Important update from North Albany Middle School

The following is an important message from North Albany Middle School's principal, Andrea Piper, and assistant principals Victoria DeGouff and Emma Steckman:

The partnership between school and home is critical to the success of our children. With that in mind, we would like to provide an update regarding the work that students, faculty and staff accomplished at North Albany Middle School this week.  

Monday through Wednesday provided us with an opportunity to reset our safety and learning expectations with students. During the school day, they participated in a variety of activities that focused on being safe, responsible and respectful. The lessons focused on team building, conflict resolution and developing a sense of community amongst students, their peers and our faculty and staff.  

Today and Friday, we are reminding students of the provisions of our district’s Code of Conduct, which was distributed to all families at the beginning of the school year and can also be found on the district website.

If you would like to request an additional copy, please call our main office.  As you are aware, this guiding document addresses both the development of student character and conduct. The code, in conjunction with the district safety plan, contains standards and procedures that assure the security and safety of all students and school personnel.

Non-Negotiables

As a school community, and based on discipline data, we have defined a set of non-negotiable behaviors that correspond to specific violations within the Code of Conduct.  Please know that we view each infraction through an equity lens and take into account environmental and social-emotional factors. We will have an enhanced focus on the expectations below:

• Hall passes→All students will be expected to have a hall pass any time they are not in class. In addition, they will be required to show the hall pass to adults in the hallway to ensure they arrive to their destination safely and in a timely manner. (See non-compliance section of the Code of Conduct on page 27)
• Cell phones→Devices must remain out of sight and not interfere with the learning environment. Cell phones should remain in your child’s backpack, locker or in their pocket. If your child has their phone out during class, a reminder will be given. If they refuse to put it away or take it out again, it will be confiscated and then returned at the end of the day. If your child refuses to turn over their cell phone, it will be viewed as non-compliance. The second time the same procedure will be followed; however, the phone will be held until the parent/guardian can pick it up at school (see the Electronics Devices sections on pages 25 and 30 of the Code of Conduct).
• Inappropriate language and disrespect→Students are expected to use language appropriate to the school environment. If a student curses, uses racial slurs or speaks disrespectfully to an adult or another student, while in school or on a CDTA or First Student bus, this will constitute a violation of our Code of Conduct. (see pages 27 and 29).
• Horseplay→This type of behavior often escalates to students engaging in a verbal or physical altercation. As a result, there will be zero tolerance for any type of play fighting, slap fighting, putting hands on another student, etc. This behavior will result in progressive discipline and consequences and could include suspension (see Hallway Misbehavior on page 26 or Non-compliance on page 27 of the Code of Conduct)
• Respect of school/personal property→We take pride in our school community, which includes district and personal property. Defacing school or personal property is a serious matter that will result in progressive discipline as guided by our Code of Conduct. This may include suspension or restitution for damaged property (see Damage to School or Personal Property on page 24 of the Code of Conduct)

Buses

On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to partner with CDTA staff and share behavior expectations for students on all CDTA buses. Moving forward, your child must:

• Use their student ID to gain access to the CDTA each morning and each afternoon
• Once on the CDTA bus, they must remain on the bus. If they get off the bus, they will not be allowed to reboard
• All students who are eligible to ride CDTA tripper buses home must get on the bus in front of the school. We are working on identifying the tripper buses most appropriate for each student.
• If students who are eligible to ride CDTA tripper buses from school instead choose to walk to a community bus stop, they will not be allowed to get on the bus. This will allow us to ensure that all eligible students are able to board our tripper buses safely at school.

We are asking for your support again in knowing, understanding and reinforcing the expectations of this plan at home. We are excited to engage in this work with our school community. 

If students cannot maintain safe, responsible and respectful behavior at school or on buses, our Code of Conduct will guide us in determining restorative interventions or consequences, which may include a suspension. If a suspension is warranted, you will be contacted to pick up your child. Upon their return, a restorative plan will be created for your child to repair any harm that may have occurred before we can welcome them back into our learning community.

We are excited about this partnership to ensure school is a safe and fun learning environment. We appreciate your support of North Albany Middle School and look forward to continuing to make positive changes that, when we all work collaboratively, will make it the best possible learning environment for our students!