texts on hand, in case they are needed.