Core Team
Policies and Information
Welcome New 7th Graders and Welcome Back Team
Prestige!
Your core teachers are very excited to
work with such outstanding students and parents. We look forward to yet another successful
year at Billinghurst Middle School. Parents
and students, please read the following information carefully, as it will
directly affect student success on the core team. Sign the bottom of page 3 and return to Mrs.
Rice by Thursday 8/14 (7th grade) and Friday 8/15 (8th
grade). Thank you J
Core
Teachers
Mr. Joshua Kivi – U.S.
History jkivi@washoeschools.net (students and parents receive Edmodo log-ins during week 2 for Mr. Kivi's website)
Communicating
With Core Teachers
Students are welcome to
come in at lunch or after school to speak with a teacher. Parents and students are invited to contact
core teachers by email; this is the quickest way to receive a response. Parents,
pretty please double check that the email listed for you in Infinite Campus is
correct. That is the email we will use
to communicate with you about concerns. You may also call Billinghurst at 746-5870
to speak with a teacher or to set up a team conference. Teachers will return a phone call within 24
hours. We ask that students take part in
all conferences as a way to take responsibility for their own education. We ask parents to please speak with your child
BEFORE contacting a teacher about an assignment as this leaves the student “out
of the loop” of his/her own education and responsibilities.
Infinite
Campus
With so many new classes to
juggle, Infinite Campus becomes more important than ever in middle school. We ask that parents and students check assignment scores on Infinite Campus once a week. Core teachers have 200 students each! If a mistake is made on a score in Infinite
Campus, it’s typically the parent or student who catches it and brings it to
the teacher’s attention. Infinite Campus
also allows you to see any missing assignments.
If you’re keeping up with Infinite Campus weekly, you can quickly finish
a missing assignment before it becomes overwhelming. If you do not have internet access at home,
pop into the library before school or at lunch once a week to check your grades
on Infinite Campus.
Core
Teacher Websites (Blogs)
Each of your core teachers
has a website (the addresses are listed above).
If you sign on to “follow” each blog, you will receive an email when the
websites are updated, but this is optional.
The websites are a fantastic way to keep up with current and up-coming
assignments, due dates, project instructions, field trip information and team
information. Your scores on Infinite
Campus are after-the-fact, meaning the assignment has already occurred. Checking the teacher websites once a week
allows you to see current assignment information
and due dates. Having a hard time
reading the tracker, parents? Try the
websites instead! Not sure if the tracker information is accurate? Check out the websites! Lost your instruction
sheet for that major project? Copy it
from the website!
Core
Grading Policy
Assignments will be scored using a point
system. Scores will be entered into
Infinite Campus on a weekly basis. Points will be translated into percentages/grades.
90-100% = A
80-89% = B
70-79% = C
60-69% = D
59% and below = F
Citizenship grades = average of the Work Ethic grade and Behavior
grade. The Work Ethic grade is lowered ½
grade for every late and/or missing assignment.
Late
Work and Make-Up Work
As per district policy, a student has the
same number of days he/she was absent from school (plus one day) to complete
and turn in make-up work with no penalty.
Once those days have expired, the team late-work policy will be in
effect. It is the student’s
responsibility to collect missing assignments (both classwork and homework), and
to make up missing tests due to absences.
Late work is discouraged and scores will be reduced 25%, up to 50%. As mentioned, Work Ethic grades will be
lowered ½ grade for every late and missing assignment per grading quarter. Class
projects, group projects, and long-term assignments may not be turned in late. Extra credit is determined by the individual
teacher and is NOT given as a replacement for missing assignments.
Tardiness
Core teachers will follow the school-wide
tardy policy. Tardies are tracked
automatically through Infinite Campus.
After three tardies, the student receives detention from the
administration and his/her behavior grade lowered ½ grade for every tardy
beyond three. Remember, the morning
bell rings at 7:23 AM and students are to be seated in Advisory at 7:30 AM.
Passes
Students may use a tracker pass for the
restroom, locker, drinking fountain, or office with teacher permission. The tracker must be completed with the day’s
agenda before a pass will be signed.
Students are allowed 3 passes per week from their tracker. In order to use a pass, students must carry
their school ID.
Paper
Headings
In each core class, please title papers
in the upper right corner with first and last name, class period, and
date. Remember, core teachers have 200
students, so this is very important!
Trackers
and Advisory
The student tracker (agenda book) is a
vital parent/student/teacher communication tool used by EVERY student at
Billinghurst. Students are required to
complete the agenda information and/or homework information listed on the board
at the start of each class (core and elective classes). If a student is absent, we ask that the
student NOT write “absent” in the tracker, but that he/she go to each class at
lunch or after school to copy the tracker information and pick up missing
assignments. Trackers will be checked in
Advisory on Monday morning of each week to ensure the previous week has been filled
out properly and the upcoming week is set up.
Parents are required to review and sign the tracker in the parent comment
section every weekend. Students will
receive credit in Advisory for a completed and signed tracker.
Rewards
and Parties
It is so important that students are
recognized for doing their very best at Billinghurst. In addition to school-wide rewards, Bighorn
Bucks, and honor cards, the core team teachers reward students on a monthly
basis who are displaying components of the Bighorn Attitude with “Smartie
Pants” awards! Also, students who have only one late assignment in each core
class and no missing assignments at the end of each quarter are invited to a
team celebration at the end of the quarter.
Core
Team Identity and Team T-Shirts
As you may already know, “core” teams at
Billinghurst are made up of 100 students who share the same English, History,
and Science teacher for both 7th and 8th grade years. Every
core team creates a team identity that includes a team name, team motto, team
cheer, and team t-shirt. The team identity is celebrated at a school-wide
assembly twice a year. Because we cannot
predict the cost of the team t-shirt from one year to the next, we request a
payment of the shirt beyond the core team fee.
Typically, the core team t-shirt costs between $8 and $10 and is usually
ordered in mid-September. Team t-shirts
are purchased in 7th grade and can be worn for both 7th
and 8th grade years. New 8th
graders or returning 8th graders wishing to purchase another t-shirt
will have the opportunity to do so during the first month of school.
Please detach and return to Mrs. Rice no
later than Thursday, August 14th (7th grade) and Friday,
August 15th (8th grade). Thank you J
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I have read the Core Team Policies and
Information for the 2014-2015 school year.
Print Parent Name(s) _____________________________________________________________________
Signature(s)
________________________________________________________________________________
Print
Student Name _______________________________________________ English Class Period ___
Student
Signature _________________________________________________
