Morehead STAR STANDARDS

(This document is sent home at the beginning of every year and kept in the teacher's classroom with parent/guardian  signature on it.)

STAR FAMILY STANDARDS

2025 - 2026  

*Arrival/Dismissal: Morehead opens at 7:20am.  We cannot accept students earlier than 7:20 as staff are not on campus to supervise.  The late bell rings at 7:45 am.  If you arrive after that time, you will see a sign asking you to park and walk your child to the main office.  This is a necessary step as we will need your name – Please do not send children up to the office without an adult with them.  NO STUDENTS CAN BE DROPPED OFF/PICKED UP IN FRONT OF THE SCHOOL DURING ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL.  THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE as well as it prohibits the flow of the line.  If your child is a car rider, they must exit the passenger side door.   Dismissal begins at 2:30pm.  EARLY check out should ONLY be done for appointments and will end at 2:15 pm. During the last 15 minutes of school, students are still in instructional settings and have not begun to pack up for the day.

*Attendance: Attendance is key to student academic success.  This year, families will receive letters when they have reached 3, 6, and 10 absences.  A child can only be marked present if they are in the school building for more than half of the school day.  Tardies and early dismals will be negatively counted against student attendance. If your child is absent from school, please send a handwritten/typed note with date and reason for the absence upon their return to school. All notes will be submitted to the Data Manager to enter the correct code.  The state of North Carolina recognizes the following as reasons that allow us to code the absence “EXCUSED”:  personal illness or injury that makes the student physically unable to attend school; isolation ordered by the local health officer or by the State Board of Health; death in the immediate family (includes, but is not necessarily limited to, grandparents, parents, brothers, and sisters); medical or dental appointments; participation as a party or under subpoena as a witness in a court or administrative tribunal proceeding, including a proceeding before the Guilford County Schools Board of Education; for observance of an event required or suggested by the religion of the student or the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s).    All other absences will be coded as Unexcused. If your child arrives after 11:30am, they will be marked absent for the day. .  If your child arrives to school late, you will be asked to fill out a digital form that documents the day, time and reason.  The same form will be used to document any absences from school.  The digital form will be put onto ClassDojo as well as the school website.  You will have 7 days to fill out the absence for the absence to be marked accordingly.   This digital forms takes the place of hand written notes.

*Transportation: All students are asked to act within the guidelines for safety on GCS (Guilford County Schools) Transportation. All bus riders are asked to be outside 10 minutes prior to and after the announced time.  Families with bus riders are asked to use the “Here Comes The Bus” App. All car riders need to arrive between 7:20 and 7:45 to be considered on time.  We ask you to have the student's name written on the car sign on your dashboard.  The car sign is issued to the guardian and will be how we know that the person is approved to pick up your child. We will call for your child using this sign. Thank you for being prepared with the sign on the dash.

*One Card:  GCS has implemented another level of safety for our students. Each child will be issued an identification card which assigns them to our school. We are required to have each child scan their cards upon arrival at school. Students will scan their cards at either the car rider line or the bus loop depending on how they get to school. If you are late for school, they will be scanned at the front office as well.  Please help support us by having your child wear their card daily.

*Cafeteria: All students will be offered breakfast and lunch for free at Morehead Elementary. This is based upon the overall community economic polling, and not all schools in the district can offer this. The information is gathered from the lunch forms, and we ask all families to complete this form to help us maintain our lunch status.  If you would like to eat lunch with your child, we ask that you call the school 24 hours in advance to let us know that you are coming.  Also, we ask for no outside food to be brought into the cafeteria as we have many students that have food allergies. Unfortunately, we do not have extra space within our school to welcome large groups. Students may select one classmate to eat with them at the family table.

*Classroom Celebrations:  There will be classroom celebrations throughout the year. Please refrain from sending items for birthday parties to school as we have very limited time in our instructional schedule. Flowers, balloons, and presents cannot be delivered to the classroom and cannot be sent home on the bus with students. Students may share special treats (mini cupcakes or mini doughnuts) with their entire class DURING LUNCH TIME, if prior arrangements are made with the teacher.

*Volunteering:  All volunteers must be cleared through a background check to provide another layer of safety and security.  This process can take time, and we are sent the report when the cleared check is for each volunteer.  If you would like to volunteer or go on field trips with our students, please plan ahead and go through the process early. The link for this form is found on our school website under “Quick Links” at the bottom of the page.

*Animals on Campus:  We ask that all animals remain off campus unless they are a service animal. We have several students that fear animals and our goal is to create an environment where all students feel welcome and safe.

*Medicine:  Students cannot carry medicine with them to school. This is inclusive of Advil, Tylenol, cough drops, or allergy medications. If your student needs medication while at school, we will need the medical provider to complete the medical authorization form. This will allow student to take the medications in accordance with the prescribed order. Please note that we cannot give your child any medicine without a completed form from the doctor.

*Technology Expectation:  Every student has been issued either an iPad or a Chrome Book. We are required to put assignments for students on them and they are also required to go back and forth from school to home daily. We will spend time getting all students logged in and familiar with the programs the first week of school. We encourage all students to be independent with their log-in information as they will do it several times during the school day.  Please partner with us to check your child’s device often as often they are not familiar with the camera roll being public. 

*Cell Phones/SMART Watches:  Students can’t use or have turned on any phones, smartwatches, earbuds, or other electronic devices during class time.  This is in accordance with GCS Student and Family Handbook.

*Announced Visits:  We understand that you may want to visit your child’s classroom. We ask that all visits are announced 24 hours in advance. Please call the office to schedule your visit. Please be aware there may be times during the year when visits are not possible such as during county and state tests.

*School/Home Communication:  You should expect a weekly Connect Ed message on Sundays between 4 – 6 pm. This will come from the administration team and will serve as a reminder and update for all events and happenings at school or within our community. These messages are posted immediately to the school website and Twitter. All teachers will communicate with parents via Class Dojo this year. We ask that all parents join their child’s classroom using the directions provided by the teacher.

 

Parent Name:  ____________________________________________

Parent Signature:  _________________________________________

Student Name:  ___________________________________________  GRADE:  _______