Welcome to Methacton High School

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Welcome to Methacton High School
Mr. Creeden 9th grade assistant principal
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Student/Parent Handbook

• Located in your students assignment book
• Contains the schools policies and regulations,
  important dates, phone numbers and extensions and
  attendance information
• If you have an academic concern or question
  please contact the teacher first
• First initial and last name _at_ methacton.org
• Ex. rcreeden_at_methacton.org

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Attendance

• Pages 17 21 in student/parent handbook
• When your child is going to be absent we do
  require that a parent or guardian call our 24
  hour number (610-489-5000 ext. 25037).
• If we do not get a call or note regarding the
  absence within 24 hours, the absence is
  considered unexcused.
• When your child is late and you must drop them
  off, be aware that the Attendance Office is at
  the flagpole entrance to the building. This is
  the only accessible door to the building and to
  be used for drop-off and pick-up.

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Tardy to School

• Handbook Highlight
• Students who are late must bring in a signed
  note from their parents explaining the lateness.
  Notes from parents must be brought in within one
  day. After three parent notes have been
  submitted during one semester regarding illness,
  the student must bring in a doctors or dentists
  note verifying any illness in order for the tardy
  to be excused. All lateness to school is
  unexcused or unlawful, except for the following
  reasons medical illness, death in the immediate
  family or other family emergency, and religious
  holidays. OVERSLEEPING, CAR TROUBLE, CLOCK
  FAILURE, MISSED BUS, ETC. ARE UNEXCUSED OR
  UNLAWFUL. (pg. 18)

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Early Dismissal from School

• Handbook Highlight
• When a student must be excused from school
  prior to the end of the school day, the student
  must present a note specifying the reason for the
  early dismissal from the parent to the Attendance
  Office during homeroom. If a note is not
  presented to the Attendance office before the end
  of homeroom then a parent/guardian must come in
  to the sign-out the student at the time of
  dismissal. (pg. 19)
• After three parent notes have been submitted
  for one semester dismissing a student early from
  school for a medical visit, a doctor or dentist
  note is required to validate the dismissal. If it
  becomes necessary to leave because of illness or
  any other valid reason, permission must be
  obtained from an administrator or the school
  nurse. The student cannot make these arrangements
  themselves. (pg. 19)

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Cell Phones

• We do not permit the use of them in our building
  during the school day.
• Encourage your child to turn off their cell
  phones and keep them away during the school day
  (730 220).
• Please know that your child will not be dismissed
  from school unless a parent contact has been made
  with our attendance office, nurses office, or
  Administrative office.

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Discipline

• Typically, the teacher will write a referral,
  submit it to me, and I will conference with the
  student.
• The discipline is progressive in nature.
• Please be aware that administrative discretion
  may be used depending upon the severity of the
  incident and/or the students disciplinary
  record.

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Bullying

• Handbook Highlight
• Bullying means any intentional written,
  electronic, verbal or physical act or actions
  against another person that a reasonable person
  under the circumstances should know will have the
  effect of
• 1. Substantial interference with a students
  education.
• 2. Creation of a threatening environment.
• 3. Substantial disruption of the orderly
  operation of the school.
• Bullying, as defined in this policy, includes
  cyberbullying.
• The Board encourages students who have been
  bullied or harassed to promptly report such
  incident(s) to an administrator, teacher,
  counselor, or nurse so the incident(s) can be
  investigated promptly, and corrective action be
  taken when allegations are substantiated. (pg.
  28)

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Restorative Practices

• The science of building social capital and
  achieving social discipline through participatory
  learning and decision-making.  Restorative
  Practices provides a more useful way of looking
  at school discipline than the limited
  punitive-permissive continuum to punish or not
  to punish.  The positive relationships created by
  Restorative Practices helps reduce incidents of
  bullying as it defines and distinguishes bullying
  from other problematic behaviors.  Bullying is
  addressed on the spot, consistency is ensured
  among the staff, and the opportunity to intervene
  early is provided so the initial bullying type
  behaviors can be addressed.

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Appearance

• The following are examples of items considered
  inappropriate in Methacton School District
• Bare midriff, low-cut, revealing or any
  see-through clothing.
• Bathing suits, tops or trunks.
• Chains, spikes, metal work on boots, pants,
  shirts, jackets, clothing or accessories.
• Clothing/jewelry displaying patches/slogans/pictur
  es which suggest the use of alcohol, and/or
  drugs, which contain obscene or offensive
  language, or depict sexual, violent or illegal
  behavior.
• Footwear that leaves marks or abrasions on floor
  surfaces.
• Hats, caps, headbands, other head coverings and
  sunglasses.
• Ragged, holey, or cut-off clothing.
• Skirts and shorts of inappropriate length
  (appropriate length would be shorts with a 4-inch
  inseam and skirts that are fingertip length).
• Sleeveless and off-the-shoulder shirts.
• Spandex, tight clothing or ill-fitting garments

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Additional Information

• Lockers Encourage your child to not bring
  expensive belongings to school.
• Late Bus Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday _at_ 400
  p.m.
• Cafeteria debit system set up online
• Back-to-School Night Wednesday September 16th
  from 7 9 p.m.
• Interim Dates 10/9, 12/11, 2/26, 5/10
• Report Card Distribution Dates 11/19, 2/2, 4/9,
  6/16
• Mid-Term Exam week January 20th through January
  25th
• Website www.methacton.org

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• Respect - Character building assembly programs
  are scheduled throughout the school year to
  motivate students to excel in the classroom and
  help them develop positive relationships with
  their peers.
• Responsibility - All freshmen students will
  receive an effective study skills and test
  preparation supplement in their 2009-2010
  agendas. Also, A bi-monthly freshmen newsletter
  (FR_at_MEWORK) is distributed to all freshmen
  students.
• Rigor - The Homework Café will begin in the fall
  for freshmen students only. It will meet once a
  week from 230 330 in commons area.
• Relationships - A student ambassador will lead
  approximately 10 freshmen. The ambassadors will
  serve as positive role models, motivators, and
  teachers who will guide the freshmen to discover
  what it takes to be successful in high school.
• FR_at_ME G_at_ME NIGHT
• Ice Cream Social

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Parent Portal

• Directions on how to sign-up will be on the
  information table outside the auditorium
  following the presentation.
• OR, go to www.methacton.org and select Parent Web
  Portal and the instructions will follow.
• Once the paperwork is completed and you are
  assigned a pin number, you can check your childs
  grades on-line from anywhere.

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The Most Important Ingredient You!

• High school students need their parents to be
  interested and involved in their academic
  progress.
• Insist on daily attendance.
• See all interim reports (Parent Portal) and
  report cards.
• Deal effectively with homework (encourage
  son/daughter to e-mail teacher with questions or
  concerns).
• Be aware and be informed
• Be involved FR_at_ME, Home School, Post-Prom