POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Absences, Tardiness and Early Dismissals

Please report your child’s absence by calling the school at (914) 234-4178 between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. to ensure accurate attendance records. If the absence extends to more than one day, it is not necessary to phone after the first day. Students who accumulate 10 absences, tardies or early departures will receive a letter from the school. Excessive absences, tardies or early dismissals will result in a letter, phone call and/or conference with the principal.

A note from a child’s parent or guardian is required by New York State Law to explain every absence from school. Upon returning to school, the student must bring a note detailing the dates of his/her absence and the specific reason for absence, including the nature of the illness. Again, this is required by New York State Law. If you know in advance that your child will be absent for several days, please notify the school office in writing.

State Law also requires a written explanation for any tardiness. Students are expected to be at school, in their classrooms and ready to learn at 9:00 a.m. Students arriving late, after the 9:00 a.m. bell, must report to the Main Office to receive a late pass before proceeding to their classrooms.

Illegal Absences

The Board of Education has directed the administration to enforce the pupil attendance laws of the State of New York. Removing a student from school for such reasons as vacations or other non-emergency activities is not an excusable absence. If a parent chooses to absent the child from school for such reasons, he/she should understand:

  • Such absences are specifically discouraged. Requests for extra planning and preparation by teachers to accommodate such absences must come directly to the school principal, not to the teacher, two weeks prior to absences.
  • The extra work involved in accommodating such absences will have a lower priority than the ordinary work of dealing with educational programs of those students attending school.
  • Such absences could adversely affect the student’s work and interrupt academic progress.
Extended Excused Absence
  • If a student is absent for more than two days, and depending on the anticipated date of return to school, parents may request that the teacher gather assignments that have been missed. Parents’ requests must be made before 10 a.m. if they plan to pick up homework on that day. Homework may be picked up at the end of the school day in the Main Office by a parent or designated student.
  • It will be at the discretion of the teacher which assignments, if any, will be sent home as homework. In light of the fact that important classroom instruction has been missed, some assignments may not be appropriate for a child to complete at home.
  • Homework assigned after the first two days of an absence may be completed over a period of a few days after the student returns to school. The teacher will provide a reasonable schedule. In some cases, students may be exempt from particular assignments at the teacher’s discretion.
Extended Unexcused Absence
  • When parents remove their children from school for extended holidays or vacations, teachers are not responsible for providing instructional materials for work that will be missed.
  • However, if there are books or textbook chapters that can be read independently by the student during his/her absence, these may be assigned in advance at the teacher’s discretion.
  • If parents request assignments and they are given to a student, it is expected that these will be completed, reviewed by the parent and handed in when the student returns to school.

Arrival & Dismissal Procedures

Arrival

Morning drop off is between 8:30 and 8:55 a.m. in the designated “Drop Off” area only, where a safety monitor is stationed to assist and direct each student. Please do not allow your children to exit your vehicle before reaching this designated spot. Children may only exit from the right side of the vehicle once you have reached the safety monitor. There is no supervision before 8:30 a.m. 

There is no parking in the school “circle” from 8:30-9:30 a.m. and 2:30-3:30. The “circle” is reserved for buses only.

Late drop-off

If you are dropping off your child after 8:55 a.m., you will need to park in the lot or on the street – not in the bus circle – and walk your child to the Main Office.

There are 4 designated “visitor” parking spots in the bus circle that can be used only between 9:30-2:30.

Dismissal

Bus

Children in grades K – 2 who are riding the bus home will be escorted to the gym by their teachers where they will join their specific bus lines. Children in grades 3 – 5 will remain in their classrooms and wait for their buses to be called. When a bus arrives, students from the gym and classrooms meet in the family room to be escorted outside to board the bus.

Pick-ups

At the sound of the bell at 3:00 pm, our pick up students will leave their classrooms and gather in the cafeteria. As soon as they are assembled and ready, we will begin by letting designated adults picking up their children enter the vestibule and sign their children out with a staff member from the office. After signing and receiving approval, the child(ren)’s name will be called over the walkie-talkie system prompting staff members in the cafeteria to release them to go to the vestibule to reunite with their designated adults. Please follow the pick-up procedures and exit the building promptly to help expedite the dismissal process. BVES reserves the right to ask for I.D. at any time.

 

Walkers

 

4th and 5th grade walkers will be escorted to the designated walker sign out area at 3:00 p.m. If your child is a 4th or 5th grader and has your permission, in writing, to be a “walker”, the expectation is they will be leaving school property (not meeting you outside). BVES students that are not eligible for bussing are considered daily walkers and will be dismissed as such.

 

Parental notes are required for all changes in dismissal. Please send a complete note with very specific details to school with your child and go over their dismissal plans with them the morning to alleviate any possible anxiety and or confusion.

 

Your child’s safety and well-being is our first priority. Thank you for helping us keep them safe.

Special Dismissal Requests
A parental note from home should be sent in to the teacher in the morning when there is a change in dismissal for that day. The note must state where the child is going and how he/she is getting there. The note should also include the name and phone number of the person picking the child up. Green forms for this purpose are available in the Main Office. To ensure your child’s safe departure, changes cannot be made after 11:00 a.m. For bus transportation changes, please see the Bus Transportation section.

Attire

Students should come to school dressed appropriately each day.

  • Footwear: Sneakers are required for physical education classes and are the best footwear for recess.   Flip-flops present safety issues and are not permitted. In snowy weather, students without boots must remain on the paved portion of the playground or in the Pole Barn.
  • Clothing: In warm weather, clothing must be appropriate. Excessively short skirts/shorts or tee-shirts with offensive or objectionable logos/slogans are not allowed. In colder weather, please know that temperatures vary throughout the building and having a sweater may be helpful.
  • Hats: Hats are not to be worn inside the building unless special permission has been granted.

Cafeteria Program and Guidelines

Rules and Procedures
  • Take your turn politely when lining up
  • Remain seated at your table
  • Eat only your own lunch
  • Do not borrow money from other students
  • When a staff member signals, stop talking and follow directions
  • Clean up your lunch area before lining up to leave
  • Ask permission from a Teacher Aide to leave the cafeteria area
Breakfast
Breakfast is served daily in the cafeteria from 8:30 – 8:55 a.m. The cost of breakfast is $1.50 (includes milk and fruit juice). Students buying breakfast must arrive at school between 8:30 – 8:45 a.m. to ensure adequate time to eat and be in class by 9:00 a.m.
Lunch

The Bedford Central School District has contracted with PayPAMS to offer you the opportunity to manage your children’s school lunch accounts online or via telephone. Although payments to student’s accounts may still be made by check directly to the school, we encourage you to take advantage of the convenience of this service. Please review the PayPAMS system’s features below that are now available to all district families.

System Features:

  • Pay your child’s meals from home
  • View your child’s account balance
  • Schedule automatic payments
  • Receive low balance reminders
  • View a report of daily spending
  • View the cafeteria menu

For more information on how to use PayPAMS, please visit www.bcsdny.org, go to the Parent page by clicking on the tab titled Parent in the upper right corner and choose Online Lunch Payments.

Lunch may be purchased for $2.25 (includes a choice of entrée, two vegetable/fruit side dishes and a choice of lowfat milk). Milk only can be purchased for $0.60. Lunch/milk money should be sent to school in your child’s folder. If the funds on your child’s lunch account run out or your child forgets to bring lunch money, the cafeteria staff will refer your child to the Main Office. We will make an attempt to call home and lend your child money to purchase lunch for that day. To make these limited funds available for others, immediate reimbursement is greatly appreciated. We strongly urge you to utilize the PayPams online system.

Lunch menus are published monthly by BP Notes, with each day’s menu as well as selections that are always available. The lunch menu is also posted on the school’s website. Lunch is served on all full days of school. Please review selections with your child to plan his/her choices. Snack items are also available for sale (kindergarteners are not permitted to purchase snacks).

Recess

Each day either before or after lunch, students will participate in recess with their grade level peers. This is a great opportunity for students to socialize and engage in games and other physical activities. Teacher Aides will supervise and monitor play for safety and well-being. For inclement weather, students will either have recess inside the Pole Barn or indoors depending on the severity of the conditions. Electronic hand-held games and/or cell phones are not permitted at recess or any other time during the school day.

C.A.R.E. at BVES

To support our mission and vision beliefs of fostering students who are kind, respectful and responsible citizens, we have implemented a character education program using the district wide core values of Cooperation, Accountability, Respect and Effort.   Assemblies, town meetings and class discussions will be ongoing and continue to support and define our expectations and provide common language for students and staff. We will continue to look at making this “come alive” in interactions with students, parents, and staff throughout our school day to encourage C.A.R.E. to become part of the fabric of BVES.

BVES’s Anti Bullying Rules

  • We will not bully others
  • We will try to help students who are bullied
  • We will try to include students who are left out
  • If we know that someone is being bullied we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home. 

Consequences for Inappropriate Behavior

  • Verbal warning and staff member’s restatement of appropriate behavior.
  • Removal from area and/or activity. Follow-up with student by staff member involved.
  • Involved staff member fills out a report.   A privilege maybe removed. The specific loss of privilege depends on the grade level of the student and misbehavior involved.
  • Involved staff member fills out a report. The exact consequence is at the discretion of the teacher/administration. Principal meets with the student and notifies the parents.

A serious misbehavior will constitute immediate action by the principal or teacher-in-charge.

Bullying and Cyber Bullying Definition and Policy

We are committed to providing a safe, positive learning experience for all students and staff, where bullying and cyber bullying in any form are not tolerated.

 

Age-Appropriate Definitions of Bullying

Grades K-2

Grades K-2 – Bullying is when someone is mean over and over again and hurts other people on purpose with their words and actions. Bullying can be:

  • Words -for example: name calling, making fun of, laughing at, threatening, using a certain tone of voice, spreading rumors
  • Actions – for example: pushing, shoving, hitting, spitting, kicking, hair pulling, eye rolling, body language, mean gestures, excluding someone, ruining someone’s belongings, drawing mean pictures.
Grades 3 – 5

Grades 3 – 5 – Bullying is negative behavior that is intentional (on purpose), repeated (over and over again), and involves an imbalance of power or strength (intentional, imbalance of power, repeated). Bullying can be:

  • Physical – for example: pushing, shoving, hitting, spitting, kicking, hair pulling
  • Verbal – for example: name calling, making fun of, laughing at, threatening, using a certain tone of voice
  • Nonverbal – for example: eye rolling, body language, mean gestures, drawing mean pictures
  • Emotional/relational – for example: excluding someone, spreading rumors
  • Cyber bullying – for example: sending mean messages by text or email
  • Personal Property – for example: damaging, destroying, or loss of someone else’s property

Discrimination is a type of bullying that may be physical, verbal, nonverbal or cyber bullying and could be about race, color, national origin, ethnicity, creed, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, physical appearance, or economic status.

Bullying may include actions that take place on school property, at school-sponsored events or on a school bus; or that takes place off of school grounds but interfere with a student’s ability to attend school and/or to be educated in a safe, non-hostile environment.

Students and staff members who observe any acts of bullying or cyber bulling should report them to school authorities. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action. If it is determined that bullying or other inappropriate behavior has occurred, the school will respond immediately and take appropriate actions.

Any retaliatory behavior directed towards any person who reports an act of bullying will not be tolerated. Students are also prohibited from knowingly making a false report of bullying.

Lost and Found

The school’s Lost and Found is located in the Meeting Room (Room 101). To limit the number of lost articles, please label your children’s clothing, backpacks, lunch boxes, etc. If articles are lost on the school bus, please call the Transportation Office at (914) 241-6001. Lost items that are not claimed before the holiday break in December and the last day of school in June will be donated to a charity.

Miscellaneous

For general safety reasons, children are not permitted to ride bicycles to and from school.

Gum chewing is not permitted anywhere on the school grounds.

Parent – Teacher Conferences

Communication between home and school is vital to the success of your child’s education. Regularly scheduled conferences are held twice during the school year. These conferences allow the teacher and the parent to discuss each child’s performance and academic record. Parents, custodial and non-custodial, and/or guardians are encouraged to contact their child’s teacher if they have any questions or concerns at any time.

Personal Property

Parents should monitor the type of personal property brought to school. Items can easily become lost or misplaced since secure areas cannot be guaranteed. The sale or exchange of personal property is prohibited. Parents should also limit the amount of money brought to school.

Telephones

Emergency calls are made from the Main Office or Nurse’s Office under the supervision of a staff member. Students may not receive phone calls at any time during the school day. In case of an emergency, the Main Office staff will take a message that will be relayed to the student.

Students will be discouraged from going to the Main Office and calling home for forgotten items (i.e., sneakers, library books). Please review needs with your student the night before to plan for the next school day. This conversation will build independence and encourage responsibility.

Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices
(iPod, iPad, iTouch, etc.)

Student cell phones are not allowed to be used during the school day. There are no exceptions. Cell phones must remain turned off and in the student’s backpack during school hours. We will not be responsible for missing or lost cell phones. While we do not encourage students to bring cell phones to school, we understand families may want their children to have phones for before and/or after school use. If students are found using a cell phone or other electronic device, not intended for instruction during the school day it will be taken from them and held in the Main Office to be picked up by a parent/guardian only.

Visitors

If you wish to visit a classroom, please call the school at least one day in advance to make arrangements with the principal. For the safety of our children and the benefit of our academic program, all parents, visitors and volunteers MUST report to the Main Office, wear a visitor pass before proceeding to your specified destinations. When in school, visitors will not be allowed to visit any other locations. This is aligned with our district safety/security policy.

Technology

Acceptable Use Policy

Computer Network for Education

Please refer to the district website at www.bcsdny.org