Section Four: School Processes

WSD Code of Conduct​
Our goal is to develop a sense of belonging in every child. We will help the children learn to the best of their ability in hope that they see themselves as being successful individuals. We will encourage independence so that each individual will accept responsibility for his/her learning, decision making and actions. We will encourage generosity so that an understanding of and compassion for others is developed.

The  WSD Code of Conduct will be reviewed annually in September of each school year in each classroom.

Students are expected to:

• Attend school regularly.  Be on time; bring required supplies and completed assignments.
  
• Strive for academic excellence through active participation in learning opportunities and school activities.
  
• Show common courtesy, kindness and respect to all.
  
• Be inclusive of others in the classroom and on the playground.
  
• Enter and exit the building through assigned doors.
  
• Check in at the office when arriving late.
  
• Develop and use decision making skills appropriate for their development stages.
  
• Solve problems peacefully through discussion or by seeking adult assistance.
  
• Accept responsibility for their words and actions, understanding that their mistakes are required to be fixed.
  
• Demonstrate a sense of pride and respect for school property.
  
• Dress appropriately for classes and activities.
  
• To follow the WSD Code of Conduct to the best of their ability without being asked.
  

Staff members are expected to:

• Act in a professional manner.
  
• As a team member, participate in professional development opportunities and activities of the school.
  
• Establish and maintain a positive learning environment.
  
• Adhere to Winnipeg School Division policies regarding curriculum, assessment and communication.
  
• Provide learning opportunities for students as prescribed by The Winnipeg School Division and Manitoba Education, Training and Youth.
  
• Respond to inappropriate behaviours in a way that teaches responsibility, applies natural and logical consequences, encourages children to grow from their mistakes and helps the child to develop a habit of compliance. Where appropriate, the staff will ask parents to assist the child in changing behaviours or learn new skills. Where appropriate the staff will ask the school administration, Child Guidance Clinic or other social service agencies to assist with the students and families.
  
• Respect confidential information about students, families and staff.
  
• To follow the WSD Code of Conduct.
  

Families can help the school by:

• Reviewing the WSD Code of Conduct at home.
  
• Helping their children develop a positive attitude towards learning and a respect for peers and school staff.
  
• Maintaining up-to-date information in the school including addresses, phone numbers (home and work), medical, etc.
  
• Supporting the school when they can.
  
• Supporting the school in daily communication with their children and other members of the community.
  
• Ensuring regular and timely attendance.
  
• Ensuring their children are prepared for learning by being rested, nourished, and dressed appropriately for classes and outdoor activities.
  
• Ensuring their children are prepared for learning by having necessary supplies and completed homework.
  
• Demonstrating respect towards the children, staff and other parents.
  
• Referring concerns to the teachers or school administration rather than disciplining other peoples’ children.
  
• Following established procedures for dealing with concerns.
  
• Attending all meetings, parent teacher and student led conferences, and school events.
  
• Supporting the Montrose Parent Council.
  
• Supporting the fundraising efforts of the school and the parent council.
  
• Following the WSD Code of Conduct 

School Rules

• Be respectful of yourself, others, and the environment.
  
• Be kind, inclusive, tolerant and understanding.
  
• Be prepared to work and learn; take pride in your work and strive to do your best.
  
• Listen to adults.
  
• Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
  
• Bullying or abusing physically, sexually, or psychologically - orally, in writing or otherwise - any person is unacceptable.
  
• Discriminating unreasonably on the basis of ancestry, nationality, ethnicity, religion, age, sex, gender-determined characteristics, sexual orientation, marital/family status, source of income, political views or affiliation, physical or mental ability is in violation of the Manitoba Human Rights Code and is unacceptable.
  
• Using, possessing or being under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs at school is unacceptable.
  
• Gang involvement will not be tolerated anywhere on Montrose School grounds.
  
• Possessing a weapon (any object designed to be used in combat or any other item a person may use or intend to use as a weapon that is not normally used for that purpose) will not be tolerated.
  
• Pupils and staff must adhere to The Winnipeg School Division’s policies respecting the appropriate use of electronic mail and the Internet, including the prohibition of material that the school has determined to be objectionable.
  

Students’ Jobs
Students will indicate their desire to be an active member of the Montrose School by doing two jobs each and every day: do their work and fix their mistakes. 

Accidents Do Happen
Accidents happen every day at school.  Typically students who have accidents do two things - they apologize immediately and help the other student involved.  Most often accidents are corrected without assistance from adults.

Children Make Mistakes
From time to time children make mistakes based upon poor choices or impulsive behaviour.  When this occurs students will be expected to take responsibility for their actions and participate in finding a solution.  Some children are able to fix their mistakes independently, while others require adult (school staff or parents) assistance.

Consequences for Behaviours
There may or may not be additional actions taken by the school staff when mistakes are made.  Consequences depend upon a number of factors including, but not limited to, the student’s age and developmental  level, the severity of the misconduct, the student’s history of misconduct, and the student’s ability to understand her/his actions.

Consequences range from a warning, to parent/school conferences, to school suspension.  Sometimes consequences are natural.  For example a student who teases may find that classmates do not want to play with him/her.  The implications for not listening might be an assignment incorrectly done or a missed opportunity to participate in a school activity.

Occasionally, with the assistance of an adult, children will resolve an issue at school to their satisfaction and subsequently parents expect more from the solution.  If parents find themselves in that situation please contact the adult who assisted the child for more information about the process that was used in determining the resolution.

Appealing Disciplinary Decisions
If parents have questions about or wish to appeal disciplinary decisions they are invited to speak to the adult who disciplined the child or the child’s teacher.  If parents are not satisfied, please contact the school administration, and if still not satisfied contact the district superintendent.

Dress Code
Students are expected to be responsible for their own clothing.  Families are encouraged to identify the owner of the clothing on inside tags using permanent markers.  All students require non-marking running shoes for indoor use only.  Grade five and six students are expected to change for phys. ed. classes.  T-shirt and shorts or sweat pants are acceptable.

Any clothing that causes a disruption to the learning environment is considered to be inappropriate.  Children will be asked to cover or change clothing deemed to be inappropriate by school staff and not return to school with the same clothing on another day.

Cosmetics are also considered to be inappropriate for use in an elementary school.  Students will be asked to remove cosmetics immediately.

School Phone / Cell Phones
The school secretary will contact families when a student is ill and needs to go home.  A student may be asked to phone home with respect to incomplete assignments.  The students will have access to the use of the telephone for urgent family matters once they have received their teacher’s permission.  The students will not be able to use school phones to arrange play dates or ask permission to stay after school on the playground; all play arrangements are to be made at home.  If your family has decided to provide the children a cell phone, please understand that all students are prohibited from using cell phones on Montrose School property (that includes the photographing of others using cell phone cameras).  The school will not be responsible for or conduct any investigation with respect to missing cell phones.

Lost and Found
We are happy to unite missing clothing with its owner.  Please visit the lost and found bins near the library.  At the end of each season the unclaimed lost and found items are bagged and given to charity.

Student Book Bags
It is most common that students use Book Bags to transport books, personal belongings and lunch kits back and forth to school.  As locker space is very limited, only school issued bags are to be used. Book bags can be purchased at the office for $9.00.

Student Lockers
Each child in Nursery and Kindergarten will have a “cubby hole” to hang their personal belongings on a day to day basis.

Students in grades one through six will share a locker, situated in the hallway and close to their classroom entrance.  The lockers are to be kept in an organized manner, closed after each use and emptied at the end of each day with two exceptions - indoor shoes and physicals education clothing (grade five and six only) may be stored in the lockers long term.  All book bags are expected to be emptied at the start of the day and stored on the top shelf.  Lunch kits are expected to be stored within easy reach on the second shelf and all clothing is expected to be hung on the hooks.

Attendance
Students are expected to arrive on time and be in attendance on each day unless they are ill.  Families are encouraged to schedule appointments on in-service days or after school hours.  If a student needs to leave the school early for any reason, parents are asked to contact the teacher directly (written note or telephone message).  It is expected that parents identify themselves at the school office before proceeding to the classroom to pick her/his child up.  If a student attends an appointment during school hours we ask that he/she attend school before or arrive as soon as possible after the appointment.

Parents must notify the school administration in writing of any extended absence (longer than one week).  The school will monitor the day to day timely arrival and attendance of all students.  Should a pattern of unexplained absences and / or accumulated absences exceeding 10 school days occur the family will be contacted by the school’s administration.  Assistance will be made available to support families where attendance issues exist.

Classroom Supply Lists
It has been a long standing tradition of the school to ask for a combination of money and / or basic school supplies.  Classroom teachers use all of the money that is collected to purchase consumable school supplies for the students to use in their day-to-day work.  All students require non-marking indoor shoes for classroom and gym use and are asked to supply one or two boxes of facial tissue.  For viewing your child’s classroom supply list for 2013-2014, follow this link​ and select your child's classroom. 

In-services
During the school year we will be closed for 10 days for administrative purposes (including parent teacher interviews) and to continue our professional development as a team.  Notification of all school closures is done through the school calendar and reminder notes.  A yearly calendar is available by mid-September and is posted on the web site.

Safety

Safe Arrival Program
Our primary goal is to provide a safe learning environment for all students.  It is expected that all Nursery and Kindergarten students are accompanied to/from the classroom door during entrance and exit.  Parents must provide the Nursery / Kindergarten classroom teacher with a list of adults who are eligible to pick up their children.

Families are asked to contact the school secretary before school begins on the days when their children will be absent or late.  That information will be shared with the classroom teacher and the safe arrival assistant.  The safe arrival assistant will call the family contact person between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. or 1:00 and 1:15 p.m. to ensure that the student’s absence is sanctioned.

Illness/Injury
In the event that a student will be absent from school or is limited in the activities he/she can participate due to illness or injury, parents are expected to advise the school and lunch program by phone.  Children who are recovering from a cold, flu or other like illnesses will be required to participate in outdoor recesses.  If the child is too sick for recess activities she/he should rest at home until he/she is strong enough to go outside.

Allergies
As allergies become more and more prevalent in the school setting it is important to have a consistent approach for our students.  Our policy was developed in consultation with the school community and received the endorsement of the Parent Council.  This letter is intended to outline the established protocol that will be followed by all classroom teachers.

Families will provide a “safe treat” bag for their child.  In the event that any food is offered by other families, children with allergies will be asked to choose a treat from their safe bag as an alternative to the food being offered by a classmate.  If a parent is in attendance at the time the food is offered and/or consumed then she / he can make the decision as to the suitability of the food.

As standard practice, teachers post signs at the door to the classroom warning of allergies.  When the food experience / nursery snack is initiated by the teacher, she / he will make contact with the family prior to the event to discuss the suitability of the food that is being prepared and consumed and make alternate arrangements should it be necessary. 

Montrose School is part of the No Child Without campaign, where free medic alert bracelets are provided to students in need.  Information has been provided to families through the school newsletter and brochures.  Further information is available at www.nochildwithout.ca 

Traffic Safety: Drop off and Pick Up of Students
We happily share our bus loop with our families and ask for your cooperation in keeping the area safe.  The bus loop allows families to drive up, get a kiss and drop off or pick up the children.  Drivers are to remain in the car at all times and students should exit on the passenger side of the vehicle near the fence and proceed immediately onto the school grounds.  Please stop in a single lane of traffic, as close to the fence as possible and move out as soon as it is safe to do so allowing others to use the space.  If for any reason and for any amount of time the driver needs to leave the car we ask that he/she park in a visitor’s spot along the Grant Avenue fence or on the adjacent streets.  Stopping along the center median in the parking lot creates a danger for our students as it reduces visibility and creates congestion.  As one might expect, the parking lot becomes quite busy just before nine o’clock entry and at the end of the day.  Please consider parking on the street, further down the block - this option helps you avoid the congestion and provide your children with some exercise and fresh air.  We receive tremendous cooperation from our families each year and look forward to your continued support.  Please share this information with your babysitters and grandparents.

Emergency Lockdown Practice
We hold two emergency lockdown drills each school year.  Much like fire drills, we are trying to teach the students an automatic response to a specific safety concern at the school.

During a lockdown, the students are asked to move away from the doors and windows and remain silent.  If a student finds himself/herself in the hallway or washroom she/he is asked to report immediately to the closest classroom.  In most cases the students are with their teacher who will secure the classroom / work area.

Parents who find themselves in the building during a lockdown should report to the closest classroom immediately (prior to the door being secured) or the school office.  Once the doors to the classrooms are locked they will not be opened until the lockdown is ended.

Fire Drills and Evacuation Plan
Montrose School has a very sensitive smoke detection system in our school.  All staff are prepared to evacuate the building immediately should the alarm ring unexpectedly.  In a case like this the Fire Department will come and classes are not allowed to return until fire fighters give permission.  Instructions relating to emergency exits are posted in each classroom.  Ten portable fire extinguishers are in service and located throughout the school.

Ten fire drills practices are required throughout the school year.

Parents who find themselves in the building during a fire drill or emergency evacuation should leave the school by the nearest exit.

Fire Exits:

• Rooms 103, 104, 105, 113 will leave by the north-east door.
  
• Rooms 106, gym, daycare will leave by the south-east door.
  
• Rooms 126, 129, 132 will leave by the south-west door.
  
• Rooms 122, 123, 124, 125 will leave by the north-west door.
  
• Library will leave by library emergency exit.
  
• MPR will leave by the north-east door.
  

​Emergency Evacuation Locations
In the event the school is required to evacuate for a fire, chemical spill or other emergency the students and staff will move to one of the following sites:   

First Evacuation Site:

St. Peter’s Anglican Church

Grant Avenue at Elm Street

488 - 8093

 

Second Evacuation Site:

River Heights School

Grosvenor Avenue at Elm Street

488 - 7090 

Emergency Communication with Parents
In the event of an emergency requiring evacuation of the building, parents will be notified by the school staff once the students have been moved to a secure location. The school secretary will have at her/his disposal the student records binder containing addresses and phone numbers of all families (families are asked to keep their information current).  The staff will call the families to inform them of the evacuation and where they can pick up their children.  A bulletin will be prepared as soon as possible to provide families pertinent information about the situation.

Strangers in the School
Signage will direct all visitors to the school office.  Strangers in the school will be stopped by staff and asked if she/he needs assistance.  All strangers are to be directed to the office.  If a stranger enters the building and refuses to go to the office or leave when asked to do so the staff member will notify the office immediately.  The Montrose response team will proceed directly to the location to assess the threat posed by the stranger(s).  If it is deemed that the stranger poses a high threat to harm others, the school will be “locked down.”  Upon direction, the school secretary will announce “Safety Alert: Montrose is in lockdown.”  Police will be notified.  The classroom teachers and support staff will immediately clear the hallways, lock their classroom doors, cover the windows and retain the children.  The staff and students will not respond to the fire alarm during a lock down.

Strangers on the Grounds;
Strangers entering the school grounds will be stopped and asked if he/she needs assistance.  All strangers are to be directed to the office.  If a stranger enters the playground and refuses to go to the office or leave when asked to do so the staff member who encountered the stranger will notify the office immediately.  The school’s response will follow the above procedures with the exception that the hand bell will be used to notify students to return to the school immediately.  Members of the response team will supervise the entry and direct children to their classrooms.  The school will go into a Lock Out and all outside doors will be locked and supervised by the response team.  Access to the school for recognized community members will be through the north east doors only.  The police will be notified.​​​