Services & GuideArrival & Pick-UpAttendance Before & After School Care Bus Cafeteria Counseling Emergency Contact Janitorial Lost & Found Medication Nurse Parking Placement & Configuration Psychologist Rules & Policies School Records Student Intervention Team back to Community Home |
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| Arrival
& Pickup Thornton Creek staff is not expected to supervise children before 8:40 a.m. or after 3:05 p.m.. Children arriving early or staying late without prior arrangement with a staff member will be supervised by Thornton Creek Kids Time, paid daycare providers. A fee is charged. Updated information about Kids Time and fees is available in the office. Should it be necessary for your child to leave school before regular dismissal time, for safety reasons and so parents and the school office are fully aware of children's whereabouts, we ask that all parents or designated adults abide by the following process: If a student is not going home by her/his regular transportation and is
Attendance It is important to notify the school office staff at 252‚5300 if your child will be absent or late. We will make every effort to reach you to check on your child if we do not hear from you. Before & After School Care Thornton Creek offers an on-site before and after school program designed specifically to meet the needs of the children and families of Thornton Creek. Details and registration forms for "Thornton Creek Kids Time" can be obtained in the main office. You can contact the staff by telephone at 729-9538.  Bus A child who plans to ride a bus s/he doesn't normally ride to a friend's house or get off their regular bus at a stop other than their assigned stop must get a Seattle Public School (SPS) temporary bus card from the school office. For a student to get a bus card, parents/guardians send in written permission to the school office in advance. Please write a note for your child and ask her/him to bring the note to the office as soon as s/he arrives at school so that a bus pass can be written. Please limit arrangements made over the phone to emergencies only. Safety is our highest priority for students riding the SPS buses. It is imperative that all students abide by and comply with bus policies and rules. Students unwilling to follow bus rules may be denied SPS bus transportation for one or more days depending upon their behavior. Parents will be notified of any decisions affecting their child's transportation on a SPS bus. Cafeteria Children may buy breakfast, lunch and/or milk. Meal tickets may be purchased in advance by sending a check to the office with a note. Reduced price or free meals are available for families who qualify. To apply, please complete and return the federal form sent home at the beginning of the school year. If money or the student's lunch is lost, limited funds are available in the office for students to borrow. Families will be expected to repay borrowed lunch money before they are loaned money a third time. Come join your child for a meal! Breakfast or lunch or maybe just a drink (juice or milk). Breakfast is served from 8:40-9:05. Lunch is served from 12:00-12:15.
Families can purchase lunch or milk tickets in advance by sending checks made out to Child Nutrition Services (CNS), for multiples of 3 or more lunches or milks. Please include the child's name and room number on the check. Nova Herzog is our cafeteria manager. Counseling Thornton Creek has a full time counselor in order to support our philosophy of helping students to problem solve. Our counselor is Joyce Johnson and she has been at Thornton Creek for 9 years. Joyce is available to help students work out conflicts with other students, to consult with parents, and to run small groups with a variety of topics such as friendship skills and anger skills. She also trains students to become Conflict Managers who then help out on the playground. Her phone number is 206-252-5306. Emergency Contact It is very important that parents/guardians provide the school office staff emergency telephone numbers in case of an accident or illness involving your child/ren. In the event that your emergency contact information changes during the school year, please notify the office staff and update your contact information. Parents are requested not to phone the school or attempt to enter the building should a serious earthquake occur. In the event that we must evacuate the school building, parents can come to school and first meet school staff and then their child on the playground. In the event of an earthquake, we will ask that you sign your child out before leaving the school. The school secretary will have sign out forms if such an emergency occurs. Occasionally, students are injured during recess or gym. School staff will attend to the child's injuries as well as we can and parents will be notified as soon as the child's injury needs have been met. Janitorial Our day custodian is Xuan Le. Our night custodian is Carol Padilla.   Lost & Found Articles of clothing and other lost items are stored in a cabinet in the hallway near the main office. Small items of value are kept in the office until claimed. Three times a year we will donate unclaimed clothing items. You may want to mark your child's clothes with his/her name and phone number.  Medication In order for any type of medication to be given to a student while at school, parents/guardians and the child's physician are required to complete the appropriate sections of the "Medications At School Authorization Form." All medication kept at school must have the student's name, dosage, contents, and directions for administration clearly typed on the prescription container's label. Nurse Coming Soon! Parking Parent parking is available in the north and south parking lots, as well as along NE 77th and NE 80th streets. Long term parking on 43rd Avenue NE between NE 77th and NE 80th streets is limited to the east side of the street. Parents should not park on the west side of 43rd Avenue NE between NE 77th and NE 80th streets between the hours of 8:30 ‚ 9:30 am and 2:30 ‚ 3:30 pm. If you are crossing 43rd Avenue, please cross only at the corners at NE 77th and 80th . Placement & Configuration A variety of factors are considered as staff makes student placement decisions. The placement process aims to create class groups that balance: individual and group learning strengths, social needs, relationships within a class group, individual student learning challenges, ethnic diversity and gender balance. In addition, staff receives input from a parent survey that assists teachers in their placement decisions. Staff configures classes at Thornton Creek with two grades in one classroom to:
Psychologist Our school psychologist, Peggy Harden, provides evaluations for students whose parents and teachers are concerned about their academic and social development. Referrals for evaluations are usually made through the School Intervention Team (SIT). Our psychologist is at Thornton Creek one day each week--this year on Thursdays-- and can be reached by calling 252-0871. Rules & Policies Code of Conduct In order for our school community to work together in an open, healthy, and positive way, we have arrived at this code of conduct to guide our interactions.
Because teaching and modeling positive behavior are the primary approaches to "discipline" at Thornton Creek, extremely negative behavior occurs infrequently. In the context of common, all-school culture and values, classrooms collaboratively develop their own sets of expectations about behavior, keeping in mind that each child's needs and development are crucial to the success of our program. This section of the Handbook is included because conflicts arise within any community, and it is helpful to restate our basic values and methods. Children and adult members of our community will usually attempt to identify the cause of conflict and resolve it at the source -- for example, a change in schedule, improved communication, or recognition of differing expectations will resolve many conflicts. Aggressive or disruptive behavior may happen for a variety of reasons in a variety of schools settings and, in the context of our educational philosophy, is handled in a variety of ways which include the active participation of those involved whenever possible. Our goals are to protect each person's rights, and to help each person learn to make wise choices caring for self and others. The basic strategies in use in classrooms and throughout the school to achieve these goals are to:
In our effort to emphasize safety procedures, we ask you to review this Seattle District policy with your child. Weapons of any kind, including toy weapons of any kind, are strictly prohibited in schools. Possession of any such object, will result in suspension and may result in expulsion. Students who become aware that another student has a weapon of any kind (even a toy weapon) must report this to an adult immediately. As a new school year begins, it is time to stress once again the Seattle Public Schools' commitment to providing a safe and orderly educational environment. It is appropriate, therefore, to remind all in the broader school community that the Seattle Public Schools has a no tolerance policy with regard to weapons of all kinds. Student possession or use of guns (loaded or not, operable or not, "real" or not), knives of any length (including pocket knives), pepper spray, and other weapons and objects capable of causing bodily harm will, in almost all cases, result in expulsion from school. Items not normally regarded as weapons, but capable of causing harm and used in a threatening or harmful way, are considered weapons under this policy. Serious assaults, threats of physical harm, harassment based on factors such as race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion and disability, and other serious offenses will also be treated severely. We recognize, of course, the difficulties encountered by students who are expelled, or otherwise excluded long-term from school, for serious misbehavior. However, our primary obligation is to provide a healthy learning environment to the vast majority of students. We cannot afford to send the message to students that serious offenses are sometimes treated lightly - that would only lead to an increase in the incidence of problem situations. For the safety of all students and staff, those few students who engage in weapons violations or other very serious misbehavior must expect to be expelled and not readmitted to another regular school until successful completion of appropriate behavior management training. Having a weapon "for protection" or "by accident" or "because someone handed it to me" (and it wasn't turned in immediately to the office or school staff) is not the sort of mitigating circumstance that will avoid expulsion. Student Bus Expectations
If a student receives a "write up" for inappropriate and/or unsafe behavior on the school bus
School Records Your rights as parents are assured under the family educational rights and privacy act of 1974. The permanent record file and District cards are kept at Thornton Creek, and include identification information, emergency information, attendance records, health records, test scores, and necessary reports. We also maintain your child's portfolio file, which contains samples of student work and teacher progress reports over their time at Thornton Creek. These are located in the school office. Parents may see and make photocopies of file materials at any time, upon request. Parents may challenge information in the student's records and request a hearing if needed. Parents may be assured that we treat student records with strict confidentiality. Only the teachers, principal, and other authorized school district personnel have access to student files. We do not give out students' names, addresses, or phone numbers to unauthorized persons. When students move to another school district, the new school sends a request for the permanent file to Thornton Creek before records are released. Thornton Creek sends the student's permanent record file to the requesting school unless alternate arrangements have been made by the parents. The parent is responsible for delivering the portfolio to the new school. Sometimes student names are used as part of directory information such as newspaper articles, class pictures and lists, room parents' lists, displays of artwork, yearbook lists, and the school newsletter. Parents have the right to request that their child's name be excluded from these kinds of school-related activities. If you wish the protection of your child's privacy be extended to eliminate some or all of the above uses, please send a note to the school office and indicate your wishes. If you have questions about any of the procedures described here, please give us a call. A copy of the school district's "School Records, Policies, Regulations, Guidelines" is available in the school office for your examination, and gives a detailed explanation if you wish to see it. Student Intervention Team (S.I.T.) The Student Intervention Team (S.I.T.) meets once a week on Thursday mornings to discuss concerns parents and/or teachers have about individual students. It is a time for brainstorming ways to help children achieve their best potential at school. The team consists of the parents, teachers, principal, counselor, nurse and psychologist. It can also include the librarian, gym teacher, speech therapist, etc. The team formulates a plan of action to help each child. back to top |