(from US Handbook)

Student Responsibility

Roanoke Catholic provides each student with a copy of the student handbook. In doing so, RCS expects the students to have a thorough knowledge of school regulations. The signing of the handbook acknowledgement, by both the parent/guardian and the student, is an agreement to abide by the policies set forth in the handbook. A copy of this agreement is kept on file. Each student is expected to develop and maintain high standards of personal integrity and honor in observing the school regulations.

Use of School Grounds

During the school year, students should not be on school property before 7:30 am or after 3:15 p.m. Mondays through Fridays unless participating in a school function, an athletic practice/game, or an extracurricular activity with an approved moderator present. "School grounds" is defined as any diocesan property on the Hill bounded by Gainsboro Road, Celtic Way, 2nd Street, and Patton Avenue. Upper School students may enter the building at the Gym lobby beginning at 7:45 am. Students will be dismissed from the gym lobby to homeroom by 7:53. Any students with a designated purpose, i.e. prearranged meeting with a teacher or predetermined club meeting, may enter the building before 7:53 am only via the front lobby doors. Any student entering the school between 7:30 am and 7:53 must enter through the front lobby and sign-in. After school, students should be off “the hill” by 3:15. If students remain at school due to participation in extra-curricular activities, they must be with the adult in charge of the activity.

Automobiles

Students eligible to drive an automobile to school must register the car(s) with the Office. Student drivers are permitted to park only in the student parking lot across from Saint Andrew’s Church. A student car parked other than in the Student Parking lot is subject to towing, at the owner’s expense. Students may not go to their cars during the day without permission. Reckless driving or irresponsible behavior will result in the loss of driving privileges at school. Vehicles parked on school property are subject to search.

Textbooks

Students are responsible for the care and condition of books and materials on loan from the school. All books must be covered at all times. However, students should not use contact paper or similar materials that leave a sticky residue. Tape used in covering books should not touch any surface of the books. Students should not write in or on the inside covers or edges of any rental book. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in fines for partial or full replacement cost of the books. in observing the school regulations.

Cafeteria Accounts

Students are encouraged to use the Café terminal system operating in the cafeteria. All money to be credited to a student’s account must be turned in to the homeroom teacher or to the office by 8:30 am Students using cash to purchase food may be asked to go to the end of the line. Monies must be in the student’s individual account. Students may not use a sibling’s account without expressed written permission from parents. All food must be paid for before it is consumed; NO eating in line is permitted. Students should never charge food, but should a charge exist, it must be paid within two days or demerits will be issued.

Cafeteria

Students (whether bringing or buying their lunch or not eating) are to be in the cafeteria during break and during their lunch period. The cafeteria, besides being a lunchroom, is a place where good human relations can be developed. Each student is to practice good manners and personal responsibility in the cafeteria. Simple rules of courteous behavior include: leaving the table and surrounding area clean and orderly, replacing chairs, and putting trash in proper containers. Students on duty should not leave the cafeteria until they have been dismissed by the faculty moderator. Students are to eat and drink only in the cafeteria.

Morning Break

Students should go directly to the cafeteria. Healthy foods and cereal will be available. Students should not take food or drinks out of the cafeteria. The same guidelines for Cafeteria and Cafeteria Accounts apply to Morning Break.

Lunch

Students order lunch for the week during Monday homeroom. Students who are tardy to school and miss homeroom should sign up in the office before 8:30 am or have another student place the lunch order. Students absent on Monday should sign up for lunch upon returning to school. Students may bring lunch from home, but may not have food delivered from a commercial and/or fast food restaurant. Student visitors to the cafeteria must be approved in advance; they must follow school cafeteria rules, i.e. no fast food. Students must report to the cafeteria at the beginning of their lunch period; they must remain in a supervised area for the entire lunch period. Students should not take food or drink out of the cafeteria.

Library Pass

No one will be admitted to the library during break or at lunch without a Library Pass. There are twenty passes available; each pass is numbered. When a pass is taken, the student must sign out, next to the corresponding number, on the Library Sign-out sheet. Upon entering the library, students must sign-in, next to the corresponding number of the pass, on the Library Sign-In sheet, and turn in the Library Pass. Passes are available on the Cafeteria bulletin board.

Vending Machines

The vending machines located in the gym lobby may be used before and after, but not during, school. All purchases from these machines must be consumed in the gym lobby area or outside the school building.

Personal Property

Students are responsible for their own personal items at all times. Personal belongings should bear clear identification. The school is not responsible for lost or missing money, clothing, or personal items. Large sums of money or valuables of any kind should not be brought to school.

Lost and Found

Students should check for lost articles in the school Lost and Found table in the cafeteria lobby. Students should check the school office for lost small items and/or jewelry. Unclaimed clothing will be donated to a charitable agency. If students cannot recover lost textbooks within one week, they must purchase replacements.

Lockers

Lockers are furnished to students, but remain the property of RCS. As Roanoke Catholic School fosters an atmosphere of trust and individual responsibility, lockers do not have locks. Nothing is to be attached or imprinted on the outside of a locker without the permission of a faculty member. Clearly suggestive photographs or pictures and those with reference to alcohol and/or tobacco products may not be displayed in lockers. Stickers should be taped, not glued/stuck to the inside of lockers. Authorities reserve the right to enter a locker at any time. Scheduled locker clean-up will be held at the end of each semester; however, students should always maintain an orderly locker.

Cell Phones

Students must have their phones turned off during the school day. Any student receiving a call, answered or unanswered, making a call, or utilizing any of it faculties will be subject to its confiscation. The return of the phone can only be made to the student’s parents contacting the office to arrange pick up. Confiscation of a cell phone results in the loss of the privilege of carrying a cell phone, during the day, for a designated period.

Visitors

All visitors or guests at school must sign in at the front desk. Students are not allowed to bring a guest to school. Students may not invite guests for a lunch-time visit without advanced approval.

Field Trips

Field trips are privileges. Students may be denied participation if they fail to meet academic or behavioral requirements. Parents or guardians may refuse to allow their children to participate in a field trip. In order for students to participate in a specific field trip, parents or guardians must complete and sign the standard school field trip form. Students who fail to return a signed permission form will not be allowed to participate. The school cannot accept telephonic permission or handwritten notes in lieu of signed forms. However, faxed permission forms are acceptable (345-0785). For parents’ convenience, a blank permission form is available for downloading and printing.

Inclement Weather

Decisions to open or to close school during inclement weather are made by the school President. The decision to close or to open late will be made before 7:00 am. and provided to local media: TV channels 7 (WDBJ) and 10 (WSLS) and radio stations WROV (1240 AM, 96.3 FM), WFIR (960 AM), WPVR (94.4 FM), and WXLK (92 FM).

Bus

Bus service is provided by pre-arranged request. Occasional riders whose drop-off point is on an established route may ride the bus provided they bring notes from parents or guardians and pay a fee per ride. All bus riders must comply with established bus safety rules. Vandalism and/or disruptive behavior may result in the loss of bus riding privileges.

USE OF THE INTERNET

Roanoke Catholic School strives to prepare its students to use the latest technology. In order to use the school’s Internet connection, students and parents must agree to abide by the Roanoke Catholic School Internet User Agreement. Both students and parents sign the agreement when students enter Roanoke Catholic School. Copies of the agreement form are available in the office. Use of the Internet is for academic research and does not include personal entertainment or amusement. Inappropriate logging in or changing the computer's settings will result in disciplinary action.

MEDIA CENTER

The hours for the media center are 7:45 a.m. until 3:15 p.m.. If a student needs to work earlier or later, please make arrangements with the librarian 24 hours in advance. Unsupervised students may not be in the library at any time. Students who need to use the Internet must bring a note from the teacher with details of the assignment that requires use of the Internet. Students must provide their own disks. Printing will be restricted to a maximum of three pages from the Internet or encyclopedia. Additional pages will be available at ten cents per page. Upper School students may not come to the library during break or lunch unless they have a note from the teacher whose assignment requires the use of library resources. The purpose of the Library is to provide a place for quiet, independent study as well as to provide help and resources necessary to complete an assignment. Unnecessary talk, noise, disruption, as well as unacceptable behavior as designated in the Code of Conduct will result in demerits. Tutoring or studying together is relegated to the conference room or librarian's office.

Students who check out materials are responsible for returning them in a timely manner. If material is lost, misplaced, stolen, or destroyed, the person who checks it out is responsible for paying the replacement costs. No one may check out materials for another person. No one will be admitted to the library during break or at lunch without a Library Pass. There are twenty passes available; each pass is numbered. When a pass is taken, the student must sign out, next to the corresponding number, on the Library Sign-out sheet. Upon entering the library, students must sign-in, next to the corresponding number of the pass, on the Library Sign-In sheet, and turn in the Library Pass. Passes are available on the Cafeteria bulletin board.

STUDENT PRIVACY

School principals or designated officials have the right to protect the health, welfare, and safety of school patrons against drugs, weapons, unauthorized publications, and other contraband materials. Search of a student’s person and/or personal property on school property or at school activities (e.g., automobiles, etc.) may be conducted by the school principals or other designated officials. It is only necessary that a search be reasonable and related to the school’s rights in these regards. The failure of a student to voluntarily submit to a search shall be presumptive evidence of the existence of contraband and grounds for appropriate disciplinary action.

Lockers and desks are school property and are subject to searches by school authorities to protect the safety of all. A student to whom a locker or desk has been assigned has exclusive use of the locker or desk vis a vis other students, but has no proprietary rights versus the school.

ATTENDANCE

Attendance Policies

Daily attendance and punctuality are required except for illness or emergency. Both may affect participation in school activities.

Students who have been absent must bring their homeroom teachers notes of explanation from parents or guardians. These notes should include the dates of absence and the specific reasons for the absence. Students should bring these notes on the day they return to school. When students are absent, parents should notify the school between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. It is the student’s responsibility when absent from class to remain current with class materials and pursue all makeup work. Students should turn in the assignments when they return to school. Prolonged or frequent absences, as well as repeated failures to make up work missed during such absences, may result in failing grades or request that student withdraws from the school.

If a student’s absences total fifteen days, the principal will meet with the student and parents to determine the status of the student.

Parents are strongly encouraged to plan family trips to coincide with vacation periods on the school calendar.

Students who are willfully absent from school without parental permission are considered truant. Truancy is a most serious offense and will result in suspension.

Tardiness Policies

Supervision of students in the gym lobby begins at 7:45 a.m. All students should be in full uniform and in the building no later than 7:53 a.m. They should be in their homerooms by 7:57 a.m. Students are considered tardy to school if they are not in homeroom by 8:00 a.m. Students arriving after the tardy bell at 8:00 a.m. must report directly to the office for an admit slip.

A student who is tardy to school receives two demerits. (See Behavior and Discipline) Tardiness caused by scheduled appointments does not result in disciplinary action; however, students should notify the school in writing the day before if such appointment is scheduled during school. In addition, students should turn in assignments when they arrive at school by placing them in the respective teachers’ mailboxes.

Early Dismissals

Early dismissals from school are granted only in cases of illness, emergency, or upon written notification from parents or guardians. Students must sign out in the office; if returning the same day, students must first report to the office and sign in upon return. Students who need to leave school for scheduled appointments should bring notes to their homeroom teachers the day before the appointments. These notes should specify the date, time, and reason for the dismissal. In addition, any students who will miss class because of any kind of early dismissal should turn in assignments before leaving.

Make-up Work

When students miss class for any reason, they are responsible for making up class work, homework, and tests and should talk with their teachers about such make-up work. For a one day illness, the student should take the test/quiz on the first full day back.

Telephone Use

The use of cell phones is prohibited during the school day. Students who are ill at school must report to the nurse. Students who need to contact a parent or guardian must use the telephone in the main office. Law prohibits possessing electronic paging devises. Cell phones used during the course of the academic day will be confiscated and returned only to the student’s parents.

Parents are asked to limit messages for students. The receptionist will try to relay messages during break, lunch, and at the end of the last period.

SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN

Roanoke Catholic School has a school safety plan to address emergency situations. In the event that school buildings must be evacuated, students will reassemble in St. Andrew Church. The school will provide information to local radio and television stations. (See Inclement Weather). Parents should not call the school. As part of the safety plan, the school conducts unannounced fire drills and lockdowns on a regular basis.

INJURY OR ILLNESS

When students become ill or injured, they will be sent to the Nurse’s Clinic for evaluation and care. Basic first aid will be given for injuries. Non-medicine treatment will be given for minor illnesses. No medicine will be given without prior written authorization or verbal consent given to school nurse by phone. Verbal permission will be for one time only, and the standard authorization and permission form must be sent in the next school day.

Parents will be called for any condition deemed necessary by the nurse and always for head injury or temperature 100 or greater. Students will be excluded from school for temperature of 100, conjunctivitis (pink eye), head lice, and other communicable diseases diagnosed by a physician. These conditions must be reported to the school nurse as soon as possible. Students seeking readmission to school after treatment for head lice must be seen by the nurse prior to entering the classroom. In order for some students to be successful and stay in school, they require medication during the school day. For the safety and well being of all students, parents must follow all guidelines regarding medicine in school:

• Parental authorization and permission for administration of medication will be obtained in a standard form. All information must be completed.
• Prescription medication must be in the original container, with the physician’s name and directions for administering the medication clearly visible. The name of the medication as well as the dosage must also be clear. Parent must sign and date the label to verify that all information is correct and current.
• Parents must deliver the first dose of prescription medicine to school. Students may bring in refills. They must deliver these to the Nurse’s Clinic immediately upon entering the school building in the morning.
• Prescription medicines will be dispensed only in the Nurse’s Clinic. Students are not to self-medicate under any circumstances.
• Students who need to carry inhalers for asthma must have emergency information on file with the nurse.
• Over-the–counter medications should also be brought to the Nurse’s Clinic, have parental authorization, and be dispensed in the Clinic. Small packages or bottles of new, unopened medicine should be sent. Check expiration date on label.

Student Accident Insurance

Through payment of tuition, each student is covered by a Student Accident Insurance policy to provide coverage while the student is at school or involved in any school-sponsored activities. The student is covered while participating in intramural or interscholastic sports sponsored by the school, including travel to and from the school. This policy is excess coverage; this means that benefits will be paid which are not payable by any other insurance policy or group service contract. If the student has no other insurance, the policy will pay the full benefits, up to the policy maximum, for covered charges due to accident. The school nurse handles these claims.

HIV/AIDS Policy

Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Richmond have a comprehensive HIV/AIDS policy. All school personnel and volunteers are required to use the universal precautions when handling blood or any body fluids.

Sports

Student athletes must have records of physical examinations on file with their coaches. Parents must also complete forms giving coaches permission for emergency medical treatment of sports-related injuries. These forms are available from the school nurse.

Changes in school policy that affect this handbook may be made by Roanoke Catholic School from time to time. The school retains the right to amend this handbook at its sole discretion. Parents and students will be notified of changes in school policy.