Welcome to another fantastic year of school at Heritage Elementary! We are so excited about the 2012-2013 school year, and look forward to seeing you.
At Heritage Elementary, we highly value and respect the instructional time of our amazing teachers. We begin our day promptly at 7:45 a.m. and want all of our students in school and ready to learn at that time. Our tardy policy states that the students have to be in school by 7:45 a.m. This means we would like the students to be in "class" and ready to go at 7:45 a.m. If your child is dropped off at 7:45 a.m. they will not have enough time to get to their classroom and unpack before the school bell rings. All students are welcome inside the school building beginning at 7:15 a.m. where they can wait in a supervised area until the first bell rings at 7:35 a.m.
Please consider the following effects of tardiness:
- Disruption to the class
- Extra stress on the child who is rushed and not prepared for the school day
- Important information shared over the morning announcements is missed
- Accuracy of attendance and lunch count can be effected
- Additional time may be lost as the office staff works to locate the class if they have already moved to another location (library, specials, science lab, etc.)
- Opportunities are missed to record homework and complete morning work
In addition to these effects, tardies are considered partial day absences and by state law students are required to attend school ninety percent (90%) of the school year. You may receive a truancy letter that we are required to send home if your child misses three (3) days or parts of days during a four-week period. By not meeting the ninety percent (90%) state attendance requirement, your child could be denied promotion or you may be referred to truancy court.
Our teachers work hard to give each child a great start to their day by greeting them at the door and encouraging conversations. As adults, we understand how hard the morning and day can become if we do not have adequate time to adjust and prepare. Our time with your child is precious. We don’t want to miss one ounce of opportunity to help them learn and grow.
Thank you for helping us to create an environment for success at Heritage Elementary School!
Sincerely,
Sheila Shimmick
Assistant Principal
Heritage Elementary School
