CRAFTING A CULTURE
At New Hope Christian School, we want to craft a healthy culture of learning. In order to do that, we expect our staff and students to abide by a system of etiquette defined by the policies below. These policies illustrate how we expect our students to behave and the expectations to which they will be held. They can also be found in the NHCS Handbook.
School equipment and property (chairs, desks, furniture, etc.) are to be treated with care and used properly. Any damaged or broken equipment should be reported to the staff member in charge. Students are responsible for damage or breakage that they cause, and their parents will be billed for damages.
NHCS believes that meaningful homework will contribute to the academic success of students. It is our goal to give homework that reinforces concepts learned, provides independent practice for new skills, or prepares the student for the next major concept, thus increasing the student’s ability to think, reason, and respond. Teachers in grades K-6 will assign on average 10 minutes of homework per grade level.
The classroom teacher evaluates student progress by using a variety of assessment tools including class participation and feedback, oral presentations, projects, tests, quizzes, essays, and reflection journals. Tests or quizzes may be given on any day of the week with the goal that no student will have more than three tests per day. Teachers in grades K-6 will assign on average 10 minutes of homework per grade level.
New Hope Christian School is unable to transport students daily. It is the parent’s responsibility to transport their child to and from school. Regarding field trips, New Hope Christian School has limited abilities to transport students—but will seek the rental of a school bus or rely upon volunteering parents for transportation.
Absences will be considered in two categories: illness-related and family-initiated. Absences from all categories will eventually be labeled as excused or unexcused. Parents of absent students are required to call or email the school office each day of an excused absence by 8:30 a.m. Illness, doctor appointments, and hospitalization all fall under this category. If the illness is projected to keep the student out of school for more than two days, the family may wish to get assignments from teachers by emailing the school office directly. Having an absence excused because of illness means that no additional consequence will be applied in that situation and the student will be given opportunity to make up missed work.
Although some illnesses do not require exclusion, there are instances where an illness requires a student to be excluded from school to prevent the spread of infection and to allow the child time to rest and recover. When making the decision to send a child home, please understand that we must take into consideration your child’s health as well as that of the other children, staff, and faculty. In addition, COVID-19 presents a different set of circumstances for the school year.
Please remember that as more is understood about COVID-19, or circumstances change within our local community or school itself, our policy may be updated to reflect better guidance of which NHCS will make every effort to be forthcoming with these changes. Exclusion from school is mandated by NHCS in the following scenario: All Faculty, Staff, and Students MUST stay home if exhibiting any *new or *unexplained symptoms of COVID-19 infection EVEN IF MILD:
- Fever of 100 degrees F or higher
- Chills
- Muscle or body aches
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
*A person with a history of migraines, allergies, asthma, etc. may not be excluded, only if symptoms are consistent in presentation with documentation of a pre-existing medical condition and correlating typical presenting symptoms on file in the health office. These situations will be addressed on an individual basis with communication between school nurse, parent, and healthcare provider. Medical documentation may be requested by the school nurse to allow for re-admittance to school if another diagnosis is confirmed for an individual.
- Contagious infection requiring an antibiotic: Exclusion to extend for 24 hours after treatment has begun.
- Red, itchy, gooey eyes: If bacterial conjunctivitis, exclusion to extend for 24 hours after treatment has begun.
- Head lice: Exclusion to start at the end of day and extend until treatment has been completed. Please notify the school if you suspect your child has head lice.
- Mononucleosis: Exclusion as per doctor’s recommendation 24
- Norovirus diarrhea and/or vomiting exclusion is required for 24 hours after symptoms resolve without medication; however, a 48 hour exclusion is recommended. A required 48 hour exclusion may be enforced during certain times of the year or if an outbreak occurs.
Furthermore, a large component of granting credit for a particular class is determined by actual time spent in the classroom in addition to performance on tests and homework. Thus, the granting of credit and grading can be affected by these absences. This will be determined at the discretion of the Head of School. A parent/student conference will be held with the Head of School for students who have excessive absences. Extended illness, with physician’s validation, or other extenuating circumstances as approved by the administration may be given special consideration.
The amount and type of make-up work and the time frame in which it is due is at the discretion of the teacher and may vary from class to class. The student will be responsible for completing all requested work in the time frame allocated. In excused absence situations, students may normally have one school day for each day of absence to make up all work, up to a maximum of five school days for an absence of five days or longer. After the prescribed time for completing make up work expires, the late work policy for the individual classroom teacher applies. Extended illness, with a physician’s validation, may be given special consideration.
It is the responsibility of each student to ensure that he or she is punctual. Students must be in their class promptly at 8:00 a.m., as attendance will be taken at this time. A tardy will be given when a student is not in the classroom with all materials needed by 8:00 a.m. We recommend students get dropped off early enough to leave them ample time for them to get to class on time. Students may arrive as early as 7:50a.m.
Students who are tardy must obtain a Late Slip from the receptionist, which indicates the reason for the tardiness. Unexcused tardies receive a warning and are incorporated into school discipline policies. (Extenuating circumstances including bad weather are excluded.) Tardiness to school or class creates a disturbance that disrupts the learning environment and is inconsiderate of others. A parent conference will be
scheduled for excessive tardies.
Students who must leave school during the day because of illness or appointment must check out through the school office. Appointments and other planned events must be validated with a note or telephone call beforehand. It is important that students are in school the full day and that early dismissals are not excessive. A parent conference will be scheduled for excessive early dismissals.
At New Hope Christian School, we have a dress code for all staff and students that stresses dressing modestly as the Bible teaches. While living in an image-driven society, it is important for us, as mentors, to model an alternative example: one that shows that true beauty comes from within and not from things that draw attention to the body. With that in mind, all staff members need to abide by the following dress code while at
school:
- Tight-fitting clothes are not acceptable.
- Clothing must be free from objectionable pictures or slogans.
- Shoes or sandals must be worn at all times except when doing water activities.
- Shorts must be finger-tip length when arms are fully extended to the side when standing up.
- Suggestive clothing will not be allowed at any time.
- Male-specific restrictions:
- no “wife-beater” shirts or skin-type shirts;
- men may only go shirtless while doing water activities;
- swimsuits must be lined, trunk-length suits.
- Female-specific restrictions:
- Tank tops must have 2-finger-length width on top of shoulders, no cleavage or midriff showing (for water activities be sure to wear dark-colored t-shirts);
- swimsuits must be modest, 1-piece suits or dark-colored t-shirt over a two-piece suit.
- If you have a question about a particular piece of clothing, ask the Head of School before wearing it.
- The Head of School reserves the right to ask any staff member or camper to change articles of clothing that are deemed inappropriate.
- A Bible
- Full-size backpack
- Lunchbox
- Reusable water bottle
- Notebook
- A pencil box with pencils
- Erasers
- Pens
- Box of colored pencils
- Box of colored markers
- Glue sticks
- Scissors
- Calculator
- English/Metric 12-in ruler
- Binders and folders as needed
If parents are unable to provide these supplies, it is their responsibility to inform the Head of School or Business Administrator.
Non-consumable books belonging to the school must be always covered with appropriate book covers. Contact paper or similar material may not be applied directly to textbook covers; however, it may be used over the top of a paper covering. The textbooks are expensive and usually must last 6 years before replacement. Damaged or lost books are the responsibility of the student to whom they were issued. The student will pay the replacement cost for lost books or books damaged beyond repair. Fees for book damage will be determined and assessed by the teacher.
Students are not to mark any non-consumable textbook with pencil, pen, or highlighter. If a student finds this practice helpful for learning; however, the teacher and the school office should be contacted regarding purchasing the textbook personally.
end of each marking period.
Students are expected to always use nothing other than wholesome language (Ephesians 4:29). This precludes coarse talking, vulgarity, ridicule, gossip, angry outbursts, and slander. In the book of James, we are reminded that the tongue is the most difficult part of our body to control (James 3:1 10). It is natural to want to “repay evil for evil” when we are wronged and in many instances we use our mouths to do just that.
No open containers of food or drink, except for water in water bottles, are permitted in Grade school rooms.
Chewing gum on school premises is not allowed. Any student chewing gum on school property will receive a demerit.
