Cell Phone Policy

If you are giving your child a cell phone please go over the rules of the cell phone use.  Cell phones are given for emergencies, but they are mostly used by kids for a variety of things that cannot possibly considered as any kind of
emergency. As I watched my fifth graders playing on their cell phones, I have developed a few rules that parent may find interesting.

• You may not like the first rule, but… your child does not need a cell phone. They are too young, we are a small school, and it is not hard to find a child after school at Lockhurst. However, if you do…. research some plans where you can provide a cell phone with a few numbers only, no texting or sending pictures. I  must say that in this case you will need to make sure that your child takes the cell phone with them in the morning. They will not see it useful without pictures or texting. Most upper grade students do not use a cell phone for emergencies, they use it to talk to their friends, make prank calls, and sometimes talk to people they do not know. They sometimes use it to look for some interesting pictures online and then they usually send them to their friends.
• Do not give a cell phone as a birthday present. Sometimes parents give a cell phone as a gift that signifies a child’s growth, promotion to a fourth or fifth grade. A cell phone is too costly to be considered a gift for a young child. Reaching an upper grade is not really an accomplishment, it is a sign of growing up. Everyone reaches fourth or fifth grade at some point… If you want to show your child that they have grown up, tell them that now they can do part of their laundry on their own because you trust them to do the right thing…  A serious job show people that they are considered mature and grown up. Expensive gifts do not do this.
• If you decide to give your child a cell phone, give it to them as an emergency tool. Set it up for them making sure that all the emergency numbers are there.
• Consider taking the phone from time to time without warning and checking messages, pictures, and recent calls.

Please note that students are not to use a cell phone during the instructional time from 7:50 AM till 2:37 PM. In our classroom we turn off the cell phones in the morning and put them in the box. Students pick them up after the dismissal bell.

Bathroom, Water Breaks, and Lunches

Bathrooms and very close to our classrooms. If students need to go, they get up and go. If I see that a lot of students need to go, I take a whole class to the restroom for a few minutes. Students do not interrupt a lesson when they need to go, they show me a sign and exit the classroom. I do not have a problem with students going to the restroom during the lesson… I do have a problem with students going to the restroom right after recess. They need to be responsible enough to remember that they need to go before or after their playtime. I understand that they may forget it; I will remind them.

I strongly encourage students to bring water bottles which can be placed on their desks.  Dehydrations is a primary cause for
headaches and fatigue. Please remind your child every morning to take a water bottle to school.

If a student is playing with a water bottle, or if a water bottle has frozen water in it, I ask them to put it on the table in the back. If they need to get a drink, they can get up, go, and drink. Frozen water bottles leave water marks on the papers, please do not bring them to school. Juice and other drinks are not allowed on the tables.

Birthdays and Other Parties

We do not spend instructional time on birthday parties in upper grades. If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday party in school, you can bring cupcakes or anything your would like to bring at the end of the school day, and treat the kids to a sweet snack at the end of the day. But it needs to be done after school.

We will have two parties during the year. Our two parties will include a Winter Party and End of the Year Party. We will have food, games, movies, and/or dance. All information about the parties will be given to the students prior to the event. There are some other instructional events that will have food and sometimes movies that are a part of the instruction. These events are not parties, they are just events. For example, we sometimes have a Thanksgiving feast where each child brings some kind of food that they like to make at home. They need to write a recipe card and present their dish. At the end we eat it all!

If you are organizing a party at your house for our students, I can help you pass out the invitations and assist you in any other way. I must say that I do not attend any parties of my students. I think that it creates uncomfortable situations for the students, and I would rather avoid it. It might be unfair if I make it to Johnny’s party because I had time, but I would not make it to Mary’s party because I had a previous engagement. Mary will think that I like Johnny much better!

Besides, I spend so much time on work at home that I have become very protective of my free time that I spend with my family. I am sure that you will understand. But I will gladly offer any help in school if you decide to organize a party for our students. I think that it is a very good idea for the kids to get together outside the school.

Parent  Volunteers

Please check with the office in regards to volunteering in school. Parents must have a TB test, and they probably need to fill out some kind of paperwork in order to volunteer in school during the instructional time.

We will need volunteers for the following

• Making copies in school
• Helping students with math and reading
• Labeling books and organizing the library
• Recycling  ~ I would like to have someone help me take the recycling to the Recycle Center at least every other week. This way I will have to do it every other week and not every week.
• And more… I will keep you posted.